My personal experience was that a "sloppy" upshift would take place when I was not making sure that the toe of my boot was properly under the gearshift lever. It was more like a a 1/4 of an inch of the sole of my boot catching the very edge of the shift lever and bumping it in between gears. As you say firm and deliberate gets the job done. And as it has been noted 3000 rpm is a sweet spot.
Yeah I tell you I've really taken care of Shifting this and now with about 14,000 miles on it, came out of gear maybe once or twice since I've owned it, probably nothing in the last ten thousand miles! This definitely will save your transmission! I love though when people say ghost shifting, LOL polite way to say I broke my transmission on my $30,000 bike
Yea I think that happens because neutral is right there in between. I’ve had that happen on many bikes that weren’t Honda. It does help to firmly shift it though. Sometimes though your not thinking about shifting and your just riding along and wham your in neutral. Lol
I had a similar issue on my 2005 Honda rune... essentially the same drivetrain..... I think it was from exactly what you said... firm up and down shifting its needed.... Great vids TX
Oil makes a big difference. For me, the honda hp4 10/40 blend gets the best shifting award, even better than the full synthetic hp4s. Also always try to shift (up) over 3000rpm. My 2016 is still clunky in 1st and sec. My friend has the new 2018 6 speed manual. Its like butter.
Thanks for your vids and tips. I'm new to a F6B. I just bought a used 2016 with 1662 miles. Enjoying the bike. I see you are from the CLT area. I used to live in Gaston County, now I live in Albemarle, NC . Maybe our paths will cross while out riding. Be Safe!
What color did you get on that 16? Perfect by almost identical to what my miles were when I bought it! on my 16! Did you get a deluxe? Anything North Carolina is a great place to live my friend!
Just seeing this video now... I've just gotten my hands on a 2014 F6B and had similar issues. Of course, I went from a 2014 CBR1000RR, and hadn't yet adjusted my riding habits. I guess I figured two 2014 Hondas would have the same dependable, butter smooth shifting characteristics. Wrong! My two take aways: don't downshift hard at mid to high rpm to slow down. She really doesn't like that. I got major clutch slippage in 3rd and 2nd doing that. Definitely not a race bike. The bike brakes so well that I suppose it isn't necessary to downshift hard to slow down, anyway. And, secondly, as you said, make sure you're firmly in gear before giving her a lot of gas. I had 2nd gear pop back out into neutral on acceleration and I'm 100% sure my foot didn't touch the shifter. I've got an extended warranty with the bike in case anything happens, but I must say, I'm a little surprised the transmission isn't more solid. I guess I shouldn't expect race bike performance out of a midlife crisis tourer. Adapting my riding style is fundamental in this case.
yes it definitely started out coming out of second gear and going into neutral when I did firmly shift in, and again I think that pretty much toasted the forks or whatever they're called inside that started making it just kind of Spin and grab after a while in 2nd gear whenever I downshift into it, what you're describing sounds like a broke transmission, if you got an extended warranty I would go ahead and get it taken care of, that's got to be unnerving, I know it was for me when I downshifted and felt that slip and then grab!
@@treblemaker I got quoted by some specialist out of Florida when it happened to me, he wanted six grand oh, they have to crack the case, and basically rebuild your transmission
That's why I ran to the dealership and trade it in and got my white Deluxe These are really good motorcycles, but you have to take care of that transmission.
I hate that 3rd is so short....was racing 2 harleys downshited to 3rd ....freakin ran out of leg...had to hit 4 and redline it pull m ...disapointed...other than that i baby shift it all the time
@@johnk12345100 ill repost it, i read on a gw forum that the GS'n stopped after 13' year, and your bike was 13' and it had that issue, this article alone brings up some of the issues, i want to call greg, and c if it happens w/ 15/16s f6bs in his professional career has he ever seen it? quick read, wanted your thots on it. thanks! justwings.com/real-cause/?fbclid=IwAR2nvKWjnHkB9onuD_lEI-IYI9qGBAQBHhAWWe6svjMeOdoxUz2AqOoIP7Y
Love it! Have fun with her! I again just think it was poor shifting technique on my part that caused it, not firmly downshifting into second I think damaged it, besides that I think you can shoot this thing with an M16 and it's going to still run like a raped ape!
hi John I put a heel to toe shifter on mine and I put a little grease where the shifter knob comes out to the heel-toe shifter and it shifts excellent I've had the same problem in the past. but with the heel-toe the shifter and a little Grease where is the shifter goes into the heel-toe shifter it works fine hope it helps
it is a shame for a bike worth a big deal of money. I have a 2017 goldwing and I hate that noisy shifting. you get the feeling that it will come apart soon.
Yeah I thought about that! Probably knock it right out LOL and right after I posted that though the only blemish, I noticed my timing chain cover has about three big spots with paint coming off it! Wondering how that happened, I think somebody must have got some type of fluid on there. Oh well still happy I bought it!
I agree with you in every point you said. If your your background is Motocross or Enduro hard shifting is most likely the way you will ride! I am coming from Enduro and all transmission in my pass HD had issues with the transmission compensator. Now I'm riding a GoldWing and I am more gentle with it, at least I am always thinking in my shifts. It is an Amazing Bike. By the way Awasome color! Mine is a Flat Silver! Enjoy it!.
hey john wat type of extended pegs are those, latched on 2crash bar, i never saw them before, way out there, wat r u 6'5 geez.....ALSO, did your 13 & 16 have air tire sensor on stock or deluxe by the dashboard? cool feature...or is that after market?
My air pressure tire display is aftermarket and I love it and I mention it in a couple of my mile reviews. I've never known that to be a stock option. I have a set of highway pegs that came with the red one and I took them off and never put them on my white one so they're sitting in the garage, I rarely use them because they literally gave me a cramp when I use them. I'm 6-foot and it really stretched out your legs, felt like I was doing a split to get around that front fairing not comfortable at all rather just stretch legs out here and there on a long trip
I am really not sure, I can tell you people have complained about wearing boots even with these regular pegs and being able to get them underneath the shifter, I'm sure they make them but I just don't know where
Thanks for this video John. When I was looking for my "forever" bike last year I settled on the F6B, I was tempted by the BMW R1200RT or a K1600 but I felt that a Honda Gold Wing would end up being a more dependable bike, so I went with an F6B. I'm not too sure if there is a real consensus on the best way to shift on these bikes, I got into the habit of preloading my shift pedal a bit before pulling in the clutch on my Vulcan 1600 Classic that I sold last year, would this be advisable to do on the F6B too? I know that the bike jumped out of gear a few times last year, maybe I didn't shift hard enough? I don't know but I'm hoping that I don't eventually end up with more serious problems later on, I bought my bike thinking that it was basically bulletproof. I'm totally happy with the bike otherwise, maybe I'll get better with the shifting over time as I haven't really had much of a chance to put many miles on her yet. I'm open to any tips or advice that I can find. Thanks for doing these videos, they sure help pass the time during our long Canadian winters up here on the east coast!
Thanks for watching my Canadian friend! Yeah I don't know if I would suggest pedal before clutch on these babies, that might have got you into a little trouble but if you start right now Shifting the way I discussed I think you'll have good luck and saving the transmission! Yes I always thought these were bulletproof too! But they definitely have some quirks that could be costly and some repairs. I feel like I got all my bad habits worked out on my previous bike, and I am really conscious about how I shift, accelerate, Etc, now believe me I don't take it easy on this thing! But I do upshift and downshift firmly, I love to get that 3.4 in zero to 60! Thanks again for watching, spring will be there soon! No better way to fight the virus than by yourself riding on the motorcycle LOL, and if you ride with a group make sure you're at least six feet apart LOL
@@johnk12345100 OK John, I will pay more attention to how I shift my F6B when I get her out of storage next month. I think that the few times that it popped out of gear and jumped into neutral was most likely because I was a bit lazy and didn't put quite enough pressure with my foot, my Vulcan 1600 Classic seemed to be more forgiving in that respect, so I have to train myself to how the F6B likes to be shifted. I'm not sure how the two previous owners rode it though(I'm actually the third owner) but I know that both of those guys were long time Gold Wing riders, the guy that I bought it from last year was roughly my age, like late 50s and he said that he bought it from the the original owner, an older retired guy but that fellow had owned Gold Wings over the years so I think that I'm pretty safe that they didn't abuse this bike. Great bikes! I'm glad that I decided to go with an F6B, it's a pretty solid choice and lots of bang for the buck! Keep it up with your F6B videos if you can, I always enjoy spending some time checking them out.
Hey John, in the 14,000 miles I've put on my 2013 "Big Red Rider" twice did I experience it jumping out of gear. Ironically it happened two days in a row, same place entering the highway coming off the ramp with pretty good acceleration. I first thought my foot bumped it, but now a year later it hasn't happened since. I'm saying it was probably my bad shifting.
Yeah and that's what I thought about mine too, but I found out how to recreate it, which was simply downshifting from any gear into second and gunning it, and just before I traded it in, I did really even have to gun it when I downshift it into second, it just hiccup every time, mine was definitely broke, but I'm glad yours is still riding good for you! Mine didn't really jump out of gear, it just slipped when it was down shifted into second, that it would catch with a loud clunk, and then keep riding, thanks for watching ride safe!
hi john , I just bought a new 2020 goldwing manual transmission, when the gear is in 5th or 6th and I my speed is around 80km/h or so , and when slowing down the engine shuts off when I hold the clutch and shift to a lower gear! I don't know if I have to keep the throttle hi when i down shifting or let the gear as it is in the 5th or 6th until I come to a very slow speed the shift diwn safely? Also is it normal that if I completely stop but the gear doesn't shift the gear 1 until I give a little throttle.
From what I hear you describing, your engine should not be shutting off, just because you're slowing down and have the clutch in! And yes you do want to slow down as your downshifting, if you're at a high speed and want to just go into 5th or 4th gear, it will cause severe engine break and could lock up your wheel. There should be something in the owner's manual on what speeds you should be at for what gear. But I would definitely take that into the place you bought it since it's under warranty and find out what the heck's going on with the engine shutting off.
I’ve never ridden any motorcycle that would shift through all the gears from you holding the shifter down! Was that your first bike or something? Goldwings are pretty much bulletproof but rider error can definitely shorten the lifespan. Sounds to me like this was your first motorcycle maybe?
Yeah it was pretty stupid of me to think that no doubt! No it's my fourth motorcycle. And again I knew better but it was a thought that went through my head but now I firmly shift, this was all about helping the next guy out! I'm sure you would do the same thing admit your ignorance on something to help somebody else out right?
When you say don’t down shift and throttle it, do you mean don’t rev match when down shifting? That’s something I’ve been doing on my 2002 since I’ve had it. It’s just a habit I have. I even did it on my Harley before I got rid of it.
If I said that in the video I think I should have clarified that if you downshift and hit the throttle hard as long as you're sure you made a firm shift down, I think what happened to mine was, again real week downshifting and then throttling hard spun it, I guess off the forks, and eventually chipped away at them until I messed up the transmission permanently. No I think rev matching is great again along with a nice firm shift.
@@johnk12345100 gotcha! There’s sometimes on my 2002 GL1800 I feel like maybe the clutch isn’t allowing me to get a smooth transition into the next gear and then I realize it’s just me not being consistent sometimes. I’m getting better with it though