Hey In Nairobi now 21'000km from home and 45'k km on the clock. I have been having a little issue with my gear changing. It started in Sudan about 5'000km ago. Changing up 3/4/5th would sometimes jam, only fighting and searching up and down would get them in. This I put down to the shit African cheep oil, As when I changed oil the problem would go away for the next 800-1000km. Fed up with changing oil every week or so. I put in terriably expensive fully synthetic real motorcycle oil in last week in Nairobi and expected the problem to go away. I have just ridden 1000km to Mombasa and back and the problem is still there, even when the oil was brand new. I have got used to the prblem and deal with it now.

When I could't shift up (down is never a problem) found it was beacuse the gear lever was't dropping back down to its orignal position imediatly, I would feel it drop down a second or two latter, or occasionly not at all. Just tapping in down works with no problems so I have learnt to live with it.

Has any one else had this problem? Any ideas what its is? Does the gear lever normal return by gravity or by mechanical means? The bike is 2004 TT600RE (45k-kms). Now Im here Chris in Jungle Junction is a great mechanic so I could fix it here-but with money I don't really have spare. However if it is just a new fecture of the bike and I can keep on using it I will carry on down to CT and have a look when I get back home.
Cheers George