Continuing to drive with a bad 2nd gear

[RempageR1]

Hi,

One of our club members has the dreaded issue with 2nd gear. Basically it pops into neutral even with little to no throttle being applied. Now he wants to continue to drive this riding season and then tear the engine apart during the winter. Do you guys think he can safely continue to drive while avoiding 2nd gear? Is there any chance on the gearbox jamming or can it do any additional damage?

Thanks!

 

[Fire-medic]

I've never seen a VMax blow-up from doing that. There is a very-remote possibility of the transmission locking-up, if a piece broke-off a gear 'dog,' but your odds of winning the PowerBall may-be better. To minimize the possibility of this happening, he should practice a habit of doing something, like when he engages first, and gets-underway, to count (and to shift), "1, 2, 3," and to NOT let-out the clutch until he counts-to-three, and, he shifts to third. Remember, the way the shifter works, is to let-off pressure in-between selecting each gear on the shift lever.

 

[one2dmax]

Yes. He should double shift to skip the gear and he will be fine

 

[RempageR1]

Alright, I`ll forward that. Thanks!

 

[Zeus36]

My second gear has been going out since 2016. No problem bypassing 2nd for up and downshifting. However my second gear still engages somewhat (like your club member) and I will use it once in a while if at a low speed for downshifts coming to a stop. It will hold second gear during steady cruise, but will pop out under slight acceleration, so I just bypass it 95 percent of the time.