R1 noob need tranny advice

Anyone with transmission rebuild experience care to lend some advice? A few weeks ago I picked up an '00 R1 with 6k miles on it. Bike runs great, but once it warms up is having a real hard time downshifting past 3rd. Things are great while it's cold but on the road rolling to a stop lights it wanted to stay in 3rd. upshifts fine but doesn't want to pop down to second. In my mind I'm thinking bent shift forks but I'm in denial here. Last option before disassembly I'm thinking oil and maybe clutch. **fingers crossed** Well I changed the oil and put in a 10w30 and now it's worse! Sometimes wanting to stay in 5th and 4th and starts acting up earlier (tempwise). I have rebuilt quite a few 2 strokes and a ninja 250, so my minds eye I can see the fork not aligning the drum properly. So the question is should I go ahead and try a synthetic oil?? I'd go to a dealer but I'm sure they would say "Give us $1,200 and we will **try** to have it back in 6 weeks" I am really not looking split the cases on an engine with this low of miles. (well lower than any other bike I've ever owned) From you guys experience how much damage could a transmission get within 6k miles, even with a wheelie fanatic? (ok I know thats a subjective question) Any advice from anyone that's been elbow deep in this engine would be much appreciated. Thanx guys Johnny

Id like to hear an answer on this one too... sounds interesting...

Have you checked the gear linkage has not dried up and not moving freely. Mine dried and was really hard to downshift....took off gear lever,linkage shift rod and shift arm and cleaned and lubed them and was fine after. Hope yours is just an easy fix as getting to gearbox is major split Good luck :thumbup

Sounds to me like the shift return spring may have come off its post. I've seen this happen on several early FZ1s (same basic engine/tranny as '00 R1). This is an easy fix if that is all the problem is. What you have to do is remove the shifter linkage and shift arm on the end of the shift shaft. Then you have to remove the shift shaft cover. Look for a spring about 1" long and about 3/8" diameter and verify it is hooked in place. If not, put it back on the pin or better yet replace it since it is cheap (only a buck or two) and you will need a new gasket for that cover. You can see the parts involved by looking at online parts fiche. This has also been discussed in detail on the www.yamahafz1oa.com forum. Just go there and do a search for shift return spring.

Thanks so much for the help. You were actually very close. I was thinking and hoping it was something external and a lot of members here were saying check and grease the linkage. I've gone over and over the outer rod and pivot points, and still nothing. I pulled the shift linkage off and was actually removing the shaft cover when I noticed the pivot point where the footpeg goes through is REALLY tight and will not rotate around. Cleaned and greased and nothing. Break out the dremal and file a bit away greased the heck out of it with white lithium grease and smooth as butter now. I can only guess the higher gears had enough snap to pull it even though it was binding. When I took it around the block for a test ride I think the neighbors heard the "Woo Hoo!!!" from under my helmet. ;-) Anyway thanx to everybody for all the advice.