Newbie to this forum..just bought a 2005 Baja X ...have ridden it twice..and have problems shifting.
It goes into neutral..seems to have a lot of travel in the shift lever. Never had problems power shifting my other bike..does this one need to be clutched every time you shift?

 

Well, most people pull the clutch in on every shift, unless your doing some serious drag racing and do some quick power shifting....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Yeah, most people use the clutch when shifting... I've never tried shifting without the clutch before. (besides quads that don't have clutches) So I'm not sure what it's from...


But I reccomend that you start learning with the clutch, just incase.

 

The ds isn't a good quad to powershift. I especially wouldn't power shift it while you are breaking it in. There is about $1000.00 worth of gears in there.

 

The shift from first to second is a long throw. I have had a lot of miss shifts especially shifting down. Just have to mak sure you hit the shift firmly down all the way. Do not try down shifting from 2nd to 1st with out engaging clutch. Very Bad thing to do on DS

 

power shifting comes in handy for the nice long wheelies, usually go from 1st to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, never got into 5th, need longer fields lol. I would never down shift w/out the clutch, i never liked to power shift w/ the stock clutch, but after i got my barnett kit i felt pretty comfortable doin it, just for wheelies tho

 

I don't know? It just seems to have a lot travel before it engages and I've never had a bike go inbetween gears before and free-wheel like this one does. Its just different...re-adjusted the shift lever higher and lower. Seems to work better lower..but it's tough getting the boot underneath. Sometimes its hard to get the neutral light to come on. Just wanted to know if anybody has any of these problems...maybe I have something going on. I've always power-shifted all my bikes and never had clutch problems....always clutched on the down shift....when I power shift I let off the gas a little between shifts. This is with the Hondas...they have much less travel. Great site! Nice to be able to ask for info....
By the way, I did break it in..gave it it's 10 hours, changed the oil...and then it's ride it hard..like they all should be ridden... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
Steve

 

Now you say the nuetral light is not coming on but is it acting like it is in nuetral? I have had issues with my nuetral light from day one. i just ignore it and go by feel

 

Wrong, don't ignore it. Check the connection on the back of the light, that comes lose, also, the lights go bad, it's not very expensive to replace from your local Bomb shop. Also, to tell the truth, I always shift with the clutch. This saves your transmission for the future. A good thing if you ask me; however, if you like to waste your gears, be my guest.