[TMNinjaT]

Hey folks,

first off i'd like to introduce myself, I recently graduated from a motorcycle riding course and purchased a 08 ninja shortly after.

I have a 2008 ninja 250 and i've been having problems shifting up when the bike has warmed up.

after a couple of hours of riding, it gets harder to shift up. i'll try to shift and the rpms will just shoot up and i'll have to try again, or i'll shift, let the clutch lever out and the rpms will shoot for a second and then go back to normal (as if the clutch had not engaged completely).

i am pretty handy with tools, just no experience with motorbikes.

thanks in advance

 

[Mxslick]

Things to check:

Is the clutch lever adjusted properly? (no more than 2mm of free play before the cable starts to pull.)

Shift lever position? Too high and it is very easy to miss shifts. I had to lower mine a bit.

Chain too loose/tight? Are the "cush drive" rubbers in the rear hub ok?

How fresh is the oil? Too old oil/dirty oil can cause shifting issues. (My old FZ 750 had to have the oil changed at 3000 miles or less or it would get cranky and miss shifts a lot.)

Is the oil the right type/viscosity?

Those are the things to look at before you'll have to resort to opening up the engine to fix the transmission.

 

[TMNinjaT]

yeah the clutch lever has way more than 2m of play prob close to a cm

i'll adjust it now and also do an oil change and go for a bit of a ride tomorrow and see if the problem persists

thanks i'll keep you posted.

 

[TMNinjaT]

so i changed the oil and tightened up the slack on the clutch cable, took it out for about an hour and everything seemed fine. I might change the cable as it gets slack when the bike gets warm.

 

[Mxslick]

Glad to hear things got better.

Now the "cable gets slack when the bike gets warm" is a bit of concern. Yes, replace the cable first. BUT, you may have a problem with the clutch actuator (the lever arm that the engine end of the cable connects to) internally. You will need to get a service manual (The Clymer manual is excellent and often cheaper than the factory Kawi one) and see how to check and/or fix it. (if I recal it really isn't that difficult to do.)

Keep us posted on any repairs and how things turn out.