[PascualR1996]

So I got my first bike recently (2017 Monster 1200R) and I’ve notice an issue it’s having when shifting from 3rd through 5th gear, especially in rapid succession. When going up from 3rd to 4th or 4th to 5th, the bike enters into some sort of false neutral. Nothing too scary when being able to shift back up or slowing down, but a couple of times when it happens, the shifter does not want to move into either gear and rattles/resists under a lot of pressure when trying. I’m also pretty sure I hear loud clicking as well, if things aren’t bad enough.

Now the one owner who had it before me (who put 15000 miles on it as well) did install a quick shifter that I hardly use, but when I do use it, I don’t have this problem. I hardly know anything about bikes besides the real basic idea how ICEs work, so I haven’t got a clue what the issue is besides my guess that the quick shifter is causing the problems?

This is my first post and I hope it’s in the right forum for these type of questions, so any help is appreciated. Again to clarify, this issue happens (most commonly when I’m speeding up very quickly) only when upshifting and between gears 3 and 4 and sometimes 4 and 5. Bike enters some kind of false neutral and often the shifter refuses to be put back into gear (even when I completely close the throttle) with hard vibrations in shifter almost like gears are trying to catch or making really bad contact/synchronization. Eventually when rolling, I’m able to get back in gear.

The obvious solution is to take it to a nearby Ducati dealer and let them find and fix it, but I’d like to know what anyone else might have to say before I just sign up for some costly repairs, because my DESMO service is ~200 miles away. Also, RIP to my savings lol.

 

[speedm]

the gearbox on these bikes tend to get false neutrals in the higher gears and it's almost always caused by soft shifting of the lever. be very deliberate with your shifts and see if you still get the problem. if it falls into a false neutral, you're going to get resistance if the throttle is fully closed. you need to rev match or have the throttle open to facilitate getting the transmission to more smoothly get into the next gear.

 

[PascualR1996]

Oh duh, I forgot that the transmission changes gears smoothly at higher rpms! Keeping that in mind, I’ll try using more force when shifting through those gears. Thanks!

 

[PascualR1996]

Quick update, I found that the screw above the gear control lever was entirely loose. It only took a couple of turns to remove it...was this the rattling I could’ve been hearing when hitting the false neutral? Or is something loosening this screw because there’s a bigger issue?