[johnakay]

did 320 miles bike is in for it 1st service and gear 1st-2nd problem sorted.
what I have notice on my last run out but this time on my own.
gears worked perfectly fine (20 miles) till I got to a very steep hill.
it would not go into second gear no matter what.stopped 3 times but still was not having it.
so this made me think that the problem only happens under load.
hopefully the dealers will find out what wrong.
can't carry on like this ,one of these days some car is going to rear ended me if he or she's not paying attention.
if its not cured then the bike will have to go.

[Dexter]

Oh  .  .  oh  ..  .  seems you and Charger 1971 both have this problem now!  He hasn't fared so well getting it resolved yet.

Knocking wood that I have not had any such issue in 2,300 km. I did install the vastly improved TEC gear lever kit recently though and it has made shifting much easier on my required foot movements. Could there be an issue with the sloppy linkage that RE put on the Meteor?

I know some here have moved the arm on the splined shaft to bring the toe part higher to allow for toe only shifts, but investigating that avenue last summer, I found the thin rod contacted the frame during gear selection. Any chance you, or Charger have done that?

It seems strange that after a full year of production of the Meteor, with every YouTube reviewer praising the silky smooth transmission, that only 2 cases of this problem have arisen, at least that we have heard of here. Something requiring a recall would have to see far more cases of this.

[NuttyRusty]

Hi Dexter. It would appear we have duplicated our answers with Charger and johnakay. I absolutely agree with everything you say. The one and only time I missed a first to second gear change on my Classic was when I was wearing an old pair of pointy toed cavalry boots, with 2 x heel straps that doesn't allow a much ankle movement.
They are fine on the Interceptor though. This problem does feel Meteor specific; all the 350 variants share the same powerplants, it is possible of course to have an assembly issue, but I bet these engines sitting in dispatch have no idea which model they will end up in. Which as you say leaves only the mechanism to change gear. and the throw from first to second requires more foot movement than the others.
Marvellous opportunity for RE to supply a bit of Meteor specific footwear.

[johnakay]

mines a classic.
few others have had problems with gear change.
some fitted the toe and heel lever and all is fine.
others just getting the 1st service done ..mineral oil to synthetic has improved as with mileage.
once I get my bike back I'll give an update.

[johnakay]

got my bike bike.
they couldn't find anything wrong with the gears.
pleased about that.
ridden it home and it felt super slick.
it must be the oil.
going to invest in a toe and heel shifter.
it seems they can't get the g/lever where I want it.
its either to low or high for my boots.
 looking forward to getting out on it.
I'll keep you posted on how things go.

[Dexter]

got my bike bike.
they couldn't find anything wrong with the gears.
pleased about that.
ridden it home and it felt super slick.
it must be the oil.
going to invest in a toe and heel shifter.
it seems they can't get the g/lever where I want it.
its either to low or high for my boots.
 looking forward to getting out on it.
I'll keep you posted on how things go.

I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of the Classic lever set up, if you could post one. I find it odd that many Meteor owners would have rather had a toe only shifter, (changed mine recently), yet Classic owners would rather have a heel/toe shift.    Neither of which RE seemed to be aware of when designing the bikes.

Have you considered that the style of boot you are wearing may not be suitable for the toe shift? Generally, "work boot" styled footwear is too thick in the toe area for some toe shifters, due to steel toe needs, whereas a  proper motorcycle boot generally is more shoe like and flexible.

[johnakay]

I can't wear any old boots due to having a high instep foot or high arch foot.
boots that have laces are the only ones that I can wear.

I'm not alone as far as the gear shift problems many others have the same problems as I have.
going to have another go at moving it.
I have thought about heating the lever(off the bike) and bend it up a little.
don't know if I can get a replacement? should it go pear shape.

[michiel]

There are definitely some copies of the Meteor that have problems with the gearbox. And it's not because of the shoes or the feet.
I, for example, have been riding two-wheelers of all kinds for 56 years.
And believe me, I know how to change gears. With or without paddle shifters

[johnakay]

put my bike boots on and it appears to be fine.
they've most of moved it up a notch.
went to start the bike up. bleeding battery is flat.
what do these mechanics do on these bikes.
leave the light on while servicing.
what a shore just getting the battery out ,everything is just wedged in.
put some cables in so that I don't have to take the battery out to charge it,

[Border Reiver]

First thing I did after the first ride on my Classic was to move the gear lever up one spline, now feels just right for my big feet.

Andy.

[tooseevee]

put my bike boots on and it appears to be fine.
they've most of moved it up a notch.
went to start the bike up. bleeding battery is flat.
what do these mechanics do on these bikes.
leave the light on while servicing.
what a shore just getting the battery out ,everything is just wedged in.
put some cables in so that I don't have to take the battery out to charge it,

           Some jobs on some bikes are just a little bit fiddly to do & you just have to accept that. Some batteries are more fiddly to get out than others. Most of the time, these fiddly jobs get easier after you do them a few times. It just goes with the territory of dealing with motorcycles & if every little job makes you nuts you'll just never be happy with the bike. I've "fiddled" with bikes & cars (including total builds & total disassembly restorations) my whole life & if every little job drove me nuts, I'd have stopped lonnnnng ago.

            Did you hard wire for a tender? You need that battery on a tender all the time when you're not riding the bike or sooner or later you'll have a dead battery when you go to press that button.

            Some parts of biking are just a little bit of a pain in the butt, but you have to go with it or be forever unhappy. And I recognize your problems with the dealer. Maybe they DID drain the battery, who knows, but that's what you have to deal with if you deal with dealers. Some of them are worse than useless.

            Another question is Why did Royal Enfield decide to fool with the simple gear shift lever that's been working for a 100 years? Did the Indian bike riders want this change? Have a billion Indians "grown up with" heel/toe shifters & pushed the idea to the designers?

[Ivy]

                      .............Another question is Why did Royal Enfield decide to fool with the simple gear shift lever that's been working for a 100 years? Did the Indian bike riders want this change? Have a billion Indians "grown up with" heel/toe shifters & pushed the idea to the designers?

Riding in flip flops is not uncommon in India.

Battery location on my last Kawasaki was a cruel joke.

[tooseevee]

Riding in flip flops is not uncommon in India.

Battery location on my last Kawasaki was a cruel joke.

           olord - Duh      Of course that's it 

            Huge brain fart & I've watched a thousand Indian YooToobs if I've watched One.

            I just wasn't thinking straight -- like THAT's never happened 

[Ivy]

           olord - Duh      Of course that's it 

            Huge brain fart & I've watched a thousand Indian YooToobs if I've watched One.

            I just wasn't thinking straight -- like THAT's never happened 

Hahaha, brain fart, we've all one. Except me of course, no never, not once. Well maybe once.......or twice.

[Father of Dragons]

Having just had the first service done on my 350 Classic I thought I'd make some comments here which may be of interest to others.

Firstly, I had previously read that some dealers appeared to be doing the (mandatory according to RE) tappet check and adjust at 300 miles whilst others did not.

When I booked in for my service, they said that it would take a couple of hours and that they would do it while I waited.  That made me suspect that they did not intend to do the tappets, as firstly the engine would be warm and secondly I don't think they would have had enough time (see below  )

Whilst the service was being done I took a sneaky look into the workshop and noted that at no time was the tank removed.

The service cost £135 and I received a stamp in the book but no list of what had been done, just a receipt.

I rode home and left the bike overnight, intending to check the tappets the next day.  I re-visited "Ride with Warro" on YouTube to remind myself of the procedure for removing the tank etc. and went ahead.

Removing the various parts went reasonably well, with just a few bruises and scrapes.  Interestingly, I found the tappets in a similar condition to that found by Warro when he did his - there was no way that the 0.08mm feeler would fit in the inlet side, where there seemed to be no gap at all, and the outlet was smaller than 0.18mm, although there was at least some discernible gap.

Having adjusted to the correct gaps, I then faced the interesting problem of re-seating the rubber gasket when fitting the rocker cover. All I can say is that RE could surely have made this easier by not "gluing" the gasket in place on the left hand side of the head, so that it can't be removed to be placed into the rocker cover when upside down.  ( I didn't have Mrs Warro to help me as he did).

Luckily it eventually went in, and there is no sign of oil leakage so far.

Replacing the tank was slightly tricky as the throttle cable was routed over the top of the left hand rubber mount at the front and the bracket on the tank kept jamming on the cable as I tried to wiggle it back on. I eventually gave up and moved the throttle cable underneath, it seems to be OK there, touch wood.

So my conclusion is that, even for an experienced mechanic, the tappet check and adjustment must be a fairly time consuming process and, if done by the dealer, would lead to disproportionately high first service bills (I say disproportionally high with reference to the cost of the bike)

I'm also very pleased that I took the trouble to check mine as they were clearly not in specification after 300 miles (before that - who knows?).

I'd be interested to know what other UK owners have paid and if they believe that their tappets were checked/adjusted at the first service.