transmission problems

[BOBEVILZ]

Hello my first time in a forum . I HAVE A 91 1200 Voyager have been loving it how ever riding to work Monday i got a mileish away from work at the last stop sign go through the gears 1st and 2nd gear but no 3rd so get to work go through my day get back get ready to leave same issue i live 4.8 mile from home all back rd. 2nd gear 30ish mph got home looked up where is could be just low in oil the wife and i when to pick up a filter and oil local advance in my area actually had it surprise and got some oil 10-40 well turns out 10-40 regular maxlife car oil didn't fix it runs no different still have 1st and 2nd gear runs strong no slipping but olny those 2 gears sending the wige to pick up 15-40 rotella t5 ort6 and put in a new filter and thankyou every one on this website for letting in this new owners of these bikes know that there are 3 point for oil change this bike runs good has 7100ish had Harleys before got tried of working on it i have only put 900ish mile on this bike never owned a Kawasaki before if changing oil to correct oil doesn't fix it whats next step

[SgtSlag]

Well, let's start with the simplest, cheapest, and work our way up from there.

Just to cover the bases... The clutch is working normally? The Neutral indicator light works normally, no issues putting the bike in Neutral? You are pulling the Clutch lever all the way back, to the grip, before shifting? The lever can be adjusted, and maybe it is not adjusted properly? The clutch is a real possibility as the root cause: weak springs, worn/burned plates.

Japanese bikes are one down, for first, the rest are all up, from there. Not trying to insult you, I just vaguely remember that some bikes shift all of their gears, upwards, unlike Japanese bikes, which are down for first, then up for 2-5/6.

Drop the oil and filter, and put in 3 quarts 22 oz. of Rotella T6 15W-40 oil. Not a drop more, not a drop less -- two drain plugs, not three. Keep the oil viscosity within the 10W-50 range, do not use 5W-X, or anything else thinner than 10W. I had multiple false Neutrals, between every gear, when I ran 5W-40. Changing back to 15W-40 solved the issue.

Next, add in 4 oz. of SeaFoam to the crankcase: 1 oz. per quart of oil, so round up to 4 oz.

Start the bike up, and run it, trying to shift with the RPM's at 2,000+, or ride it until it warms up fully, per the temperature gauge, shifting normally.

The SeaFoam will break down any sludge within the engine, within around five minutes, but it also takes around five minutes for the engine to warm up to operating temperature. Detergent oils will only suspend dirt (so it can be captured by the filter, as it flows through the system) after it reaches 180 F, so a good, 10-15 minute ride should suffice, to allow the SeaFoam time to dissolve any sludge, as well as getting the oil to full operating temperature to suspend the crud so it gets caught in the filter (full operating temperature is typically 200-210 F; the water temperature is usually around 10 F cooler than the oil temperature).

If it shifts normally, after this, done. If not, it is time to have the transmission looked at. The SeaFoam treatment will not harm your engine/transmission, in any way. If it shifts normally after a few minutes, I recommend changing the oil and filter, again: SeaFoam will dissolve any oil sludge, most of which will be captured by the filter; it will slightly thin the viscosity of the oil; it is best to get rid of it all, immediately, to fully remove the crud from the engine/transmission. Once done, modern detergent oils (API SM, or higher) will keep your engine and transmission squeaky clean, so it should not be necessary to repeat the SeaFoam treatment, as long as you change oil regularly (3,000 miles for conventional; 5,000 miles for full synthetic oils). Change the filter every time, as well, to keep them in top working order. Best of luck!

Sorry I don't have more to offer. I only do the light mechanical stuff -- the rest I get done by professionals. Cheers!

[Sidehopper]

I have a couple of questions to help clarify what the bike is doing:

How long have you had the bike, and what maintenance did you do when you first got it?

When you try to shift up from second to third, what happens - does it go into neutral instead of third, or does it just grind until you stop trying to shift up?

When you did your first oil change, what was the condition of the oil that was drained out - was it black and watery, was it still thick and clean, did it have metal shavings in it?

Also, please ensure that you are putting in engine oil that is JASO MA rated since the engine, gearbox, and clutch share the same oil and oil that is not "wet clutch" safe has friction modifiers that can prevent your clutch from working properly. It looks like the Valvoline Maxlife 10w-40 oil is not JASO MA rated, so if you had similar oil in it before that could cause issues. You will probably want to get enough oil to change your bike twice - once to get known good oil in to clean up both engine deposits and any leftover friction modifiers, and then again after you ride the bike for a while with the new oil. I put Rotella T4 (non-synthetic) 15w-40 in my bike when I got it, and drained it out again after about 400 miles. Rotella has a crazy amount of detergent in it - it's designed for diesel engines and intended to catch and clean any soot that might get out of the combustion chamber, so it does a great job of cleaning up the inside of the bike! The T6 should be fine, but I haven't looked at the T5 to know if it's compatible.

Depending on how black the oil comes out of the bike and if running JASO MA oil in it fixes the shifting issue, you may want to put some Seafoam or Marvel's Mystery Oil in the crank case just before the oil change and take it for a good warm up ride and drain the oil when you get back. Just watch the exhaust! Hard to change the oil with scalding hot pipes on either side

[BOBEVILZ]

i have done nothing other that ride it and adjust tire air pressure 1st oil change was monday i'v only had the bike for a month im going out a and changing oil and filter yamalube 10w 40 4t engine oil clutch works fine whenever i go from 2nd to 3rd it doesn't go into it just stays in 2nd neutral light not coming on idling if i pull clutch push down for 1st pull clutch shift up fo into neutral but no light how ever if im riding it will go into 2nd

[BOBEVILZ]

i have done nothing other that ride it and adjust tire air pressure 1st oil change was monday i'v only had the bike for a month im going out a and changing oil and filter yamalube 10w 40 4t engine oil clutch works fine whenever i go from 2nd to 3rd it doesn't go into it just stays in 2nd neutral light not coming on idling if i pull clutch push down for 1st pull clutch shift up fo into neutral but no light how ever if im riding it will go into 2nd

[BOBEVILZ]

ok when to warm bike up when shifting from 2nd trying to go to 3rd when i pick up the shift lever neutral will flash not stay on but when i let go of the shift lever just stays in 2nd not changed oil yet just draining it now do i need to put a little diesel fuel in it and run for a min then drain out to get the maxlife oil out?

[Sidehopper]

do i need to put a little diesel fuel in it and run for a min then drain out to get the maxlife oil out?

No, don't do that - I said Rotella engine oil (which is designed for diesels) has lots of detergent in the oil so if you get the T6 oil it will clean it up nicely.

These bikes have a "Positive Neutral Finder" which prevents the bike from shifting into second if the engine isn't at a high enough RPM. Basically prevents the bike from shifting up while the engine is off. It can have issues if the neutral sensor gets gunked up. With no known history of previous maintenance I'd definitely recommend changing all the fluids in the bike and I'll bet it will run a lot better!

[BOBEVILZ]

ok put rotella 10 40 in th bike still same issue who has a used motor

[triton28]

This may be a long shot but check to make sure the linkage, which the shift lever is mounted onto, is not hitting the crankcase when you try to upshift.

[Sidehopper]

ok put rotella 10 40 in th bike still same issue who has a used motor

If it's really grimy in the engine it might take some more time running to clean everything enough, and you might wanna try adding Seafoam to the crankcase oil now - only 4 ounces is needed. The friction modifiers may be in the engine sludge too so that's why I recommend changing the oil again after running the bike around a bit.

If the oil in the bike was really old and not changed often, you running it for about 900 miles could have stirred up sludge that deposited onto the transmission gears and gunked them and the neutral sensor up enough to cause problems. You need to give the fresh oil time to clean that gunk and deposit it in the oil filter.

I advise running the proper oil with 4 ounces of Seafoam added for 50 miles, then do another oil/filter change. If you post a picture of what your oil looks like it might help as well. If that doesn't make it shift better, take it to a good bike mechanic so they can tell you if it's a major problem or something easy to fix. No need to jump to replacing the motor already :)

[BOBEVILZ]

after inspecting oil after i changed it i ran it all through a fine screen omg the metal i found not dust but mini chucks . so i left out at 6 this morning drove to Tennessee 518 mile round trip i purshased a 95 with only 12000 original miles one owner we setled on a price now im riding again

[ekap1200]

Well you now have what every one of us like to have at least one of... A good parts bike
Gene Kap

[GrandpaDenny]

Well you now have what every one of us like to have at least one of... A good parts bike
Gene Kap

You have one, Gene has the rest Speaking of which, Gene, do you happen to have the bolt that hold the passenger footrest bracket and crash guard into place? The upper one of the three. "Mechanic" who did my rear tire goobered up the original I guess - it fell out. I wonder what else he screwed up? Should have just taken her to Cycle Center. Next time!

BTW the rear wheel hub looked excellent. I inspected it myself. I also had to twist his arm to get some grease to grease the final drive splines, and ended up doing that myself too.