Shifting noise in S50

Y

You bet your wife

New member
I have a new S50 and am becoming more and more concerned about the shifting noise I'm getting mostly going into 3rd but sometimes also into second. Fourth and 5th shift relatively quite. I don't mind the clunk going into a gear but I don't like the grinding noise from the gear teeth hitting 4 to 5 times before it engages. It's even worse when taking off a little hot.

This is a new bike that I've had about 10 weeks and have 2200 mikes on it. It is however a 2005 model that I bought from a Suzuki dealer. I mentioned this problem to the dealer when I took it in for the 600 mile checkup and was told that this shifting noise is normal. I've tried soft shifting, shifting hard, pulling up on the shifter then clutching very quickly, but not much seems to help. I will be setting up another trip to the dealer and am hoping that someone may have suggestions, ideas, or even good questions to ask. I'm on my own here, I haven't rode a bike in many years and don't know anyone else that rides one now.

Additional comments:

...It seems quieter in the morning but gets worse when the bike gets hot.

...It's been in the upper 70s to mid 80s here for the last few weeks.

...Checked the fluids and they are ok.

...The bike has a definite strong pull forward in the morning when I start it.

So if anyone has a comment or ideas I would appreciate the help. I really really like this bike but am starting to think about trading it in if I can't get this better. :sad:

Thanks,
-Mike
 
My local dealer states the cluncking is normal.
Grinding on the other hand is not normal, and should be investigated further.

Hopefully, you are still under some kind of warranty. It sounds like some type of allighnment mis-match in the gears. Try and get in the shop ASAP, if metal shavings flow through out the rest of the trans and engine, there may be more problems to come.
 
...hmmm I asked some of the same quesitons when my C50 was new.

The pull forward in the morning when cold is pretty normal...especially if you are not in neutral...:-)...it is symptomatic of the type of wet clutch we have. I assume S50 would be similar.

clunking definitely is normal...lol...but grinding not. Can you get the service guy to ride it and confirm the bad sounds? That should get a repair going.

does your clutch disengage fully? (is the there a bit of slop in the cable when released?)

Annie
 
Thanks tallannie and Skully.

I've heard the clunking sound on other bikes when I go past one in my car so I've expected that to be normal, but I have never heard to the sound I get with mine. I have a appointment set up for tomorrow morning.

Thanks again,
-Mike
 
I've had several people complain about this on VS800s/ S50s, and each time it has been because they are basically being too gentle when they shift. Shift like you mean it- don't 'tap dance' into gear, put it into gear with authority, and it will go into gear with minimum fuss.
 
It also helps with the S50/VS800 to actually be needing to shift, eg. the engine RPM are ready to be in a different gear.

If you take your time going through the gears, you may have a tendency to grind more, but if you wind it out a bit through each gear, it's less likely to grind when you do shift.
 
I started out soft shifting and thought that was my problem. Maybe I'm unwittingly easing up when I start hearing noise. I'll experiment more tonight.

Or maybe I'm getting to old for this. Oh crap!

-Mike
 
Yes, if I start mine in the morning with the clutch lever in, in 1st, it lurches forward a little. Mine also makes noise when going into gear, know when it DOESN'T make noise?

Two ways, and I have a 4-year warranty, so I would not recommend it. My uncle does it too; I know when to shift without the clutch now, and it just clicks right in to gear, no noise at all. Also, I found that if I only pull the clutch like HALF way in, and shift, no noise... I guess half is better than none, but once you learn the RPM/ROAD speed ratio, it shifts effortlessly without the clutch...

But, as the man said, you PUT it in gear like you mean it... I have found that if you ease it in, there is a purgatory space between each gear, where you get no where, and it is like you are in neutral. Then it grinds a little when you kick it in... Anyhow, the noise is normal, crap, you aught to hear some Harleys, they shift with a nice "Twang" to them too....
 
Thanks for the comments.

I took it out tonight and tried shifting more aggressively at a little more speed. It seemed that 3rd gear was a little better but 2nd gear was worse. I'll see what the dealers say tomorrow.

-Mike
 
When you say second gear, do you meen going from first to second? That one sounds weird to me also. Almosat sounds ratcheting. I'm figuring cause you have to go by neutral. Does that sound right.

Jim
 
I have a 2006 S50 and you have to shift them hard and quickly. A shoe with a hard toe is a must. Same way down shifting. Its been like that forever weither they called it the VS800 or the S50.
 
The problems I'm having are are all with the shifting up. Down shifting is a bunch of nice sounding clunks. The worst upshift is generally from 2nd to 3rd with grinding happening on maybe 1/3 of the shifts. It's worse after the bike gets warmed up and probably worse on hot days. I was thinking of trying heavier weight gear lube. One of the suggestions was to shift at higher rpms which made going into 2nd real noisy. The bikes at the dealer today but I didn't hear anything yet.

bostomjim,
I'm not sure what you mean about the ratcheting but I have little trouble going through neutral, either 1st to 2nd or 2nd down to 1st.

Miker15677,
I'm shifting about as hard as I can with soft boots now. Maybe I should try steel tips boots. BTW, I see you put on V&H Classic IIs. I have been seriously considering those too but am concerned that they not only sound good but are very loud. I'd like loud but not drag pipe loud. How do you like yours..?

Anyways, that will have to wait for when I decide to keep the S50. I was actually out looking at new bikes today.

Thanks,
-Mike
 
I love the V&H Classic II for there sound. No where near as loud as drag pipes, as they have a larger expansion chamber, plus they keep the classic look of the bike. My friend has a Harley with the V&H drag short pipes and they are twice as loud.
 
I'm posting this just to wrap things up in case someone runs across this thread in a search.

I picked up my bike yesterday from the dealer. The service manager and 3 techs all took out the bike for a ride and all said they didn't notice anything unusual about the shifting. I took a long 30 mile ride home with an emphasis on on very determined shifting, in particular for 2nd and 3rd. For the first 15 miles the shifting was very smooth. Towards the end there were some marginal shifts but overall it was a very enjoyable ride, I'll take rides like this anytime. Then temperature was in the low 70s however and my recollection of the problematic rides were temperatures in the upper 80s. Maybe relevant, maybe not.

Conclusion:

You need to shift this bike (and probably most bikes) "hard and quickly" or to "shift like you mean it" as mentioned by some posters. My bike for the most part shifts fairly quietly and I realize that I would start to lazy shift or soft shift at times. On the other hand I've had times that it seemed nothing would work. We'll see. Anyways, I hope this is all in the past.

Thanks all for taking the time to respond to my questions.
 
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