Clunks shifting into Reverse fm Neutral on S2S - I don't like it!

[MCole]

I have found that when shifting into Reverse from Neutral I get a clunk. Started shifting to Reverse from 1st gear and slips right into gear very easy. Was told the clunk is normal but I still don't like it.

 

[NorwegianRT]

I get those clunks on my RTS also, but they vary in "loudness". Sometimes it shifts real smooth, but that is more seldom than the normal clunks.
I have learned to ignore it and just ride without concern due to all the people here saying it is normal for the Spyders.

 

[Bfromla]

Let oil warm up more b4 going to gear. Will still be there just not as loud

 

[BajaRon]

Nature of the beast. You must have never owned a constant mesh transmission vehicle before. No one likes it. But it doesn't hurt anything and the clunk from neutral will never go away.

 

[Peter Aawen]

I have found that when shifting into Reverse from Neutral I get a clunk. Started shifting to Reverse from 1st gear and slips right into gear very easy. Was told the clunk is normal but I still don't like it.

You might not 'like it', but truly, it really is 'Normal'; it's due to basic physics - I think it was Newton who came up with the First Law of Motion, which IIRC goes something like this: An object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion without variation of speed or direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.... So really, it's something you might want to get used to if you like riding motorbikes with Constant Mesh Transmissions... hyea:

There's a few things you can do to minimise the clunk as mentioned above, but since basic physics (see above) basically tells us that 'All objects resist changes in their state of motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force' then that 'clunk' is simply a feature of engaging the 'already in motion' engine side of your Spyder's Constant Mesh Transmission with the 'at rest' part of the driveline because it's in Neutral. But once you've selected & gone into a gear, any gear (the application/action of an unbalanced force ) and thereby made both sides of that 'constant mesh' gearbox spin at effectively the same speed, producing a 'clunk' as the whole thing resists the change in motion, it won't/shouldn't clunk again while ever you are moving &/or just shifting up & down thru the gears; at least not until you select Neutral once again (which will eventually stop the output side of the trans from turning any more), &/or stop the motor (which will stop the input side of this equation from turning!) :thumbup:

But due to all that ^^, there's really NOTHING you can do to get rid of the clunk completely - in fact, if you did, you really should be concerned about what had gone wrong with your gearbox?! :lecturef_smilie:




Hang on, thinking about it a bit more, there IS something you can do to 'get rid of that clunk completely' - but since it's selling the Spyder, and never buying another NOR ever buying any other motorbike &/or other vehicle with a constant mesh gearbox like those that so many of these things have, I reckon that if you're anything like the rest of us who enjoy Spyder riding, then that's probably not on the cards!! :dontknow:

Sorry, but them's the breaks! That's just the way the cookie crumbles and the way selecting First or Reverse gear from Neutral clunks! pps:

 

[2dogs]

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/search.php?searchid=4214199

Mod Edit: Sorry, but copying & pasting links to Search Results pages won't work; you need to tell people the search criteria you entered. pps:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Let oil warm up more b4 going to gear. Will still be there just not as loud

In my experience it's not the oil Temperature that reduces the " clunk " ..... it's the REV's ....When I start my 14 Spyder RT from / at ambient temp., if I wait till the rev's drop to 800 rpm's ( about 45 seconds of waiting ) , I put it in First, ( even if I'm eventually going to back up ) , this reduces the CLUNK considerably. .....Then I hit reverse, and there is NO CLUNK at all .....Mike :thumbup:

 

[2dogs]

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/search.php?searchid=4214199

Mod Edit: Sorry, but copying & pasting links to Search Results pages won't work; you need to tell people the search criteria you entered. pps:

OOPs sorry. I just searched the word "clunk" in the top right corner of the forum page.

 

[Gwolf]

Clunks are normal on most motorcycles. I have owned bikes that you could be sitting at idle on dirt, clutch pulled all the way, and the rear tire would spin half a rotation when you dropped it in first. The idle RPM was set correctly too. The Spider clunk is a huge improvement over the clunks of some 60s and 70s sport bikes.

 

[GDoc]

You might not 'like it', but truly, it really is 'Normal'; it's due to basic physics - I think it was Newton who came up with the First Law of Motion, which IIRC goes something like this: An object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion without variation of speed or direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.... So really, it's something you might want to get used to if you like riding motorbikes with Constant Mesh Transmissions... hyea:

There's a few things you can do to minimise the clunk as mentioned above, but since basic physics (see above) basically tells us that 'All objects resist changes in their state of motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force' then that 'clunk' is simply a feature of engaging the 'already in motion' engine side of your Spyder's Constant Mesh Transmission with the 'at rest' part of the driveline because it's in Neutral. But once you've selected & gone into a gear, any gear (the application/action of an unbalanced force ) and thereby made both sides of that 'constant mesh' gearbox spin at effectively the same speed, producing a 'clunk' as the whole thing resists the change in motion, it won't/shouldn't clunk again while ever you are moving &/or just shifting up & down thru the gears; at least not until you select Neutral once again (which will eventually stop the output side of the trans from turning any more), &/or stop the motor (which will stop the input side of this equation from turning!) :thumbup:

But due to all that ^^, there's really NOTHING you can do to get rid of the clunk completely - in fact, if you did, you really should be concerned about what had gone wrong with your gearbox?! :lecturef_smilie:




Hang on, thinking about it a bit more, there IS something you can do to 'get rid of that clunk completely' - but since it's selling the Spyder, and never buying another NOR ever buying any other motorbike &/or other vehicle with a constant mesh gearbox like those that so many of these things have, I reckon that if you're anything like the rest of us who enjoy Spyder riding, then that's probably not on the cards!! :dontknow:

Sorry, but them's the breaks! That's just the way the cookie crumbles and the way selecting First or Reverse gear from Neutral clunks! pps:

Peter, thanks for your reply to the original author of this question, I knew it was normal for the transmission to "CLUNK" but didn't know the type of transmission is in the Spyders. When you think about it, "Ingenious" the way it works. I didn't know the " Constant Mesh Transmission". Thanks for your reply. GDoc

 

[AstroTom]

Fairly new Spyder rider here, and yes, the clunk is unnerving, and I came from riding Harleys, which are known for klunking when going into gear. I used to joke that inside the motor, Harley had a patented, spring loaded brass hammer that smacked the inside of the engine case when shifting from neutral into first.

After seeing this question posted many times here on the forum, and reading the reassuring words of experienced Spyder riders, I just let 'er clunk away. The very first time I put it into reverse it's quite loud, but after that, it usually just clicks.

For the Harley, I found using one particular brand of oil, as well as pulling in the clutch and counting to three before putting it into gear, pretty much completely eliminated the clunk. The Spyder is a Horse of a Different Color, so who knows is oil has any affect on shifting. Uh, ohhh, hope I didn't just accidently push the OIL THREAD! button.

 

[TheMariner]

Uh, ohhh, hope I didn't just accidently push the OIL THREAD! button.

:clap: