Hey everyone. New to the Spyder group and bike itself. Purchased used 2014 RSS. Issue I'm having is there is no first gear showing on dash and I know first and reverse go hand in hand so therefore the reverse won't work. So when put in gear from neutral it goes right into second gear no first appears. No lights comes up on dash that there are any faults. But I did do the code check nothing shows not even NO faults appear on screen. Any help is greatly appreciated
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2014 Spyder RSS - No 1st Gear - Any help/ideas?
- Thread starter Neoajax
- Start date
Hey everyone. New to the Spyder group and bike itself. Purchased used 2014 RSS. Issue I'm having is there is no first gear showing on dash and I know first and reverse go hand in hand so therefore the reverse won't work. So when put in gear from neutral it goes right into second gear no first appears. No lights comes up on dash that there are any faults. But I did do the code check nothing shows not even NO faults appear on screen. Any help is greatly appreciated
Welcome to the Forum & posting Neoajax - sorry it's gotta be with a problem! And that it's a bit hard to tell what might be wrong with your Spyder from the little info you've given us, but people have been looking in to see if they can help. 
So in an attempt to get the ideas/discussion started, can you give us a bit more info?? :dontknow: .
Beyond those questions, another thought - what about the oil level - these Spyders have a Dry Sump system & a Wet Clutch, and the Engine & Gearbox/Clutch share the oil, so it's pretty important that you've got the right amount of oil in the reservoir - there is no real 'sump', but once you've stopped the engine, oil WILL very quickly start to drain out of the reservoir & back into the engine/trans, so you can't really/reliably check the oil level unless you check it within 2 mins of riding it for at least a minimum of 10 mins on the road, changing up & down thru the gears; or you've run the engine for long enough to get the oil up to its proper operating temperature - ie, run it for something MORE than 10 mins AND at least 2 fan activation cycles! Checking the oil level more than 2 mins after shutting it down after a ride; using the wrong technique; &/or checking it cold will ALMOST ALWAYS give you a Low reading, and adding oil to a cold Spyder engine/gearbox cos you think the oil level is low when you haven't run it is VERY likely to result in over-filling it.... and either Low oil levels or High oil levels can cause gear selection & change issues, or possibly even worse things!! :gaah:
Over to you... :thumbup:
So in an attempt to get the ideas/discussion started, can you give us a bit more info?? :dontknow: .
- Is your RSS a manual SM5 or is it an SE5?
- Have you actually tried to get reverse & can't, or is that just a supposition?
- What about running it - does the Spyder's engine actually start & run?
- If it does run, can you get it into any gear & get it moving?
- If it does get moving, can you run it up & down thru the gears while it's moving; and
- Can you count how many gears you've actually got if it's moving & you can select some gears?
Beyond those questions, another thought - what about the oil level - these Spyders have a Dry Sump system & a Wet Clutch, and the Engine & Gearbox/Clutch share the oil, so it's pretty important that you've got the right amount of oil in the reservoir - there is no real 'sump', but once you've stopped the engine, oil WILL very quickly start to drain out of the reservoir & back into the engine/trans, so you can't really/reliably check the oil level unless you check it within 2 mins of riding it for at least a minimum of 10 mins on the road, changing up & down thru the gears; or you've run the engine for long enough to get the oil up to its proper operating temperature - ie, run it for something MORE than 10 mins AND at least 2 fan activation cycles! Checking the oil level more than 2 mins after shutting it down after a ride; using the wrong technique; &/or checking it cold will ALMOST ALWAYS give you a Low reading, and adding oil to a cold Spyder engine/gearbox cos you think the oil level is low when you haven't run it is VERY likely to result in over-filling it.... and either Low oil levels or High oil levels can cause gear selection & change issues, or possibly even worse things!! :gaah:
Over to you... :thumbup:
Good morning Sorry new to this so not sure what i should have posted information wise. So its a SM5 transmission, we changed oil to the XP oil and also all new brake pads were put on, we can't get into first so can't get reverse. It runs great 2nd - 5th gears no issues. On dash no error messages or codes. We did try the fault code check nothing comes across not even "no fault". Dash will show neutral then when we put in gear it goes right to 2nd, 1st gear doesn't show.
Snowbelt Spyder
Well-known member
If you are in Neutral, first gear is DOWN on the foot shifter. Second gear is UP. If it’s going straight into second gear, aren’t you going in the wrong direction? Oh, I see the goat got in ahead.
Thanks for that - now know we some of the info, but still need the other answers:
LIST 1
- Your RSS is a manual SM5. :thumbup:
- Have you actually tried to get it into reverse & can't? Or have you simply not tried cos you can't see 1st displayed on the dash? :dontknow:
- The Spyder's engine actually starts & runs. :thumbup:
- Since you said "It runs great 2nd - 5th gears", I guess we can assume that you can get it into a gear & get it moving.
hyea: - Same as above, I guess we can assume that you can run it up & down thru the gears while it's moving. :thumbup:
- Did you count how many gears you can actually get & if so, can you tell us how many? It might seem pedantic, but is it possible that you do actually have 5 gears only the display just isn't showing 1st/reverse? :dontknow: Or is it just that you're not pushing down on the shifter/selector as per the other replies above? :dontknow:
Further questions now.... sorry.
pps: LIST 2
- When did this issue first arise, immediately after the oil change or was it there before that??
- When you changed the oil, how much did you put in?? 5qts, 6qts, or how much?
- When you changed the oil, was there any debris/metallic bits on the magnet in the drain plug?
- Did you change the oil filter too?
- Have you checked the oil level hot & using the correct method since that oil change?
- When checked hot & using the correct method, is the oil level showing anywhere between the low & full marks on the dipstick, or is it showing over-full or under-full??
Last edited:
1. yes SM5
2. tried reverse does nothing
3. yes everything works but 1st and reverse
4. yes drive able if you start in 2nd gear
5. yes shifting is good except when down shifting it's really hard to press down but does go down
6. went through all the gears but didn't count
1. bought it used that way I was aware of the issue
2. when oil was changed the amount that was specified went in it
3. no shaving or metal
4. yes changed filter . I got the whole kit
5. oil was checked hot and cold method
6. Levels were correct
2. tried reverse does nothing
3. yes everything works but 1st and reverse
4. yes drive able if you start in 2nd gear
5. yes shifting is good except when down shifting it's really hard to press down but does go down
6. went through all the gears but didn't count
1. bought it used that way I was aware of the issue
2. when oil was changed the amount that was specified went in it
3. no shaving or metal
4. yes changed filter . I got the whole kit
5. oil was checked hot and cold method
6. Levels were correct
widowmaker2011
Member
Oil level would not affect this in a SM5. ok - so lets skip reverse for a second... so do you have neutral (ie: can you downshift from 2nd to neutral ) and if so , once in neutral what happens when you clutch in and push down hard on the shifter ? nothing ? clunk? clatter?
Your description of being very hard to press down to downshift is telling .... initial observation from 10,000 feet , symptoms sound like bent shift fork BUT a ton of more diagnose needed. A bad reverse solenoid could cause no reverse but should not cause no 1st and would not have any bearing on the difficult/stiff downshift you mention.
Lastly did you check the clutch master cylinder reservoir on the left handlebar to ensure it is full of dot4 brake fluid? low fluid causes serious clutch drag on the sm5 and can cause difficult shifting. this would be evidenced by it wanting to creep forward while sitting still in second.
Your description of being very hard to press down to downshift is telling .... initial observation from 10,000 feet , symptoms sound like bent shift fork BUT a ton of more diagnose needed. A bad reverse solenoid could cause no reverse but should not cause no 1st and would not have any bearing on the difficult/stiff downshift you mention.
Lastly did you check the clutch master cylinder reservoir on the left handlebar to ensure it is full of dot4 brake fluid? low fluid causes serious clutch drag on the sm5 and can cause difficult shifting. this would be evidenced by it wanting to creep forward while sitting still in second.
when put in first I get nothing. It's like 1st disappeared. I have an appointment to get it looked at but there about a month out for service. Everywhere i call the are all backed up. So I thought i would come on here to see if anyone knew
anything. It was worth a shot thinking maybe it was something stupid we were missing. I'm new to the spyder world so have no clue what it can be other than something internal.
So was wondering if I have to the route that it is internal. Guy told me it's $96 an hour for labor if they take engine out looking at about 15 hours work thats $1500 just going in. My thought was maybe taking motor out ourselves
and taking it to get repaired. Did you ever tackle that job? Easy or don't even attempt?
anything. It was worth a shot thinking maybe it was something stupid we were missing. I'm new to the spyder world so have no clue what it can be other than something internal.
So was wondering if I have to the route that it is internal. Guy told me it's $96 an hour for labor if they take engine out looking at about 15 hours work thats $1500 just going in. My thought was maybe taking motor out ourselves
and taking it to get repaired. Did you ever tackle that job? Easy or don't even attempt?
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