2015 diff transmission?

[2wheelsforme]

I have seen posted more that a couple of times that the transmission changed for the 2015 year. This was to apparently stop the ghost shifting that some complained about. I have searched and can not find anything official that this is true other than just someone saying so on a forum. If true they were not totally successful with the new design as my 15 has ghost shifted a couple of times. I have not compared a parts list between years but I guess that would confirm if true of not. If someone has more info on this I would love to know for sure if true or just rumor.

[shortleg0521]

Think what it had to do with was the shift forks..

[jm21ddd15]

46000 miles on my 15. No ghosts in my tranny. Runs like it should.

[2015F6B]

Likewise, 40,000 miles on my 15. Shifts like it should.

[JackB]

36,000 miles on my 2013 and no ghosts shifts.

[2wheelsforme]

Yes some do, some don't. Was a change made to the shift forks or something else in 15 to address this?

[Cleaver1]

52,000 on my 2013 and only 1 ghost shift at about 30,000 miles ( I didn't click it in gear all the way as my foot slipped on the shifter). No ghost shifts since. Love this bike.

[wjduke]

I think any shifting problems I've noticed have been self inflicted, not paying attention. I can't say I've had any issues in my 37k.

[opas ride]

Supposedly Honda coated the 4th/5th gears with some special "snake oil" to help reduce this so called "ghost shifting"...It is posted in the archives somewhere..Had my 2013 for 4 1/2 years and never had this issue that I can recall.....Apparently it happens, but is few and far between!!!....Regards and ride safe

[2wheelsforme]

Good two theories so far. Changed the shifting forks and applied some snake oil of some sort. Anymore thoughts on the tranny differences and WOW if someone has a link to share that is half believable.

[BIGLRY]

Good two theories so far. Changed the shifting forks and applied some snake oil of some sort. Anymore thoughts on the tranny differences and WOW if someone has a link to share that is half believable. Ya might like to read http://www.justwings.com/Complaints.html and http://www.justwings.com/Cause.html and to remedy the issue Honda updated the dogs on the gears in 2014 to lock in better by back cuting the new ones.

[2wheelsforme]

Thanks that was an interesting read.

[tenxxx]

I have had a few bikes over the years that did that. If your not using enough force there is a neutral in between each gear. I'll shift into neutral from first once in a while too, so I'm prone to do that and have had a few ghost shifts on my 2013 in the last 2k miles. One jumped back into 4th with no bad sounding clunk. But once it jumped out of 5th and right back in with a clunk. That one was concerning but no trouble since. I don't speed shift. It will haul ass with out doing that. Have never heard of anyone nor have I had a bad shift with a heel toe shifter.

[tenxxx]

Also wanted to mention that the trans or clutch makes rattling noise as soon as the clutch starts to grab. Don't hear it while cursing. Bike is a 2013 with 10k miles.

[Sorcerer]

My 2013 sounded grindy when letting out the clutch when the bike was at less than half way between cold and operating temperature. Once at operating temp it sounded normal. It did it from new to it demise at 35,000 miles. My therory was stacking tolerances making some thing in transmission to tight until something grew. On 75* days there was little to no noise from a cold start.

[Jimmytee]

I think I remember once having what is described as a "Ghost shift" with my 2013. It was somewhere in the 12-15 k miles area. I have about 46k on her now, and really don't think has happened since.

I've been fighting off the new bike flue. A short ride on a 6 spd 18 Gold Wing and a generous ride on a K1600B ( that was fun) left me feeling a fairly content on my 13 F6B.

[F6Dave]

If you check the OEM parts websites, you'll see that several transmission part numbers changed when they fixed the 'ghost shifting' problem in 2015. They did this on all the Wings. It's been a while since I've looked, but as I remember the 4th and 5th gearsets had different dogs to improve engagement. Some other parts may have changed too.

Interestingly, my 2013 never had a shifting problem. But my 2016 had a 'false neutral' between 4th and 5th twice when it was new. Either the problem disappeared with mileage, or my shifting technique improved.

[CheesyRider]

The transmission was indeed changed for 2015. There was a discussion about it already on this forum, but I can't for the life of me find it with the search function. I did find photos of the changes on another forum from a guy who rebuilds gl1800 transmissions.

2014 and earlier:
5289 5290

2015+:
5291 5292

[tenxxx]

The sound reminds me of some other bikes Ive had with clutch basket problems. Because it rattles with the speed of the engine. The sound comes before there are tranny gears turning. Its something on the input side of the clutch. And I don't hear it any more after the clutch is fully engaged. In fact, this bike has the best feeling clutch Iv ever had. Smooth engagement all the way.
Any way, I'm gonna ride it till it quits, or I quit. From what Im reading here, some bikes have had this symptom all their life. So I'm giving it no more thought.
Its kinda like me, A little too young to be sounding old. It sorta fits me.
Ride safe.

[TailGunner]

So what is a ghost shift? Does it actually shift into another gear or goes into nuetral?

[2wheelsforme]

Either can happen. Into neutral is not strange but when it changes on its own from 5th to 4th it is weird. Has only happened very few times and not at all in several thousand miles.

[SeaSteve]

So what is a ghost shift? Does it actually shift into another gear or goes into nuetral?

Sorry for being a smart a$$, but...BIGLRY's links has the following description:

WHAT IS GHOST SHIFTING? The symptoms present as an unwanted transmission shift, or coming out and jumping back into gear.


Can occur while in any gear; however, 1st is never included.
Finding a shifting "sweet spot" is difficult.
The unwanted shift can be undetectably smooth, at other times BANG!!!
Some describe it as "if my rear tire slipped on a wet leaf” or a "lurch," a "blip," or a "hiccup" in power.
It is an unwanted shift down from 5th to 4th, or 4th to 3rd, or 3rd to 2nd, 2nd to neutral. Or on a shift up from 2nd to 3rd, or 3rd to 4th, or 4th to 5th. Some Wings experience multiple combinations of unwanted shifts.
Ghost Shifting may start with an almost new bike.
It is difficult to reproduce. Occurrences can be 10,000 miles apart making the symptom extremely elusive.
Sometimes it may come out of gear, float in a “neutral position," then jump back into the gear it came out of.
In almost all cases, it occurs while under light acceleration or while "just cruising along." Some riders report it occurs after downshifting or deceleration to reduce speed.
The rider often blames it on a "miss shift," not wanting to believe what he just felt was a ghost shift.
Eventually, a shift occurs that gets attention; it can leave the Wing no longer ride-able.
All GL1800 years are affected.


HOW IT AFFECTS YOU - THE RIDER? A bike's performance is critical to the confidence of the rider, his safety and ability to make good decisions.


In certain conditions, ghost shifting is extremely dangerous and begins to build mistrust between the rider and the Wing.
As ghost shifting becomes more frequent, the rider is forced to change riding habits, often in heavier traffic situations due to "miss trust."
At first ghost shifting leaves the rider confused as to what just happened, what gear it came out of or what gear it is currently in. If it is a ghost shift down, RPM’s will increase.

[rdbonds]

Agree with that summary, SeaSteve. It's certainly disconcerting if you're not used to it. In a couple of weeks, I have a buddy coming into town from the UK for a week-long ride and I've offered to provide him a bike for our ride while he is here. Since we'll likely each spend time on the Wing and my GSA, I feel like I need to give him a primer on the F6b's tendency to ghost, just so he's aware.

It feels a bit like when I was a young fellow, telling a buddy how to start my first car when it was cold. "No, no...it won't crank like that. You have to press the gas pedal to the floor TWICE before trying to start it, then don't touch the gas at all while cranking....THEN give it a pat of gas once she fires so it does not go dead...otherwise she will flood and you have to wait". :)

Despite that one tiny issue, I still love the Wing, and she's a great bike that I think he'll enjoy.