Gearbox expectations

Difficult to explain this one but how smooth / clunky are the gear changes? Having owned three older Guzzis the last being a 1100 Sport I suppose I may have been expecting the gearbox/gear changes to be a little smoother perhaps less clunky, I don,t want to say less agricultural.
Having had the bike only a couple of months and the better weather just arriving I,m still in the experimental stages of gear changes, you know try this, try that to make the experience smoother. I have not as yet resorted to bleeding the clutch or the like although with 17000 miles and one previous fastidious owner who had everything done by the book servicing related and by a reparable dealer I,m not sure the answer lies there.
This is not in any way a gripe about the bike as I love it and everything about the "Guzzi way" more curiosity and an idea of whats to be expected/normal.

Probably the biggest effect is the oil viscosity, and possibly the age of the oil - though I have let mine go for 40,000 km without issue - just lazy. Mine is pretty good and I change it out every 20,000 km.

going for economy there Tony?? Book says every 10 thou....
I notice the difference around then anyway.
fresh oil, smooth as (can be expected, they're still flash tractors after all  )
main one I get is "super bike clunk" if I'm lazy and don't wait for a count of two/three between clutching in and selecting first...

I'd have to say that the Nuovo Six Speeds are pretty good. Does the bike show a reluctance to select neutral at a standstill? How wide have you set the span on the clutch lever?

Pete

This may sound somewhat obvious, so my apologies upfront. However, on the upchanges, ensure that you close the throttle fully the very instant of your gear change. Makes a substantial difference. Clicks into gear like silk. Opposite for the downchanges. A bit of rpm matching does wonders, although the GRiSO will clearly tell you if you get it wrong!

You can buy Ducatis’ etc nowadays with their slipper clutches etc which do all that shit for you. Takes the fun out of it IMO.

Pete Roper wrote:

I'd have to say that the Nuovo Six Speeds are pretty good. Does the bike show a reluctance to select neutral at a standstill? How wide have you set the span on the clutch lever?

Pete

No reluctance at all Pete. I have played with the clutch lever span settings but only for my comfort/feel there is no difference in the clutch/gearbox action between the settings. No problem selecting neutral at a standstill.
The lower gears seem to be a little more clunky than the higher gears which are mostly pretty good. I,m not worried or have any fears of impending doom with the ,box, but its good to know others findings.
Cheers Bry

Brent S wrote:

This may sound somewhat obvious, so my apologies upfront. However, on the upchanges, ensure that you close the throttle fully the very instant of your gear change. Makes a substantial difference. Clicks into gear like silk. Opposite for the downchanges. A bit of rpm matching does wonders, although the GRiSO will clearly tell you if you get it wrong!

You can buy Ducatis’ etc nowadays with their slipper clutches etc which do all that shit for you. Takes the fun out of it IMO.

Some useful info there and yes I maybe have got to re-programme my head with the GRiSO. I have a few other bikes Triumphs and Japanese so maybe got a little lazy. I,ll take onboard your advice and slow the old swede down a notch.
Cheers Bry

In my experience, apart from the usual 'breech of a gun' going from neutral to first; its as smooth as silk and remains smooth despite all sorts of misuse (clutch-less changes both directions with rev matching, clutch & not matching revs, not shutting throttle fully, screaming it to 8K and kicking up; or lugging it and changing early ). It's defo no worse than old style japanese and better than BMWs circa mid 2000s.

The change from 1st to 2nd is the “roughest” as such, with higher gears being progressively smoother. If I just tootle along at low revs, for example, in slow moving traffic, the change into 2nd is usually less than smooth no matter what I do. Needs a bit of speed on it before changing into 2nd in order to be smooth. That’s just my own experience.

The big bang-crash from neutral into 1st can be largely avoided by holding the clutch in for 5 or 6 seconds before engaging 1st. Will click in with barely a noise if you do this, so much so I often do the double-tap on the gear lever just to make sure it’s actually in gear!

'breech of a gun' beautiful visual there PB, and there I was with my super bike clunk...

bahamazoo wrote:

going for economy there Tony?? Book says every 10 thou....
I notice the difference around then anyway.
fresh oil, smooth as (can be expected, they're still flash tractors after all  )
main one I get is "super bike clunk" if I'm lazy and don't wait for a count of two/three between clutching in and selecting first...

Hey. I have put into practise the tips and tricks and I,m getting it. The clutch, wait then first works a treat, so much so that I didn't think it engaged. I like these little idiosyncrasies, great stuff. I,m going to change the clutch hydraulic oil as I can't be sure when it was done so I have a base line at least.
Cheers Bry