Gear Linkage Rose Joints
 

Hi Guys,

I have a problem with the gear change on 4th, 5th and 6th as detailed in this thread :-

https://cbrforum.com/forum/cbr-900rr...change-156600/

I disassembled and cleaned up the gear linkage as suggested, which may have improved things very slightly, but the gear change on the top three gears is far from positive unlike the bottom three. It gets progressively worse as I change from 4th -5th -6th.

There is a certain amount of play in the gear linkage rose joints, which I cannot see any way to eliminate.

Do you guys with experience know if this play could be the cause of my problem and is there any way to tighten these joints up to get rid of it?

I was thinking maybe as I change through the gears 1st - 6th, the linkage changes position and the play gets worse?

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Has the linkage still got the ball joint rubber dust boot still on each joint?

They look like this and not only tighten up the linkage but keep the grease in and dirt out, if they are missing that could be part of the problem

https://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/...2000_large.jpg

Yes the boots are still there, but judging from the picture you posted, they're looking a bit worn.

Maybe replacing them will stiffen things up a bit :icon_shrug:

Thanks for the reply Gunk.

gearshift
 

Though probably not relevant to your problem, my bike is a 1995 CBR900RR and about 50,000 kilometres ago I replaced the gear shift linkage arrangement with the shift lever off a (broken) Yamaha WR250, though many others will fit. I liked it better and my gear changes were more positive. Picture attached.

Thanks for the picture Bright, a good idea.

I've ordered the rubber covers, so when they arrive I'll see if it improves things.

Thanks for the help Gunk/Bright :icon_beerchug:

Thought I'd revive this thread instead of starting a new one.

So I changed the rubber rose joint covers and things have seemed to improve marginally, but it certainly hasn't transformed the gear change.

So next I thought I'd try eliminating the linkage altogether and fitted a gear change lever from a Blackbird 'a la' Bright's idea.

Took it for a test ride and quickly lost all gears except for 4th (I think). Managed to nurse it home and changed back to the old linkage, worrying that the gearbox had gone 'pop!' Once the old linkage was re-installed all the gears were back, along with the slightly vague change for gears 4-5-6.

Any ideas, suggestions or thoughts, please feel free to chip in, this thing is starting to pi55 me off :icon_gunhead:

Is there a way to tighten up those rose joints?

Hi Hawkwind, had the same trouble on a Triumph Legend 900 , had to really kick hard up and down to get it into gear, decided to take the Gearshirt arm off the spindle turn it a couple of splines and put it back, making the arm come from a slightly different angle, worked a treat. But apology's if you've already tried this

Hi Bill, thanks for the response.

I must confess, I have tried the gear shift arm in various positions, with no noticeable improvement. I've got some time off work now so I can take another crack at it.

I noticed you're up in Morecambe, I used to go to school in Lancaster many, many years ago. I used to go to some big pub down on the sea front, don't think it's there any more, but at the time (late 70's), it was one of the local 'hot spots'.

Small world :)

Hi Steve, been a bit of a journeyman throughout my working career , originally from Crewe,Cheshire , but worked and lived all over the North West driving Trains , but always loved Morecambe , so retired here:)

Yeah it's a nice part of the world, handy for the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales.