gear change

[trisaki]

hiya,  fazer 1000 2002/3 when hot and bothered around town ,1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd get touchy and reluctant  to change gear , ,its got fresh oil , how much slack in clutch cable handlebar adjuster ? any thoughts

[nickodemon]

Fazers are really particular about chain slack, so i would check that first. You really want at least 60mm slack. 5mm free play for the clutch cable at the lever. If that fails you could try a shorter shifting arm (R1) - Posts about which model of R1 on this forum. Good luck!

[Phil TK]

Fazers are really particular about chain slack, so i would check that first. You really want at least 60mm slack.

Actually, it should be 45mm of slack going on 50mm, 'at least 60mm' is not good at all.

All motorcycles are 'really particular about chain slack' by the way.

[Ghoti]

Higher revs help smoother gear changes, especially when the engine is either cold or hot.

30mph in 2nd gear is under 4k revs so, IMHO, there is not much need for a higher gear and you get a bit of engine braking or throttle response if needed.

Also, on my old Diversion (air cooled but I guess the principle is the same) using a 'cheeper' oil such as Holfords own did not help with gear changes when the engine was hot, but switiching to Castrol GPS cured it (well, helped a lot anyway).

[nickodemon]

The manual states 50 mm, but the fazer has a particularly long swingarm, so it uses up a lot of the slack. I have always used more slack than the manual and it improves gear change.

[trisaki]

hi , thanx for the replies , yes it does have halfords bike oil in it , might try something else , chain slack ! 45-50 mm on main stand or sitting on the bike ? clutch freeplay in the manual says 10-15mm at lever end , !

[ghostbiker]

I would ignore the manual on the clutch free play, thats to much imo
I dont measure mine but normaly just give it a little wiggle room, i would think its about 5mm deff no more than 10mm thats for sure.
never had a clutch issue

I dont measure the chain either, i tend to go by put on centre stand and adjust it till it allmost touchs the swing arm when you push the bottom chain up at the tightest spot.

[Phil TK]

I dont measure the chain either, i tend to go by put on centre stand and adjust it till it allmost touchs the swing arm when you push the bottom chain up at the tightest spot.

It's basically what I do too, it just about touches if you push hard enough to leave an imprint in your fingertip. I've only had to adjust it once in 8,000 miles or so.
My clutch lever has about 5mm play in it at the lever, I adjust it for comfort more than anything really.