transmission issue

[malay]

Anyone having problems that I am having: Whenever the nomad sits for a while, sometimes overnight, mostly days or a week, I start the bike up and when I shift into first gear the bike lurches forward and dies. I restart it and it shifts find. Bike lurches very bad. I have tried pulling in clutch and shifting it in and out of gear with bike off before starting, trying maybe to lubricate gears, no luck. Any suggestions?

[macmac]

Sounds normal with cold oil sticking in the clutch. Let it run in neutral longer. Hold the brake just the same becasue even in neutral the bike can pull forward!

[Yellow Jacket]

Before you start it up put it in first gear, pull the clutch in and rock the bike back and fourth until you feel the clutch release. That will take care of it.

[darthvulcan]

I got used to the lurching forward after cold starts. The manual suggests you rock the bike back and forth in gear to try to "free" the sticking plates, but I find it still lurches.

You also mention that it dies. That happened to me a couple of times, before I realized that I left the side stand down and when I shifted into 1st, the Nomad's designed to cut out as a safety feature.

[timebandit]

Originally Posted by Darth

before I realized that I left the side stand down and when I shifted into 1st, the Nomad's designed to cut out as a safety feature.

Who hasn't done that

[dogdoc]

all normal malay. :-)

[paul]

Got my attention the first time this happened to me, then I was reasssured that the clutch plates sticking over time like that was SOP. My remedy is to start in neutral, pull the clutch and give a little quick throttle. Give things a second to settle down, then shift to 1st. Get a little clunk, but seems to be better that starting in gear. I figure, better on battery, starter, etc as well. Or maybe I'm just delusional? ???

[goldstar225]

Mine has only done that after it has sat for a few days. I've found that if I work the clutch a few times after starting it my shift into first is smooth without a lurch.

[dabull]

good info guys...haven't experienced this, but is good to know;) I have an 05, could this be model specific??

[blowndodge]

No, they all do it from time to time DaBull... I've noticed that if I let my Nomad warm up properly, ie; two minutes, it doesn't lurch. There must be enough oil circulated by then to unstick the plates..

[dabull]

Originally Posted by Blowndodge "Darksider"

No, they all do it from time to time DaBull... I've noticed that if I let my Nomad warm up properly, ie; two minutes, it doesn't lurch. There must be enough oil circulated by then to unstick the plates..

maybe thats why i haven't seen it...i generally start her up, back out of garage, kick-stand her, empty pockets into windshield bag (keys, phone, etc), put on helmet, gloves...then off igo...so maybe my "warm-up" time is sufficient to loosen her up...foreplay--sorta... lol was that outloud???

[ells]

Can be a little embarrassing if you are parked too close to something, and never looks too cool with spectators. But yes, they all can and will do it without the precautions, either intentional or otherwise, mentioned by others.

[macmac]

Cold my bike with the clutch pulled in before I press the button, and shifting to neutral will still produce the jerk. Not only does my 06 Nomad do this, but my 01 Nomad did it, and so does my 81 yammi triple, and everyother bike i ever had.

Cold they all jerk forward.

This is due to the viscosity of cold oil sticking the clutch plates.

When I cold start I am sure to be in Neutral with the clutch pulled in. In my std shift cars i do the same thing cold. Shift to neutral and step down on the clutch pedal, which stops the starter motor from being forced to turn the gears in a cold tranny even if it is in neutral.

A cold start is the worst thing you can do to a battery, so ease what the battery must do, which on injected cars and bikes is a lot!

[spirello]

Try pulling the clutch lever 4 or 5 times after its warm before you put it in gear works pretty well. And I also sit on the bike and keep it upright for a little bit so that the oil can get to the clutch side.

[taranis]

I've had this problem on my Nomad and my previous bike, a VStar 1300 Tourer. Couple ways to minimize the issue:

After you've ridden, put the bike in neutral, then shut it down. When you crank it back up after it's cold, pull in the clutch a few times before you crank it. I don't know why it works, but it does (for me anyway).

For winter, use a lower weight oil and/or try a synthetic - Synthetic seems to be "slippery-er" and less likely to bind the clutch plates when cold. Another thing is to ensure you keep up on oil changes and use the right weight for the season. My '06 Nomad seems particularly sensitive to this. I've gone back to 10-40w for winter here in Texas, and will probably use 20-50 or even Rotella 5w-40 in the summer.

Something else to think about: Make sure your clutch adjustment on the grip is set correctly - You may not be disengaging the clutch 100% or as far as needed.

Again, I had this problem on both my bikes, and a combination of the above seems to have cured the problem. Finding an oil my bike seemed happiest with seemed to help the most, along with the clutch lever adjustment. Each bike is different, so none of this may apply to your situation. I'm just saying what's worked for me.