Shifting issue from 4th to 5th

[jpool]

Interesting @jpool . Very curious to hear if it was a miss assembled tranny that led to the bent fork, as mine was. If so we can trace it back to at least 2011.

At $4000+ a bike to do these warranty repairs this HAS to be something Triumph is watching closely.

My gearbox is already put together with new parts and the engine is waiting to go back in the frame, but my mechanic couldn't tell the exact failure mechanism for certain. Luckily for Triumph, my bike is already well out of warranty, so I get to pay the repairs out of my own pocket

@Claviger / @AnungUnRama : Did you by any chance have problems with your bikes dropping out of 1st gear when new (<5k miles)? This problem has been reported by several captains, and it usually goes away once the transmission is "broken in". My bike did this when new, and I'm wondering if that was a sign of the 1st / 4th shift fork being somehow misaligned from the factory.

 

[sonny]

Now I fell lucky. 16.500 miles on a Rocket X bought new in Oct. and no issues at all. Completely stock. Not making any changes until the warranty expires.

 

[Claviger]

It did drop out of first once or twice, but most of my grief was with 2nd gear. The shift fork was so "off" that the outside of the gear was hitting the fork bouncing it away from the gear.

When I go to the dealer next I'll get pics. I have the bill of materials for all the parts, but, it's basically a whole new input and output section + drum.

Thinking we might want to make a list of owners diagnosed with bent forks / worn dogs, it might be more people than are obvious.

 

[AnungUnRama]

Wow and I thoughit it was just me who had bad luck. This does seem like a pretty expensive issue to not keep an eye on. Out of warranty they said like 3.4K for the service to be done. And with all the problems I've had so far I am really worried when it expires.

So here's the story.

I picked up the bike up earlier this week, was so excited to get the beast back home and ride. To my dismay, last night when I got home from a longer night ride, I noticed the top part of the engine was moist. After closer inspection, I am now leaking oil at the head gasket on both sides......

And after further inspection....it looks like they damaged the engine casing. I noticed a pretty large chip behind the oil box and a smaller crack near the footpeg on airbox side. I am rather displeased and will be calling the dealer when they open today. Literally asking for the engine casing to be replaced or for a new bike. I'm at wits end here.

 

[AnungUnRama]

@jpool I have never had issues with first gear. When I bought the bike, I had issues from 3rd to 4th, but chalked it up with non positive shifting. Then the 4th to 5th became extremely reproducible and figured it wasnt good. I only have 3.5K miles on it now so I can only assume this was from the factory, especially if others are experiencing the issue as well.

 

[jpool]

Sorry to hear about the new troubles @AnungUnRama, please keep us posted on how things turn out. Is the oil leak from the cam cover gasket or the head gasket? Cam cover gasket will be a quick and easy fix. I'd be surprised if they actually removed the head during your transmission work. You don't need to remove the cam cover either, but maybe they just wanted to take a quick look at the top end while the motor was out.

Cracked engine case sounds very bad, hopefully that's not the case or you'll be in for a new engine or a new bike.

 

[AnungUnRama]

Just got the R3 back yesterday. The oil that was leaking all over the side of the engine was from when they were servicing the engine. I guess they had the engine tipped and some oil leaked on the top and caked on, and when the bike warmed up after some riding, it started to leak down. They sprayed engine down and tested for leak, nothing after which was good.

The engine case "crack" is allegedly chipped paint. I took some photos for my records and they touched in up with some paint. It is in a really bizarre spot and more than likely was like this from the factory as I cant imagine how the chip could have occurred during service. They were nice enough to lend me this for the week as well:

@Claviger looks like you are not alone ha! The tech said he basically had to redo the transmission as well and thinks my bike shifts incredibly better than the other R3 they have on the floor. Wonder if Triumph is keeping an eye on this issue as it seems to be cropping up with a few other people as well.

@mark1400 I would keep a serious eye on this as this is exactly how mine started. Happened a few times from 3rd-4th and then out of no where it was game over.


After it is all said and done was about a month + 1 week. Put in as much riding as I could this weekend. Feels good to be back in the saddle (for now haha)

 

[jpool]

Congrats on getting your beast back @AnungUnRama! I also got mine back last Saturday, and it's also shifting much smoother / with less effort than it ever did before the repair.

 

[Claviger]

Glad this worked out for you @AnungUnRama and @jpool . Looks like all three of us suffered the same issue, and all have better shifting bikes afterwards. Just got mine back on the 4th

Glad they made it right for you both, and that's not a terrible loaner!

 

[AnungUnRama]

Glad to hear you guys are back in the saddle. Hopefully it will stay that way haha! I can definitely say it is shifting much much smoother. 1st > 2nd still has a little more oomf to it which isn't surprising but the rest is like butter. I'm ripping through the gears with out any hiccups