[hallfleming]

So right after the break in miles, my bike will not shift 90% of the time in any gear above 8.5k rpm. First gear seems to be the worst, misses every time. I have to let the revs drop before said rpm to get it to shift.

I took it to the dealer, they confirmed and opened a case with Kawasaki. Kawasaki said to pull the clutch cover and check the shifter shaft, etc which they did and found nothing. The next suggestion from Kawasaki was to have the customer ride it for the next hundred or so miles and see if it corrects it self. Nice.

Anyone else have a similar issue?

Thanks in advance,

Hall

 

[TwelveGaugeSage]

Just for clarity, you are in first, for example, accelerating to 9000ish rpm, and trying to shift into second, right? Does it hit neutral? Are you clutched all the way in with the throttle closed? Does the shifter feel like it is even trying to enter the gear? Does the one ever disappear from the gear indicator during all of this? Have you let anyone else ride it to see if they get the same result?

I know these are a lot of questions, I'm just trying to get a feel for the exact issue.

 

[hallfleming]

Thanks for the response! Great questions. I rode it earlier so I could verify the symptoms.

-Problem happens shifting 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th after 9000ish rpm.
-Verified it doesn't hit neutral.
-Throttle is closed during shifts and verified the clutch cable is adjusted correctly.
-I feel some mechanical movement through the shifter like linkage is moving the fork as far as I can tell with my foot.
-The gear indicator doesn't disappear, shows the same gear your shifting from during the failed attempt.
-Yes, the mechanic at the dealer had the same result.

Just for clarity, you are in first, for example, accelerating to 9000ish rpm, and trying to shift into second, right? Does it hit neutral? Are you clutched all the way in with the throttle closed? Does the shifter feel like it is even trying to enter the gear? Does the one ever disappear from the gear indicator during all of this? Have you let anyone else ride it to see if they get the same result?

I know these are a lot of questions, I'm just trying to get a feel for the exact issue.

 

[Mape]

I have the same issue. Mine is intermittent. I chalked it up to occasional bad hand foot coordination. I have since tightened all motor mount bolts and installed a proper heim joint and hasn’t happened since.

 

[hallfleming]

Interesting you say this. I knew that several 2017's were at the dealer for loose motor mounts that would eventually break the exhaust at the mounts. I rolled my bike back in for the mechanic to tighten them but changed my mind! Shouldn't have 2nd guessed myself. Maybe I should try that next.

Thank you.

I have the same issue. Mine is intermittent. I chalked it up to occasional bad hand foot coordination. I have since tightened all motor mount bolts and installed a proper heim joint and hasn’t happened since.

 

[Mape]

It was the low one behind sprocket left side and brake pedal right side for me.

 

[hallfleming]

Bike is fixed!!! It was the motor mounts. Bottom was super loose. Shifts fine now with proper torque on the mounting bolts. Thanks Mape!

 

[Zaph]

Interesting. Are you talking about the one below the sprocket and towards the back about 2 inches? Wouldn't hurt for everyone to check theirs out.

I was going to recommend an unobtainium GCraft shift shaft. These have been known to sometimes solve simialr problems. But GCraft apparently stopped making them.

 

[hallfleming]

To be honest, I'm not sure. I asked the dealer to do it since I'm friends with all the guys there. He said the top motor mount was a little loose and the bottom one (i think behind the rearset) was way loose. I can ask. Don't mind.

Interesting. Are you talking about the one below the sprocket and towards the back about 2 inches? Wouldn't hurt for everyone to check theirs out.

I was going to recommend an unobtainium GCraft shift shaft. These have been known to sometimes solve simialr problems. But GCraft apparently stopped making them.

 

[pinman]

gratz hallfleming on getting the problem fixed. i'm having a different problem with mine not going over 8000k rpm that i'm troubleshooting but i'll check the motor mounts on mine just incase (as mape suggested).

 

[MikeStone182]

Yes this happens very often. There was a company that offered a shift shaft support that seemed to make it better but I wasn't able to get my hands on one before they went out of stock. Like you said, if you shift at 9k+ it does not want to change gears. Not a false neutral or anything, it just doesn't switch. It's intermittent but I definitely noticed on my 2018 and 2017 models.

 

[eyeopenher]

i will say, i have had something weird happen about 5 times so far in 1500 miles... i will shift into 4th, and it surly is in 4th gear at the time, a second later, it will slip out of gear and rev freely... i then pull in the clutch with the quickness, and shift into 4th again and then its fine....

i cant remember if the indicator light shows nothing or it says 3rd when this happens...

 

[Ls13ater]

Mine done this and I ended up tightening the engine mount bolt and it helps a lot!

 

[eyeopenher]

Yes, my lower, rear motor mount was loose. Started as a slight buzzing in the pegs and went to the hard shift. Tightened up that bolt and we were good to go.... it only was a half a turn out. But that half a turn surely made the little bugger vibrate bad...

 

[Spaceteach]

This is amazing! Mine would often shift from 1st into neutral instead of second gear. I came across this thread, tried torquing the mounts to spec, and it seems to be fixed. Many thanks to all of you who posted on this thread. By the way, I first put a wrench on the lower rear mount and it seemed to be tight. I decided to grab the torque wrench and make sure. Like eyeopenher said, it didn't need to be turned much, but that little bit was all it needed to fix the shifting.
FWIW, I had previously tried replacing the cheesy bent rod oem shift linkage with heim joints. They didn't fix the issue, but they did take the slop out of the linkage. I got the joints at my local Ace Hardware. They were labeled rod ends.

 

[Ando]

Wouldn't hurt for everyone to check theirs out.

No joke! Does anyone still have that torque spec handy to post here for future troubleshooting convenience?

 

[Spaceteach]

No joke! Does anyone still have that torque spec handy to post here for future troubleshooting convenience?

Service Manual calls out: Torque-Engine Mounting Nuts: 59 N-m (6.0 Kgf-m, 44 ft-lb) :nerd:

 

[Kaw'ee]

No joke! Does anyone still have that torque spec handy to post here for future troubleshooting convenience?

.
All torque specs here for future use
https://www.z125owners.com/forum/kawasaki-z125-how-diy/15955-torque-specs.html

 

[Ando]

Thanks to both of you!

I've bookmarked Kawee's post and it will be nice to have the spec sitting here for anyone reading this thread down the road.

 

[wbrown12345]

i had a similar problem the shifter brace helped allot. also the motor mounts being loose causes this for whatever reason.