CBR125 trouble with changing gears

[blankmilleniu...]

Hello lovely people,
I recently bought a used Honda Cbr125r, 2008 model with only 4000 miles. At first it seemed fine, but wouldn't you know it, there seems to be an unhealthy amount wrong with it. This is my first bike, so I had no clue what to look for at the time.

Main problem is from changing gears. By this I mean it often won't change gears at all. I'll get up to a set of traffic lights stuck and be stuck in 3rd. Then I'll be going down a 50mph road and it won't go any higher than 4th gear. Then I'll put it in neutral and it'll stay there for a few minutes.

First bit of advice I came across was checking the tension on the clutch cable. Ok, clutch was really slack, so I tightened that up, but now the biting point is nearly at the same point as not squeezing the clutch at all, which makes pulling away a massive pain. Could this be a call for a new clutch cable?

As for the gears, if it was a clutch problem, it should change gears fine with the engine off, right? Engine's off, still doesn't change gears. Apparently before me purchasing it, it wasn't ridden for about 2 years, but had a new battery put in.

Any help would be appreciated! Is this a case of new gearbox?

[neil.]

Ever changed the engine oil or checked the level? Good place to start because the gearbox/clutch share it with the rest of the engine. With 4'000 and 2 years miles it's actually well due a service, especially being a little 125.

Try adjusting your clutch again so that you have around 1cm of free play before you feel any tug on the cable. Lubricate the cable inner - you can get cable oilers off eBay that you clamp on and spray lube down - I use silicone grease spray on my cables with one of these and it works great. Nearly 40'000 miles out of the original clutch and throttle cables can't be wrong, can it?

[finpos]

It's rare for a gearbox to break and it's usually very obvious when they do so I wouldn't worry too much yet.

Firstly, it won't change gear properly while stationary.

Secondly, adjust your clutch properly. Since it's gone from too slack to too tight you can probably assume the cable and adjusters are ok. You just need 1cm or so of slack as mentioned above. Also remember that once you're moving you should be able to change gear without using the clutch at all once you learn to match the engine speed to the road speed.

Thirdly, you need to be able to distinguish between a really broken box and just fluffing it. Generally, if the gear lever won't move, then it's broken but if it just flops around without actually changing gear you're probably just making a mess of it. While you are trying to figure this out, completely remove your foot from the gear lever after you change gear (i.e. change gear, put toes on foootpeg, change gear, put toes on footpeg...). That's because often the problem is you're not allowing the gearlever to return fully to it's resting position in between changes.

f.