Gearbox slipped to lower gear?

[Lunch]

I just bought a brand new 2012 M796 over the weekend and I'm still in the <600 mile break in period so I've been very careful not to take it over 6k RPMs.

I was in the carpool lane on the way home tonight and was in 6th gear. I was running pretty low in the RPMs, about 3.5k, so I decided to downshift. I pulled the clutch and clicked down once and then let the clutch out. The bike immediately shot up to max RPMs at which point I grabbed the clutch again and waited for the bike to slow to about 35mph. It was as if the bike dropped into 1st or 2nd gear straight from 6th. Luckily there was no one else on the road. Is that something I should be worried about? The rest of the ride home seemed ok. I've never had anything like that happen on any of my bikes before this one. Would that have messed up the engine since it went to such a high RPM during the break in period?

Just don't know if I should be concerned or not.

Any info would be appreciated.

[CoolBDPhenom03]

I doubt it'll ruin your engine unless you do it repeatedly. I would, however, talk to your tech about that shifting issue.

[Chuckracer]

You just missed a shift - relax. Sounds like you're being very gentle and tentative with your inputs...don't. Shift it firmly and decisively. Your transmission will thank you.

Also...did you know your bike was run right up to redline in each gear on a roller at the factory? Every bike is. Kinda makes all that worry about break-in seem a little moot, don't it?

[Düb Lüv]

+1 on false neutral/sissy shifting. redlining it makes it happy.

[Lunch]

I did a poor job at explaining what happened as it is very hard to describe. This is my 4th bike in the last 6 years and I've never had something like this happen. I've missed shifts before so I know what that feels like, and this felt very different.. Those who contributed thank you. I'm going to take it to the dealer to have them take a look and I'll let you know what they say even if it makes me look like a sissy

[shieldze]

I've had mine do a similar thing a few times already. For me either up shifting or downshifting between 4th, 5th, and 6th gears, it occasionally shifts into neutral. I've never have this happen to me on a bike before either. The last time it happened, I didn't touch anything after and revved it just to check that it stayed in neutral, which it did until I shifted out.

I understand mis-shifting in a car, but on a bike, how? The only neutral position is between 1st and 2nd, unlike a car where you can hit neutral between every gear. I almost got rear ended on the highway last week when this happened. I went to downshift and switch lanes to let a merging car into the lane, and when I downshifted I hit neutral and went nowhere, and almost got hit by the car flying up the left lane.

Definitely should not be happening IMO.

[oleary]

Originally Posted by shieldze

I've had mine do a similar thing a few times already. For me either up shifting or downshifting between 4th, 5th, and 6th gears, it occasionally shifts into neutral. I've never have this happen to me on a bike before either. The last time it happened, I didn't touch anything after and revved it just to check that it stayed in neutral, which it did until I shifted out.

I understand mis-shifting in a car, but on a bike, how? The only neutral position is between 1st and 2nd, unlike a car where you can hit neutral between every gear. I almost got rear ended on the highway last week when this happened. I went to downshift and switch lanes to let a merging car into the lane, and when I downshifted I hit neutral and went nowhere, and almost got hit by the car flying up the left lane.

Definitely should not be happening IMO.

Ducati false neutrals - they all do it - some worse than others.

Try to shift more positively.

Using high quality rearsets with needle bearing pivots (like Gilles) helps, as well.

[danaid]

I agree with the missed shift, my 696 would do this often at the lower miles. Now with 6000+ miles and 10-40 full synthetic oil, my shifting is effortless.