finding false neutral. and not liking him afterall

[com3]

i've always been pretty good with my shifts.  i spend a LOT of time on the bmw s1000rr, which are notorious for hitting false neutrals and spitting riders off left and right.  i've hit ONE, ever.
 
i spend a LOT of time on yamaha r6's, which are also known for finding the sadistic place between 3rd and 2nd gear under hard braking. false neutrals are not nice. but in my life, i've only ever hit false neutral on an r6 four times ever.
 
i've NEVER hit a flase neutral on my suzuki. never ever. and it's got over 20,000 track miles on it.
 
the FJ has one of the more clunky gear boxes i've had the pleasure of riding. the only bike with a worse tranny is the Bramma Empulse R, with it's 6 speed SME tranny (which, neutral is between 2nd and 3rd, in case you were wondering).  
 
i run reverse shift pattern as well...so, that really cool "1 N 2 3 4 5 6" t-shirt they make? yeah, it doesn't apply to me. i'm backwards.  which means that my UPSHIFTS are always very positive with the weight of my foot pressing DOWN on the lever.
 
somehow, someway, i've been finding 5th and a half gear a lot lately. that's right...on upshifts, The Old Man Bike is finding a false neutral when i'm shifting from 5th to 6th.
 
anyone else finding 5th.5 gear on upshifts?
 
i know that was a really big lead up to a very simple question... but i just know i'm gonna get the gamut of "did you adjust your clutch lever? what about the shifter? when was the last time you changed your oil? do you believe in santa claus? is the meaning of life REALLY 42?"  which are all completely fine questions... they just needn't be asked at this particular juncture.
 
 
 

[omarf]

I was having issues with not always going into the next gear when up shifting between 2-->3 and sometimes 4-->5. But after a thousand miles of breaking in, it's gone away and my tranny is nice and smooth. The couple of times it's happened since hitting a grand, I notice my foot was still pressing lightly up on the gear shifter from the previous up shift in anticipation of quickly going to the next gear. Obviously my own fault there, my upraised foot was not allowing the shifter to go back fully to its neutral position before attempting the next up shift. Perhaps you're doing this with resting downward pressure on your gear shifter? Newbie question, how exactly did you reverse your shifter's direction?
 
Omar
 

[com3]

I was having issues with not always going into the next gear when up shifting between 2-->3 and sometimes 4-->5. But after a thousand miles of breaking in, it's gone away and my tranny is nice and smooth. The couple of times it's happened since hitting a grand, I notice my foot was still pressing lightly up on the gear shifter from the previous up shift in anticipation of quickly going to the next gear. Obviously my own fault there, my upraised foot was not allowing the shifter to go back fully to its neutral position before attempting the next up shift. Perhaps you're doing this with resting downward pressure on your gear shifter? Newbie question, how exactly did you reverse your shifter's direction? 
Omar

 
possible, but doubtful.  it's not something that's ever happened to me on any other bike i've ever ridden (and i've ridden HUNDREDS of different makes/models).  particularly on an upshift, ESPECIALLY from 5 > 6.  that's just weird.  most bikes don't even use the same dog for 5/6. typically it's 1, 2/3, 4/5, 6.  
 
regarding running reverse...i started doing it about 12 years ago because i'm at the track most of the time. easier to click down for up on accel with lean angle, especially on lefts when you need to grab gears.
 
every bike is the same concept for switching patterns; flip the shifter knuckle at the top of your linkage.  but it's not quite that easy with every bike. my GSXR and my R6 was simply that. the FJ, i had to grind out part of the rear-set to make room for it.  my buddy has an FZ that he reversed the same way, and another one with an FZ simply used linkage from an R1 and bent it in two spots to clear the rearset.  
 
 
 

[com3]

i think i might have found the issue. the dealership that did the recall threaded my shift linkage knuckle bolt thru the threaded side first. i just checked the linkage and it was all floppy. i fixed it. will bang a few wheelies tomorrow and see if it's better.
 
stupid dealership. i was warned not to go there too...but it's the ONLY yamaha dealer in a 150 mile radius.

[omarf]

Thanks for the detailed response. Hope you found your problem. Keep us posted!