Missed gears...

[MadDogMcQ]

I don't know what it is about this bike, but I seem to miss gears on it! I engage fourth or fifth only to find that it drops back down one!

I've ridden quite a few different sorts of bikes in my time and never come across this before. Maybe it's just the "newness" of it.

[nampus]

Could be the newness, could be the oil.
With shell oil I miss a gear once every time I ride, with Castrol I miss a gear once a year.
That's what I've learnt so far with my bike.
I'm still jealous of your bike though, even when it somethimes misses a gear...

Nampus

[earthbound14]

the rumour floating around the net is that the CB400 is a little rough in the shifting department for the first little while.

Mines a little on the old and worn side so she's smooth as butter. I get a false neutrel once in a blue moon if I'm a little to light on the shift and quick to jump on the gas. Never had it skip down a gear though.

[MadDogMcQ]

Thanks guys. It's just had it's 1st Service (800 miles) so the oil and filter is new. I'm going to John O'Groats (950 miles trip) at the end of May, so I'll change the oil again after that and be sure to put a high grade replacement in it (I'm a Castrol fan too Nampus).

Hopefully, that'll be the end of it. :)

[nampus]

:D CASTROL :D
Besides the missed gears, how is the cb holding up? No regrets? Don't you miss the power and the torque of the mt-01?
How is the vtec, especially the transition from 8 valves to 16 valves and back?
Nampus

[MadDogMcQ]

When I rode the CB away from the dealership, I thought "OMG, the clutch is slipping!!!" :D

Needless to say, you soon acclimatise to it all, but sure, there's no denying the MONUMENTAL difference in power. But this bike was always going to be a "second" bike and when the time is right, I'll choose my "main" bike (but that'll be after this damned recession shows signs of easing up).

Now that I've got a BlueFlame exhaust on the bike, you can REALLY hear the VTEC kicking in - it sounds like someone ripped out a baffle from the exhaust - really! But sudden increase in power? Hardly! Just a nice seamless changeover taking you up to the peak power in the 5-figure rev range.

When I had a new VFR800 in 2007, I couldn't understand what people were on about when they talked about the "VTEC Surge". It just got noisier! :D

One thing's for sure - it all sounds VERY nice through that exhaust at full wail, escpecially on the overrun from high revs. Mmmmmmm.

Tom.