PERMANENT FIX FOR 99-02 TRANSMISSION FAILURE : Yamaha R6 Forum: R6MessageNet : YZF-R6 Forums

Johns02R6 · 09-09-2006, 04:08 PM

Hello guys,
I have a 2002 R6 and I used to post here a lot back when I bought it new. I can't believe that the transmission thread is now 52 pages long! Well, I write this post with excellent news for all who have this problem. Apparently a permanent fix was developed by Yamaha for their 2003-up R6's. Many of you know that they upgraded the 2nd gear engagement to utilize 4 dogs instead of 3. The shift fork is also much bigger, as well as improved ratios. What you may not know, is that the 2003-2004 R6 transmission is a DIRECT DROP-IN replacement for the 99-02 transmission. That means you can buy a complete 03-04 tranny out of a wrecked bike for super cheap and upgrade your tranny for good. Simply pull out the old shafts, and replace them with the new shafts and forks. I recently did this to a customers bike, and the total cost with labor was around $1300. That price included undercutting the new gears for even more reliability.
Moral of story: If you are spending the money to fix your bike's tranny, then use the newer parts so it's fixed for good. e-mail any questions to johns02r6@yahoo.com

PS: I took over 100 digital photographs of the teardown and rebuild, is there any interest in a CD-ROM walkthrough of the procedure? It's very straightforward for an average mechanic. Price would be about $20 a disc.

blackonwhite99r6 · 09-09-2006, 04:18 PM

how about 10 bucks for the disc plus shipping?

Thrak · 09-10-2006, 01:42 AM

I wouldnt call that a permanent fix, because a poor-shifting rider can still cause the same problem. Which, ironically, is the same thing that causes it in the first place.

mariospeedwagon · 09-10-2006, 05:06 AM

Whoah -- I'm not a "poor-shifting rider" and that shit happened to me...

(although I don't agree that what he proposes is a permeant fix...)

I thought it was a design flaw due to the large gap from first to second or something like that...????

blackonwhite99r6 · 09-10-2006, 09:59 AM

Well I am guessing that the gap from first to second promotes transmission failure over time because it makes shifting perfectly (without damage) harder than reasonable....which means even if you think you are shifting well you still might be damaging the dogs. Obviously a design flaw made it so that all of us intermediate street/track riders ruin transmissions even with our best shifts. My tranny has lasted me 14k as a second owner with 24k on the bike and quite a few first to second sit downs. This winter I am still going to replace the tranny with an 03 just to be safe and maybe make shifting a little smoother.

Thrak · 09-10-2006, 01:36 PM

the gap from 1st to 2nd is the same on the 03-05 trans, the only difference is the number of dogs, which reduce, but not eliminate the chance that you get the problem.

I've had 4 99-02 R6's, all with LOTS of miles and lots of track time and I've never once had the 2nd gear problem.... I also used GP shift on all of them.

So, you tell me, if I can go thru all those bikes and not have a problem, why did you?

blackonwhite99r6 · 09-10-2006, 05:02 PM

Maybe you are just a pro thrak....I have yet to have a problem with my bike and although its only 14,000 miles compared to yours maybe other people buy their bikes with worn dogs and it just goes downhill from there. I just want to make sure my transmission is in top shape so that I dont have any problems when I cant afford them.

mariospeedwagon · 09-14-2006, 07:51 AM

Yeah, so what you guys are saying is that it's a faulty gear problem...

And hell yeah the shit needs to be fixed... it's ridiculous

Rob Sherman · 09-14-2006, 09:23 AM

Just curious Thrak, but I don't recall every hearing or reading about a 03+ having this 2nd gear problem...

I totally agree that if you just learn how to shift properly (and getting the GP shift pattern done is a HUGE help, I believe) you shouldn't have any problems.

blackonwhite99r6 - are you having symptoms of the 2nd gear slipping??? If you're not and you are that worried enough to swap out the tranny with a '03+, shit man if the tranny is still good on yours, you could sell it with a clear conscious.

Then I would take whatever you get for the bike + the $1300 or so it would cost you for a '03 tranny and put that into just buying a '03+ R6....

But if you've gone 14k miles (23k on the bike) and the tranny is still good - it sounds like you are shifting correctly and I would stop worrying about it.

blackonwhite99r6 · 09-14-2006, 11:06 AM

Well I am going to be riding harder next summer on a track and possibly trying out some stunting with a few of my friends every now and then. My biggest concern is when I do some intake porting and get my bike the way I want it this winter it will have a lot more power than in stock form and I just dont want anything going wrong during summer. The bike has always been fairly hard to click into 2nd compared to newer 600s and I just want to make sure that my bike is bullet proof when summer rolls around also because I wont be the only one riding it (brother, friends). For me its more preventative than anything and I can sell my 99 tranny to cover some of the cost of the 03 tranny.