M1100 popping out of gear

[bigjilm]

Apologies if this has been covered before - I'm a regular reader in the Mods forum, but don't read Tech too often. 

I've got a 09 M1100 (10,000 kms) that seems to be having a transmission problem, but I'm not sure if I should pursue a warranty teardown, or just live with it.

Approx once a week, I will be riding in second gear and it will "pop" into neutral.  This is not a missed shift, as far as I can tell, but the transmission not holding onto the gear well.

For example, last week I'm riding in a parking lot in second, and I hit a speedbump and went into neutral.  This morning, I upshift from first to second, pull on the loud handle and I'm accelerating nicely - a full one second after shifting, it loses second and I'm in neutral again and revving the motor like a tool.

It's possible that I'm not shifting with enough authority, but this isn't happening during the shift so I'm not convinced that it's user error.  On the other hand, letting my shop open the tranny up might be asking for alot of downtime and future problems, so that may not be the best option either.

Anyone have any advice they could share?

[Speeddog]

Has the bike ever been down on the left side?
Perhaps the external shifting parts are binding or hitting something?

It could be something as simple as the shifting mechanism (under the left engine sidecover) needing adjustment.

It shouldn't be popping out of gear.

[bigjilm]

Thanks for the response.  It's never been down, and there's nothing visually wrong with the shifting mechanism. 

Forgive my ignorance - I've never seen the inside of a Duc transmission before.  I've seen a disassembled Ninja transmission, so this logic may have no bearing on a Ducati.

If I recall correctly, the gears were cut on an angle, so once it was in gear and under power it was hard to pull it out of gear.  If the Duc is similar, this would tell me that there's something seriously wrong with the second gear - either the teeth are not angled or are rounded off, or the mechanism isn't letting the gear mesh properly (not getting "far enough into gear").

Am I far off?

[Raux]

my 696 was hard to get into gear, i mean you really had to jam it in there for awhile until things wore in.

[Howie]

Thanks for the response.  It's never been down, and there's nothing visually wrong with the shifting mechanism. 

Forgive my ignorance - I've never seen the inside of a Duc transmission before.  I've seen a disassembled Ninja transmission, so this logic may have no bearing on a Ducati.

If I recall correctly, the gears were cut on an angle, so once it was in gear and under power it was hard to pull it out of gear.  If the Duc is similar, this would tell me that there's something seriously wrong with the second gear - either the teeth are not angled or are rounded off, or the mechanism isn't letting the gear mesh properly (not getting "far enough into gear").

Am I far off?

What you are saying is correct, sort of.  It is called "back cut".  As you said, this assumes the gear was fully engaged.  What Speeddog is referring to is an adjustment to insure proper engagement.  Either way, you want a paper trail on the problem.

[Porsche Monkey]

If your still under warranty then yes take it in. 

[junior varsity]

normally my first guess is bent shifter, but it seems that has been ruled out, and its no longer "so new" that its a break-in related issue.

take it to the dealer for warranty work is my suggestion

[bigjilm]

Thanks for the advice, guys.  I'm going to drop it off next Monday to have them take a look.

I'm a little gun shy of a teardown, as I've been down that route before and got burned.  That was a truly craptacular dealer, who thankfully is now out of business, and I have alot more trust in my new shop.  If they need to open the tranny, I guess I have to trust that they can get it back together.

BTW, something else happened the last couple of days that makes me think an adjustment may be required.  I noticed that when I went to shift into third, the shifter didn't do the upshift - it just moved to the topstop and didn't actually swap the gear.  I'm thinking that the previous upshift into second didn't entirely happen, leaving the shifter in limbo.  I may have half-assed the previous shift, or maybe something more sinister is happening internally.

I'll post back with results, in case anyone else runs into this problem.

[ungeheuer]

Hope its nothing too serious bigjilm and looking forward to hearing your update re the outome....  

[bigjilm]

Just to finish off the thread, for now, here's the update.

My mechanic took the bike for a spin, and it didn't pop out of gear for him.  We discussed the situation at length, and he said it was almost certainly a problem with me half-assing the shifting and suggested I play with the adjuster on the lever.  He also said that he felt the stock shift lever is too short, and that's contributing to the issue.  I had them make a note in my file, and I may push the issue at the end of the season if it still happens.

By the way - ten years they've serviced Ducati's, and they've never once seen a transmission kick itself out of gear due to internal issues.  I hope that means I'm not the only one ever!

[errazor]

Maybe you should try a different motor oil?

[junior varsity]

why?

[bigjilm]

Maybe you should try a different motor oil?

Interesting...  I'm using Motul full synth right, with another bottle of it in my garage for my next change.  Too slick for the gearbox?  I'm pretty sure it the stuff the shop uses when they do a change, so there's probably hundreds of Duc's tooling around my area with this stuff in them.  Thoughts?

[junior varsity]

Never had a problem at the shop based on oil choice in a dry clutch ducati.

[redxblack]

I was reading on Ducati.ms about the M1100 having stalling issues. This might be related. Good luck with it. And DEFINITELY get it in on warranty!