Hey

Just swapped my Sportster out for a 2006 F4i. Wow, was I missing out. Love the bike, i have been smiling for 2 days. Have only had it out twice and have had trouble shifting smooth. I saw a number of posts addressing this.

I get the engine breaking causing some of what I feel and shifting faster at higher rpms helps. But should there be so much play going from engine breaking to take off with the throttle. If I'm in 1st gear, take off let off the throttle then open it up again they seems to be some play in the drive train.

Is this normal, or could it be the chain, sprocket, transmission? I bought the bike with just 7200 miles on it. Owner claimed and appeared to take really nice care of it.

What do you think

Jim

 

without riding it im thinking you are used to a 1600cc producing alot of torque in lower rpm's so you get a major effect when you engine break and when you accel at those rpms.
you're saying at 10krpm engine breaking to 9krpm and hammering it produces latency on response? dont do this though it may pop the front end up.
other than that i can only think of a slipper clutch if you are using the clutch which it appears you arent, and the throttle cable has play in it. or the trottle is no longer a 1/4 turn or whatever stock is.
could be something mechanical going on though..

 

I didn't explain it very well, let me try again.

If I'm traveling slow in first gear (3-4k rpm), let off the throttle, bike quickly slows down, then I open the throttle a second later. The engine responds but there is a lag (like slack) in the bikes response. During this process the clutch in never pulled in.

If it was a car I would say I had a u joint problem.

It could be normal, just checking if anyone thought this shouldn't be happening.

 

Its called driveline "lash" and all bikes have it to some degree. I would check the condition of the chain and make sure its adjusted correctly.

 

I thought there was a good name for that, thanks. I'll have to search how you tell the condition of the chain. To me it looks adjusted well, not sure if it is too stretched. If not the chain what would be the next plausible cause.

 

After a little reading about shifting and some practice I can shift smoother and now don't think anything is wrong with my bike. Shifting faster, at higher rmps and preloading helped termendously.

Much more fun to ride than the Sportster

 

I bet. The Sportster's narrow front end and poor weight distribution make them feel unstable while turning. The F4i was designed to turn well and be stable at speed. I'm not sure what year yours was, I had an oldie that was fun to ride (after serious mods), but nothing even close to my 929rr!