neutral between all gears

[hawlyns711]

recently i noticed on my 98 dr350 that if i shift up lightly, there is a neutral between all my gears. also, 3rd gear is choppy, kicks in and out a lot when i'm in it to the point where now i just skip it. can someone give me a diagnosis from this info to what i should do? thanks in advance.

also, my clutch spins a little bit in 6th, but i don't know if i just have to adjust the springs or whatnot. thanks guys!

[Clint]

Years of shifting lightly may have worn the dogs so that they don't properly engage. You may have to rebuild or replace the tranny. Sounds like your clutch is in need of new plates.

[Ext1jdh]

yeah, i know nothing, but it sounds like a bug, not a feature.

[Blade]

What kind of oil are you using and how long has it been in?

[hawlyns711]

quaker state... i change it every few weeks. i think it's 10w 30, or whatever it says on the dipstick.

[Clint]

Weeks? Oil life is measured in miles or running hours.

[omegajim]

hawlyns711

quaker state... i change it every few weeks. i think it's 10w 30, or whatever it says on the dipstick.

There are several things wrong with this statement imho.

If it were my bike and if the clutch were slipping here would be the steps I would take

1) go to the bike store (can be any old bike store, doesn't need to be a dealer) and get bike oil. Yes it will be expensive, but it might (just might) take care of the slipping clutch.

2) the oil change interval should be on the bottle (we're talking bike oil now) and you should be able to go the better part of a year on one change.

3) Should all this fail, then and only then investigate a slipping clutch further.

However, all of this is kind of made moot by the fact you more than likely have a) a slightly bent fork in the transmission b) worn dogs (gears) in 3rd gear or c) both.

Ask around at a local bike store (again, preferably not a dealer) about how much this kind of work could run. You may want to then consider buying something else, possibly.

[hawlyns711]

well the reason i change it every few weeks is because the bike is my daily driver. i drive it to and from work every day monday through saturday, and then to hang out with my friends. it gets a lot of miles run up every week, so i preferably try to keep low miles between changes. there is no odometer on the bike, so i don't know how many miles are on anything. i'll try your bike oil suggestion, and i have the perfect bike shop to go to in my town. thanks.

[omegajim]

So, the bike has a speedometer but no odometer?

[hawlyns711]

actually it has neither

[omegajim]

hawlyns711

actually it has neither

.........and you can get away with this in New Hampshire?

Here in Wisconsin, that has "ticket" written all over it. Although I've been known to drive a vehicle with a malfunctioning speedometer from time to time, but at least they had one.

Rule of thumb in your case, every other month I think would be plenty. Spring and fall would prolly even be enough. If you could give a guesstimate of the distance to work and back, that might influence the answer.

It's a bit like changing the oil on a mower; when do you change it? Simple, when it starts to look dark brown, and not the light brown stuff you poured in.

[palanon]

That bike is a duel sport. It did come with one though.

In NH, all you need to do is pass annual safety inspection and have one mirror.

[omegajim]

We don't have annual safety inspections in Wi, but our functions include

1) horn
2) head light
3) speedometer
4) turn signals
5) one mirror
6) a light on the plate/tag.

and I'm sure there are more that I'm missing.

Actually, turn signals aren't required for day time driving.

Still wouldn't change the oil until it looked more black than brown.

[hawlyns711]

since i was converting a dirt bike for street use, there were a bunch of things i could get away with. i didn't need turn signals, because it wasn't factory equipped, and no speedometer, and when i went for inspection, I had taken off the odometer because it didnt work anymore, and they had no problem. i also passed with knobbies, but i now have 60/40's. they're not that strict, but the cops can never get enough of me. i don't have a peek window to see the color of my oil, only the smidget on the dip stick.

back on topic, are there any good online sites you reccomend to buy clutch accessories (plates etc) and perhaps parts for a transmission?

[omegajim]

I dunno, DennisKirk.com maybe?