Is this considered pretty normal for the UCE eng/trans? I expect so.
No, certainly not.
I think your gear change technique might be the problem. There is a technique which
guarantees no missed gears, and it is extremely simple. Also, it's actually faster than the "normal" technique.
At the moment I expect you change gear like this: clutch in, push the gear lever, release the gear lever, clutch out. That's not how to do it. Here is the correct way:
1/ clutch in
2/ push the gear lever
3/
whilst keeping pressure on the gear lever, clutch out
4/ release the gear lever
Step 3/ is obviously the critical one. Quite often, as you let the clutch out, you will feel the gear lever move the rest of the way. Whenever that happens, congratulations, you have just avoided a missed change.
Practice this technique until it is automatic, and use it on every bike you ride.
Motorcycle gearboxes work by sliding the gears sideways until the dogs on the sides of the gears come into engagement. The dogs have flat tops. If the flat tops of the dogs come into contact with each other, then they are blocked from moving the rest of the way into engagement. It then relies on the selector detent spring to maintain pressure on the dogs as you release the clutch. Sometimes, but by no means always, it will push them the rest of the way into engagement. Maintaining pressure on the gear lever does the same thing, but with 100% reliability.
If you want to get a better insight, there are probably YouTube videos explaining the operation of a motorcycle gearbox.
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