gs850 6th gear problem

[doconabike]

Hi I have a question that I am posting on behalf of a friend (I have a gs650). He has an 81 gs850, and we recently noticed that on the gear indicator light that there is an backlight for a 6th gear, however despite his best efforts its impossible to shift into it. In 5th, regardless of speed, the shifter will not go up anymore. Any ideas what could be causing it?

 

[1948man]

Don't think any 850 ever had a 6th gear. Maybe the indicator is from a different GS.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

Suzuki used the gear indicator on many different bikes. There is no 6th gear on the 850, I wish their was

 

[bwringer]

Yup -- there's no 6th gear on an 850.

Suzuki never redesigns a part if they can avoid it. So the same gear display board was used on several models.

 

[buddha]

Only the GS550 came with the 6th gear. All other GS's just used the same part from the 550.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Only the GS550 came with the 6th gear. All other GS's just used the same part from the 550.

Correction. The smaller 450s and 400s had 6 gears as well.

 

[exbellicus]

If this was my friend, I would see a great entry for a practical joke here, now that you know this information and he doesn't.

 

[terrylee]

6th gear

6th gear

Yeah wish my 850 had a 6th gear, sure feels like it wants one sometimes! terrylee

 

[LarryA_Texas]

6 th

6 th

i know what he's talking about, though. There is a space for a 6th light, and even the number strip has a 6 on it. I could see the confusion. but if you are looking at it opened you'll see there is no light for a 6th gear.

But...the joke ideas are endless...

I'd start with: "Let me try it."

followed by..."Don't know what your problem is; shifted into 6th just fine for me....got the light and everything. Keep trying. You'll get it."

That should be good for a few weeks

 

[Guest]

if he's an experienced rider tell him it'll only shift into 6th when he redlines it in the 5th.
that should be fun for him

but if he's not experienced keep him safe and dont let him try it

 

[midnightcafe]

i know what he's talking about, though. There is a space for a 6th light, and even the number strip has a 6 on it. I could see the confusion. but if you are looking at it opened you'll see there is no light for a 6th gear.

But...the joke ideas are endless...

I'd start with: "Let me try it."

followed by..."Don't know what your problem is; shifted into 6th just fine for me....got the light and everything. Keep trying. You'll get it."

That should be good for a few weeks

we could have had something going here...

 

[doconabike]

if he's an experienced rider tell him it'll only shift into 6th when he redlines it in the 5th.
that should be fun for him

but if he's not experienced keep him safe and dont let him try it

bringing this up from the dead, but didnt see the posts till earlier.

He's an experienced rider, i might hafta to go with "the 850's are known to be finnicky, 6th is only really doable redlining in 5th"

We went for a ride on the LIE (local expressway), we were cruisin at about 65 and when we stopped for lunch he tells me "Man I can't take this bike on long trips it just doesn't feel right, I feel like i need to get it in 6th gear find out why its not working!"

 

[Dave_17954]

You guys are cold............ Of course we want to see pix of him trying to figure out where 6th gear is so we can post them all over the internet....:-\\\

 

[Kcwiro]

That is not very friend like guys...That question about the phantom 6th gear has been asked a few times I know I was curious when I was cluster hunting... ofcourse the sprocket cover tells all you need to know... unless the pattern of the shifts is rubbed off it is clearly labeled how many gears you got

 

[850 Combat]

"Most only go up to 10. These go up to 11".

 

[Steve]

"Most only go up to 10. These go up to 11".

:-k

 

[BassCliff]

"Most only go up to 10. These go up to 11".

Spinal Tap!

Great movie!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Guest]

Spinal Tap RULES!

"So... these amps are louder?"

 

[bwringer]

Tell your friend to man up and twist the thingy on the right harder.

Life doesn't begin until 6,000 rpm, and the GS850 thrives on rpm. :twistedevil:



I cannot for the life of me understand why so many GS850 riders are obsessed with chugging along at 2,000 rpm, but "how can I lower RPMs" is by far the most common n00b question related to the GS850. One of the most usable, smooth, flexible, and enjoyable engines in all of motorcycling, and hardly anyone wants to use more than a third of its potential. I don't get it. Maybe the Harley poison has seeped in too far.

Shift down, twist it up and enjoy the upper half of the tach. Believe me, it ain't gonna break, and you'll have a blast.

Yeah, these things do go to 11...

 

[Steve]

I fully agree. Many who are new to motorcycles just don't understand that, unlike their cars, they are designed to live at, and above, the mid-point on the tach.

Look at the number that is at the beginning point of the red zone on your tach. In top gear, running at half of that number will have you going slower than highway speeds.

And, this affects most older motorcycles. Even my GoldWing, which has a redline starting at 5500 rpm. 2750 rpm in top gear only gets me 60 mph. The newer super-bikes that are geared for 180+ will only be running at about 1/3 of redline at 60 mph, but they did not exist when our GSs were built.

.