Won't come out of 1st gear

[xpeschon]

I have looked at several threats on the problem about the shifting that we are having,, I do know there is a service bullet released the first part of December but I believe I am developing some of these sythoms now.. Here is whats going on with mine,,,,

Specs: 2008 Automatic 300 miles on this machine.

When stopping to park or stopping to back into a parking spot after the machine shifts into 1st gear it will not allow me to go to the N position,, I have to PLAY with the - (minus) shifter several times, I have done the rocking back and forth method ( this does help at all ),, it seems that if I play with the minus shifter ( tap it several times fast) it will eventually find the N spot then I can procede with the parking or shutting down the engine.. My wife is new to the whole motorcycle areana, infact she just got her permit on Tuesday so we went out to dinner last night, she was on the spyder and me on my bike, well it did it to her on 2 occations and I also rode the spyder to DMV to get the title fixed the day prior and it did it to me twice--- its actually kind of embarrasing when you pull into a place (DMV) and attempt to back into a parking spot so--- you pull up and position yourself to back in and you can't get the thing in N to get to Reverse---SUX actually--I mean people our outside the DMV looking and pointing at the spyder and I looked stupid in the fact that I don't know what I am doing in order to back in,, after about 45 seconds of messing with the switch it finally did its thing--same thing last night at RYANS when the wife was backing in.. I can't operate like this, I really don't mind the embarrasment part its just the fact of the matter that at a complete stop I should be able to get to N with one tap of the button..
Your thoughts please??
Joe

[GaryTheBadger]

Was service bulletin 2009-1 performed? See this thread for more info: http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...ghlight=2009-1

[xpeschon]

No-- I just bought this March 13th and the first 150 miles or so it never missed a beat now its acting up.. I informed the dealer about it but he stated to me that "it needs to get broken in"--- I plan on bringing this service bulletin up during out next phone call TODAY.. Thanks for the fast response..
Joe

[NancysToy]

No-- I just bought this March 13th and the first 150 miles or so it never missed a beat now its acting up.. I informed the dealer about it but he stated to me that "it needs to get broken in"--- I plan on bringing this service bulletin up during out next phone call TODAY.. Thanks for the fast response..
Joe

Find a new dealer.....pronto!
-Scotty

[bjt]

Find a new dealer.....pronto!
-Scotty

Imagine if you bought a new car, it wouldn't shift into reverse and the guy at the dealership told you its not broken in yet, give it a few months...

[NancysToy]

Imagine if you bought a new car, it wouldn't shift into reverse and the guy at the dealership told you its not broken in yet, give it a few months...

Yeah, like 'til the warranty runs out, for instance.
-Scotty

[mike3069]

I have looked at several threats on the problem about the shifting that we are having,, I do know there is a service bullet released the first part of December but I believe I am developing some of these sythoms now.. Here is whats going on with mine,,,,

Specs: 2008 Automatic 300 miles on this machine.

When stopping to park or stopping to back into a parking spot after the machine shifts into 1st gear it will not allow me to go to the N position,, I have to PLAY with the - (minus) shifter several times, I have done the rocking back and forth method ( this does help at all ),, it seems that if I play with the minus shifter ( tap it several times fast) it will eventually find the N spot then I can procede with the parking or shutting down the engine.. My wife is new to the whole motorcycle areana, infact she just got her permit on Tuesday so we went out to dinner last night, she was on the spyder and me on my bike, well it did it to her on 2 occations and I also rode the spyder to DMV to get the title fixed the day prior and it did it to me twice--- its actually kind of embarrasing when you pull into a place (DMV) and attempt to back into a parking spot so--- you pull up and position yourself to back in and you can't get the thing in N to get to Reverse---SUX actually--I mean people our outside the DMV looking and pointing at the spyder and I looked stupid in the fact that I don't know what I am doing in order to back in,, after about 45 seconds of messing with the switch it finally did its thing--same thing last night at RYANS when the wife was backing in.. I can't operate like this, I really don't mind the embarrasment part its just the fact of the matter that at a complete stop I should be able to get to N with one tap of the button..
Your thoughts please??
Joe

"after the machine shifts into 1st gear it will not allow me to go to the N position,, I have to PLAY with the - (minus) shifter several times"

N is BETWEEN 1st and 2nd gear, NOT BELOW (+ from 1st gear, not -)


"you pull up and position yourself to back in and you can't get the thing in N to get to Reverse"

Reverse is BELOW (-) 1st GEAR. You MUST be in 1st gear BEFORE it will shift into reverse (press - while in 1st gear AND use REVERSE LEVER/SWITCH)


Turns out this is only true for SM5! Click here to jump http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...8&postcount=25

[aubierules]

Find a new dealer.....pronto!
-Scotty

..WHAT A MORON

[spyryder]

From the SE5 operators guide:

Shifting into reverse (SE5 Model)

1. With engine running. the roadster stopped, and the brake depressed, shift into first gear or neutral.

2. Press and hold the reverse button.

3. Pull the gearshift selector toward you to downshift into reverse.

Doesn't look like you need to be in neutral before shifting to reverse.

[xpeschon]

First of all---Thank a million Mike3069—It was very nice of you to explain to me how these things shift, I am kind of an old school guy in the fact of the matter is that all I have ever owned is CLUTCHER’s and SHIFTER type Motorcycle, so again thanks buddy and it was very nice to talk to you on the phone today so that you could better explain it to me,, I totally understand after our conversation.. Now to spyryder—again great information, I should have looked in the book myself,, I will be honest with you I have only glanced at the book when I first got it and also looked at the video, I can tell you this, through the course of the next few days I will STUDY and UNDERSTAND everything that’s in the book that’s for sure.. There is so much knowledge on this site I really enjoy being here however for NancysToy--- Come on --it appears that you have been a LONG TIME member and the remark about you saying in bold print: Find a new dealer…..pronto! is not the info I wanted to hear and to add to this,a good dealer in this area, infact a dealer at all is hard to find so I am limited on this one.. Now to aubierules-- I am having some difficulty in understand who you are speaking of when you wrote in cap letters: WHAT A MORON, who where you talking about by the way? If it’s me and I feel that it could be possible me or is it NancysToy cause you posted his Originally post, confused here however---------I have come to the conclusion that I will limit my questions to this forum simply cause of some of the sarcasm that goes on mainly from Senior Members from what I can see.. I will PM messages to the members instead of posting cause there are some GREAT people here instead of posting from now on and there are times where I know I will need some info.. Again, thank you so much mike3069 and spyryder I know I can count on you via PM to answer any questions that I may have..
Joe

[aubierules]

First of all---Thank a million Mike3069—It was very nice of you to explain to me how these things shift, I am kind of an old school guy in the fact of the matter is that all I have ever owned is CLUTCHER’s and SHIFTER type Motorcycle, so again thanks buddy and it was very nice to talk to you on the phone today so that you could better explain it to me,, I totally understand after our conversation.. Now to spyryder—again great information, I should have looked in the book myself,, I will be honest with you I have only glanced at the book when I first got it and also looked at the video, I can tell you this, through the course of the next few days I will STUDY and UNDERSTAND everything that’s in the book that’s for sure.. There is so much knowledge on this site I really enjoy being here however for NancysToy--- Come on --it appears that you have been a LONG TIME member and the remark about you saying in bold print: Find a new dealer…..pronto! is not the info I wanted to hear and to add to this,a good dealer in this area, infact a dealer at all is hard to find so I am limited on this one.. Now to aubierules-- I am having some difficulty in understand who you are speaking of when you wrote in cap letters: WHAT A MORON, who where you talking about by the way? If it’s me and I feel that it could be possible me or is it NancysToy cause you posted his Originally post, confused here however---------I have come to the conclusion that I will limit my questions to this forum simply cause of some of the sarcasm that goes on mainly from Senior Members from what I can see.. I will PM messages to the members instead of posting cause there are some GREAT people here instead of posting from now on and there are times where I know I will need some info.. Again, thank you so much mike3069 and spyryder I know I can count on you via PM to answer any questions that I may have..
Joe

i was referring to the dealer, NOT nancys toy OR u

[xpeschon]

Cool,, got it--thanks, maybe its me not really knowing how this forum works,, Thank you...

Joe

[NancysToy]

NancysToy--- Come on --it appears that you have been a LONG TIME member and the remark about you saying in bold print: Find a new dealer…..pronto! is not the info I wanted to hear and to add to this,a good dealer in this area, infact a dealer at all is hard to find so I am limited on this one..

Joe, I am sorry if I offended you. I do stand by what I said, though. Any dealer who refuses to address a serious problem like you have, or any problem for that matter, by blowing off the customer in this way should not be in business! I am truly sorry he is the only one around. He acted irresponsibly. This is not a way to sell Spyders, support them, or treat a customer, IMO. I hope you at least tell him that you are very unhappy with his flip remark.
-Scotty

[Big Arm]

(good thing bone crusher didn't give his advice)

[redbarber]

"after the machine shifts into 1st gear it will not allow me to go to the N position,, I have to PLAY with the - (minus) shifter several times"

N is BETWEEN 1st and 2nd gear, NOT BELOW (+ from 1st gear, not -)


"you pull up and position yourself to back in and you can't get the thing in N to get to Reverse"

Reverse is BELOW (-) 1st GEAR. You MUST be in 1st gear BEFORE it will shift into reverse (press - while in 1st gear AND use REVERSE LEVER/SWITCH)

Sure seems to me that N is between R and 1. Does that mean my SE5 is broken? It's a 2008, about 220 miles.

[xpeschon]

You are correct in your statement, and I do agree with you.. The fact remains that this is the only dealer in the area with-out driving 3 hours to get to another one.. You didn't really offend me but after looking at Mikes message to me and having a GREAT conversation on the phone with him it appears that I had a case of the dumb A%$ it sounds, but I will be honest with you and all members I TRULY did not know the correct procedures to get the machine from 1st to N, now I do, and as for the reverse, I'm squard away there as well,, I haven't rode the machine today cause of the weather but the first chance I get you better beleive I'll be on it.. Now about the dealer Scotty (and all members) I posted this message at like 5:00 in the morning on the forum,, when I got to work I logged into my computer and looked up the Dealership (Cowtown Cuba MO) and emailed them several Threads from this forum,,, As you already know there was a service bulletin released in December about this,, at about 3:00PM the dealership called me and left a voice mail about the so called problem that I have,, I then found time to call him back about an hour ago and here is what he told me,, believe it or not " Joe, Ok I talked to BRP about the situation that you are having with your bike" I then said OK, he then stated " your machine does not have the same sythoms but we are going to perform the service bulletin on your machine and all the parts got ordered today",, I then asked him how do I properly get the machine from 1st to N,, he told me that the "best to his knowledge is that you hit the minus button",, we all know now thats incorrect,, I told him about the message from Mike and he said "Hang On",, He then went to ask another person and sure enough he said the same thing,, I then informed him of the message from Mike,, I then explained it to him,, He said " you know what, that sounds correct in accordance with the gear pattern", so there you have it, even the dealers Service guys didn't know that, so I guess I'm not the only one... Now I really have a problem,, if the Spyder doen't act up any more and the shifting is fine,, do I have them do the service Bullet for which they have ordered the parts and willing to take care of it FREE OF CHARGE.. ****, what should I do here??
I mean if they do not know how to get it in N the correct way do I let them start replacing parts that probably don't need it cause of Driver error, yah I said it, Drivers error, ME... Hard decition for sure..
Just thought I would update you.. No hard feeling at all Scotty, Thank you.
Joe

[NancysToy]

Thanks for the update Joe. I am glad that on the second try the dealer took the right approach, and did not ignore your problem like the first time. Even if it was operator error (and there is certainly a learning curve), he should have tried to help. I guess there is hope for him. As to the fix or not, I think I would ride your Spyder a bit more before I decided. Maybe even talk over the situation with your dealer, and ask which he prefers. He may want to do the repair regardless. It will also help him to understand some of the things he may need to teach new owners, or ones with the same problem. Glad to have you on board with us all. We may wisecrack a bit, but we are a good group of folks with lots of knowledge, and nobody is really mean here. Hope we didn't scare you off.
-Scoty

[zzneonzz]

You are correct in your statement, and I do agree with you.. The fact remains that this is the only dealer in the area with-out driving 3 hours to get to another one.. You didn't really offend me but after looking at Mikes message to me and having a GREAT conversation on the phone with him it appears that I had a case of the dumb A%$ it sounds, but I will be honest with you and all members I TRULY did not know the correct procedures to get the machine from 1st to N, now I do, and as for the reverse, I'm squard away there as well,, I haven't rode the machine today cause of the weather but the first chance I get you better beleive I'll be on it.. Now about the dealer Scotty (and all members) I posted this message at like 5:00 in the morning on the forum,, when I got to work I logged into my computer and looked up the Dealership (Cowtown Cuba MO) and emailed them several Threads from this forum,,, As you already know there was a service bulletin released in December about this,, at about 3:00PM the dealership called me and left a voice mail about the so called problem that I have,, I then found time to call him back about an hour ago and here is what he told me,, believe it or not " Joe, Ok I talked to BRP about the situation that you are having with your bike" I then said OK, he then stated " your machine does not have the same sythoms but we are going to perform the service bulletin on your machine and all the parts got ordered today",, I then asked him how do I properly get the machine from 1st to N,, he told me that the "best to his knowledge is that you hit the minus button",, we all know now thats incorrect,, I told him about the message from Mike and he said "Hang On",, He then went to ask another person and sure enough he said the same thing,, I then informed him of the message from Mike,, I then explained it to him,, He said " you know what, that sounds correct in accordance with the gear pattern", so there you have it, even the dealers Service guys didn't know that, so I guess I'm not the only one... Now I really have a problem,, if the Spyder doen't act up any more and the shifting is fine,, do I have them do the service Bullet for which they have ordered the parts and willing to take care of it FREE OF CHARGE.. ****, what should I do here??
I mean if they do not know how to get it in N the correct way do I let them start replacing parts that probably don't need it cause of Driver error, yah I said it, Drivers error, ME... Hard decition for sure..
Just thought I would update you.. No hard feeling at all Scotty, Thank you.
Joe

As for performing the servie update its completely up to you. I have a 2008 SE5 with 6800 miles and even though i didn't have shifting problems I opted to go ahead with the service bulliten but its just that a bulliten and not a recall so its completely up to you if you let them perform it. What i would do is just ride it till you take it in for service and have them do it at that time to keep from having to be without your spyder an additional time.

With the dealers lack of knowledge on shifting would make me want to try to find a new dealer relatively close. Or if you can travel set up an apointment with another dealer and just take a road trip

[Mo Lee]

Hey Joe I hope you don't have any more problems. Reading thru this thread I really don't understand the shifting procedures discussed since mine is SM5. Like someone said I would talk to Cowtown and try to have the repairs done on the first service and knowing you, that will be soon. When I had my first service done at our dealer they gave me the impression that mine was one of the first if not the first service they had done. They are learning them just like us, I am impressed by their eagerness to help and they do have a lot of experience with powersports products.

[xpeschon]

Mo Lee zzneonzz NancysToy--- Thanks for the advice guys,,, I will have to really consider this, I do plan to see how it goes during the next 300 miles and go from there,, I will keep you posted on the activity. I'm in a somewhat of a hard spot, one hand tells me to go ahead and have the bulletin done and the other hand says---and the other hand says if I do not have any problem with it why bother..... Well see,, time will tell I guess.. Hey MO LEE there is a group of us going to Joplin MO to a casenio on Saturday Morning, link up time is 0700 AM at Price Cutters for Breakfast if you are interested,, I will be on the AERO for this trip and not the Spyder, so if you are interested bring it on.... Straight down I-44 should be home by 7:00 PM,, bring out the Valyk brother.. Again thanks guys.

Joe

[Mo Lee]

Thanks for the invite but if the weather is right I may take the Spyder down to Willow Springs and say Hi to my family Haven,t been down there since Christmas. Actually I should do a little yard work. Say safe and watch out for cages.

Lee

[aubierules]

(good thing bone crusher didn't give his advice)

[aubierules]

I then asked him how do I properly get the machine from 1st to N,, he told me that the "best to his knowledge is that you hit the minus button",, we all know now thats incorrect,,

ok im confooosed...i have an se5 and all i have to do to get from first to neutral is hit the downshift(-) button once.....

[mike3069]

OK, I got a bit curious and started doing some digging. The following blue text is copied from the 2009 Spyder GS owners manual online at the factory site.

page 12

4) Gearshift Lever (SM5 Model)
The gearshift lever is in front of the left
footrest.
The gear pattern is Reverse-1-Neutral-
2-3-4-5.

I can not find a straight forward gear pattern for the SE5. See the red text below.

page 13

To shift into neutral from first gear or
reverse, briefly press or pull the gear
selector. A longer activation will shift
over neutral. Refer to 7) SHIFTING
(p.55) for detailed instructions.
When the gearshift selector is released,
the mechanism resets for the
next shift up or down.
If operator does not downshift when
slowing down and engine rpm's drop
below a threshold value, the TCM will
automatically downshift gearbox to
the next available gear.
The TCM also automatically shifts the
transmission into neutral if the vehicle
is started with transmission in gear.

page 56

7a) Practice Using the Gear Selector
at a Stop
First, while stopped, practice to single
shift between reverse, neutral and first
gear. Then practice to:
– Double shift from reverse to first
gear
– Double shift from first to reverse
gear
– Repeat until you are comfortable.

This indicates that the pattern is R-N-1-2-3-4-5.

So who has one that works and can tell us what it REALLY is?

[Dudley]

OK, I got a bit curious and started doing some digging. The following blue text is copied from the 2009 Spyder GS owners manual online at the factory site.

page 12

4) Gearshift Lever (SM5 Model)
The gearshift lever is in front of the left
footrest.
The gear pattern is Reverse-1-Neutral-
2-3-4-5.

I can not find a straight forward gear pattern for the SE5. See the red text below.

page 13

To shift into neutral from first gear or
reverse, briefly press or pull the gear
selector. A longer activation will shift
over neutral. Refer to 7) SHIFTING
(p.55) for detailed instructions.
When the gearshift selector is released,
the mechanism resets for the
next shift up or down.
If operator does not downshift when
slowing down and engine rpm's drop
below a threshold value, the TCM will
automatically downshift gearbox to
the next available gear.
The TCM also automatically shifts the
transmission into neutral if the vehicle
is started with transmission in gear.

page 56

7a) Practice Using the Gear Selector
at a Stop
First, while stopped, practice to single
shift between reverse, neutral and first
gear. Then practice to:
– Double shift from reverse to first
gear
– Double shift from first to reverse
gear
– Repeat until you are comfortable.

This indicates that the pattern is R-N-1-2-3-4-5.

So who has one that works and can tell us what it REALLY is?

Well, here's the way mine works. When I come to a stop and want to put it in Neutral, I pull up on the shift bar (-). When I want reverse, I pull up on the shift bar (-) and while holding it, I push the reverse button. To get back into Neutral from reverse, I push the shift bar (+) one time. To get to 1st I push it twice. Each push or pull on the shift bar is done slowly and firmly. Neutral is not between any gear. It is the last gear on the negative push. You cannot get to neutral except from a negative push from first after a complete stop or a positive push if you are in reverse. I can start the engine if it is still in 1st gear, but the foot brake MUST be applied. When that happens the transmission goes to neutral when the engine starts.