second gear. dang it.

ogre

Call me Liberace!
Registered
just so i verify, when second gear "jumps" out, it's just a momentary thing, right? it doesn't just pop out of gear? i think second is on the way out. only under hard throttle at higher rpms. time to shop around for a trans shop.
 
that sucks , seems to be a few posts of late with second gear failure

good luck

Too many posts for sure ! Suzuki should be ashamed !

well gents...get used to it as i suspect we'll see much more of it and far more frequently as time passes by on the genI trannys 2nd gear issue...which imho?..is more of a "Nature Of The Beast" kinda thing and more of a "situation" rather than an "issue" as follows...

due to the busas massive displacment, power and torque?...it's role as a hyperspeedsportbike gets muted in the slow, tight and technical twisties of high speed mountain riding where even the busas "porky for a sportbike" weight takes it's toll on the gearbox that rarely if ever sees 4th gear when riding the mountain roads agressively...where the most popular gears by far are 1st, 2nd and 3rd...almost exclusively...and guess who catches a hella beating for every time you wind up in either 1st or 3rd?..you guessed it.....2nd...it gets hit twice everytime you see 1st or 3rd once...yeilding too and enduring a 2:1 wear factor as oppsed to 1st or 3rd...and if 90% of the riding you do is hard bang'in, rock&roll mountain riding?..and your both agressive and/or abusive (RE: "Drag Racer") ?..genI trannies 2nd gear will be the first one to go...then again?...I don't seem to recall Pashnit ever riding 2nd gear outta his GenI busa...and from what i understand?...the man rides hell outta the mountains...so?...go figure. :laugh:

go for the undercut Ogre...L8R, Bill. :cool:
 
gpw is working up a quote for me on undercutting the trans (sending the gears to ape) and building a sprayed 1441 at the same time. heh, street riding's gonna get really fun.
 
well gents...get used to it as i suspect we'll see much more of it and far more frequently as time passes by on the genI trannys 2nd gear issue...which imho?..is more of a "Nature Of The Beast" kinda thing and more of a "situation" rather than an "issue" as follows...

due to the busas massive displacment, power and torque?...it's role as a hyperspeedsportbike gets muted in the slow, tight and technical twisties of high speed mountain riding where even the busas "porky for a sportbike" weight takes it's toll on the gearbox that rarely if ever sees 4th gear when riding the mountain roads agressively...where the most popular gears by far are 1st, 2nd and 3rd...almost exclusively...and guess who catches a hella beating for every time you wind up in either 1st or 3rd?..you guessed it.....2nd...it gets hit twice everytime you see 1st or 3rd once...yeilding too and enduring a 2:1 wear factor as oppsed to 1st or 3rd...and if 90% of the riding you do is hard bang'in, rock&roll mountain riding?..and your both agressive and/or abusive (RE: "Drag Racer") ?..genI trannies 2nd gear will be the first one to go...then again?...I don't seem to recall Pashnit ever riding 2nd gear outta his GenI busa...and from what i understand?...the man rides hell outta the mountains...so?...go figure. :laugh:

go for the undercut Ogre...L8R, Bill. :cool:




very good points you make there , i tend not to ride mine hard in the low gears so i hope not to come across this problem .
i note some guys complain of this with very low miles , others seem to have run up over 60k with no issues , so i guess the way its ridden could be a factor, as you say go figure
 
i enjoy 0-100 in a hurry. can't go much faster than that without getting caught. makes for a hard 1-2 tho. gonna get the trans undercut and the engine built up a bit.
 
gpw is working up a quote for me on undercutting the trans (sending the gears to ape) and building a sprayed 1441 at the same time. heh, street riding's gonna get really fun.
A sprayed 1441 should be used on a track...
 
gpw is working up a quote for me on undercutting the trans (sending the gears to ape) and building a sprayed 1441 at the same time. heh, street riding's gonna get really fun.

I wonder if we could get a two for one discount :laugh: Are you pulling the motor yourself or dropping the bike off at the shop? Seriously I need to touch base with GPW as well for a quote myself. ( minus the monster motor of course!)
 
A sprayed 1441 should be used on a track...

why not on the street? never said the nitrous was going to be used in traffic, lol. would a street driven 1397 be better? i just don't want to spend what it would take to fix the trans and get nothing else done. for example, blown headgasket on my 05 srt, when i fixed it i installed some ARP studs as well. figured, as long as i'm in there anyway. see where i'm going with this? i think it'd be a waste to pull the motor and split the case without adding some horsepower.
 
lol a sprayed 1441?
i think you would be in the running for the fastest street legal vehicle in montana...

I wonder how the reliability is on a motor like that and if you can still pop off 300mile trips without issue?
 
Its hit or miss with the 2nd gear cause. I have read about bikes with a couple thousand miles having issues and I know the problem is out there for some bikes. Some people think if "race" or ride hard that will cause the 2nd gear issue, while it may "sound" like a good reason I can tell you that has not been the case with me.

The track I ran trackdays on the busa was strictly a 2nd & 3rd gear 1.8 mile track with 9 turns. In a single trackday I am sure I did about 100 shifts from 2-3 and back. That is hard riding with total engine breaking when off the throttle and 100% acceleration once the next gear is selected. No public street riding is as hard on the engine/trans as a trackday. I also drag raced about once a month which is also not easy on the 2nd gear. Then I went turbo so that is more added power and torque for the trans to handle. I am currently having my engine upgraded for more power and the shop said the trans, gears, shift forks, etc still looked in great condition. I never had an issue with 2nd gear but am undercutting the 2-3-6 gears while the bike is apart.

Maybe the bike was lucky, I dunno. I do about 40% no clutch upshifts and have total confidence in my trans (so far):laugh:
 
less than 5k on the bike. i dunno how reliable a 1441 would be either, but the way gpw said track it makes me wonder. maybe i'll just stay stock motor, i really don't want issues down the road. i mean, if he can build it to last that's one thing, but if it can't do 300 miles a day for a few days on end (at least) then it's not something i'd really be all that interested in. i'd like more power, but not if i sacrifice all the reliability.
 
Less than 5k and 2ng gear is on the way out? Something is amiss there. I think you tend to see more of this with "soft" shifters. Kick it in gear hard every time and 2nd will last a lot longer!
 
just gonna ride easy, doesn't kick out until 8k or so. enjoy it the next couple years, then build it right when i get back from deployment.
 
why not on the street? never said the nitrous was going to be used in traffic, lol. would a street driven 1397 be better? i just don't want to spend what it would take to fix the trans and get nothing else done. for example, blown headgasket on my 05 srt, when i fixed it i installed some ARP studs as well. figured, as long as i'm in there anyway. see where i'm going with this? i think it'd be a waste to pull the motor and split the case without adding some horsepower.

people do it all the time...$$ dictates extra work..on the street how much power in reality can be used without endangering yourself or others?

I know of some 1507's being ridden around daily...If a motor is assembled right,maintained and modded in place others over look it will last 100's of miles a day...
 
Last edited:
Back
Top