2023 Vitpilen Shifting Issues

N

nmanson

new rider
Joined
Sep 9, 2023
Messages
3
Location
Dublin, CA
I recently bought a new 2023 Vitpilen. The bike had some minor issues with shifting pretty much out the door, I would have trouble getting down from 2nd or neutral to the first gear at a red light and sometimes had to hit it down pretty hard to get into the 1st. It is my first bike, so I was not sure if I was not sure if the issues would go away after the break-in period or if it was supposed to be like this. I'm at 500 miles now and during my last ride, the bike got stuck in 3rd gear at a red light and would not shift up or down. I had to push my bike to the curb and after a little while it started to shift again so I was able to ride home.
Once I parked it in my garage I tried checking whether it would shift properly and now it only goes from 1st to 3rd, and would not go up when parked. I checked the chain tension, it was not super bad, but had a bit of slack so I decided to tighten it, but it did not seem to help with my issue. The shifter cable tension also seems okay to my untrained eye.
Has anyone had similar issues? Any ideas on what else I can do or check?
I'm planning to get the bike to the dealership, but I don't think it would be safe to drive it, especially since the dealer is 60 miles away from me.
 
That’s not right and needs to be addressed at the dealer. These bikes shift like butter, with maybe a little extra care finding neutral, that’s it.
 
Is your clutch cable adjusted so that it is fully releasing the clutch when you pull the lever?

Dont force the gears, they are not made for that.

When the bike is stationary with engine off you need to roll it a bit back or forth sometimes to be able to shift, other wise the gears dont spline.

I would take it to the dealership and ask them to check the clutch cable adjustment as this is your first bike and you could easily smoke your clutch with improper adjustment.
 
Have you tried to warm up the engine and then only use the quick shifter? If that works, then it’s probably a lever adjustment issue.
 
So, I ended up driving the bike to the dealership I got it from. They told me they needed to charge me 30 minutes of labor to diagnose the issue.
They told me that the issue was that the shift lever was mechanically getting stuck or catching on something, so they just readjusted it and now it works just fine.
I feel like it is very possible that they just did not set it up properly when they were assembling the bike, but there is also a slight possibility that it is something that I did, so I decided not to argue about paying the half an hour of labor to adjust it.
 
Isn’t this type of stuff what’s included in the warranty? I wouldn’t buy another bike from that dealer. I’m 100% confident my dealer would have fixed that for me free as a warranty job.

Glad you got it sorted.
 
That should have been a warranty job and free to you.

I'd get in touch with Husqvarna head office in your country and make a complaint, saying that Husqvarna service should be better than this. Ask them what will happen if something major happens in the warranty period - "How much will you have to pay?". Pin it on Husqvarna service rather than the individual dealer.

And look for another shop to do servicing. If there is a KTM dealer nearby they will be able to do anything necessary. Leave the Husky dealer for warranty calls only.
 
Doesnt surprise me that they wanted a bit of cash moneys to adjust it.

Would chalk it up to lessons learned, I mean it is your first bike and all.
 
Yeah, I agree that this type of thing should have been fixed under warranty. I think if I pushed them, they would be okay doing it as a warranty job, but it would just take much longer if I understand correctly. They told me they needed to get approval from Husqvarna for warranty jobs, and their "warranty guy" was on sick leave. So I would have to leave the bike with them for at least a few days and maybe more. The problem is that this dealership was 60 miles away from where I live and I drove my bike there, so I would have to pay Uber both ways or ask my wife to come pick me up. Basically, I just decided that it made more sense for me to pay this out of pocket and get my bike the same day.
 
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