During acceleration after shifting into 2nd gear the transmission slips out and then back in sometimes causing the rear wheel to spin.
Suzuki VZR1800 slipping problems
18 of the 145 owner complaints about the Suzuki VZR1800 describe transmission slipping, most of them for the 2006 model year.
- owner complaints
- 18
- worst model year
- 2006
- typical mileage
- 8,300
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
I have a 2006 m109r with the infamous 2nd gear slipping out in to neutral issue. The bike has 12,000 miles but the symptoms started as early as 7,000 miles. I have the bike in the shop with a $3600 bill for fixing the transmission. I've never had any problems of this nature with any other motorcycles I've ever owned. I own a 2016 ducati monster 1200r that shifts perfectly. Suzuki dropped the ball with these transmissions and should own up to it.
Major loss of power to the ground. Mainly in second gear if I open the throttle to anything above say 20% twist of the wrist the rpms go up but bike wont gain speed while already driving. Clutch does not show signs of burning up and all seems normal there. Ive adjusted it per suzuki's manual and followed their updated method via service bulletin the next time I made adjustment. In all gears I get this slipping sensation too where the motorcycle feel like its dragging or not picking up speed along with the rpms whenever I try to use some of the bikes strong power while already driving on the highway. This potentially can put me into a dangerous situation where I cannot pickup speed to avoid another vehicle need be and plus it just plain old takes the confidence and fun out of riding this machine I spent a lot of hard earned money on. Shifting into second gear is rough and difficult at times. I always shift in low RPM (4k RPM) and ease on throttle for all gears to not abuse it. The gear indicator I had installed no longer senses what gear I am in more times than not. I suspect the shift fork for second gear along with the gear itself to be badly engineered after gather info about this issue on the m109ers.com forum. Thinking the secondary drive might be worn out when I don't abuse this bike. This bike has also had a terrible "stutter" in first gear when driving from a stand still that I noticed goes away when you park the bike with the handle bars turned to the right to stand up the bike more upright (more oil gets to the clutch stack) 24000 miles on the odometer, this is the third bike I have ever purchased out of the 5 in my lifetime. Will be filing a complaint again once I have more info and documentation.
The bike has a routine slip in 2nd gear only above 20 MPH at a dead stop. It's not safe to drive when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear under heavy acceleration, as the slip could cause an accident or rider injury. The slipping from 1st to 2nd gear is worse when there's a passenger and/or heavier loads. This issue causes you to either skip 2nd gear or not ride the bike at all. The repair is very expensive and timely, if you can even get anyone to do the work. I've owned several suzuki's and have never had an issue, but this one is very disappointing. Suzuki refuses to assist at all, and there are several cases of the exact same thing, especially with 2006 and 2007 models. My bike only has 15,000 miles on it with lots of custom accessories. It'll all go to waste if I trade or sell because of this issue.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 suzuki vzr1800. While driving various speeds, the second gear slipped into the neutral position. The contact stated that the failure occurred on more than one occasion. The vehicle was taken to all ohio motorsports (23361 aurora rd, cleveland, oh 44146, (440) 786- 2230) where it was diagnosed that the second gear needed to be replaced within the transmission. The contact stated that the vehicle was in the process of being repaired by the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 suzuki vzr1800k6 motorcycle. The contact stated that the transmission was slipping. The contact mentioned that the transmission would slip from second to third gear before it seized. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 0.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 suzuki vzr1800 motorcycle. The contact stated that while traveling 35 MPH, the vehicle slipped out of gear and forced the contact to the side of the road. The failure only occurred in second gear. The contact called to speak with the dealer and was advised that the transmission would need replacing. The VIN was not available. The failure and the current mileage was 21,000.
Was stopped at a red light. When light turned green I went to first gear then second. While trying to go to third it slipped out of gear and a car hit me from behind.
Was on my 2007 suzuki m109r and sitting at a light I was making a left hand turn after light turned green. As I made the turn I went to shift into second gear and it went into second gear then slipped back into neutral causing me to lose my concentration and almost hitting car next to me. I am a member of the m109rider message board and have found this is a very common problem with this motorcycle http://www.m109riders.com/forums/search.php?searchid=865572 this is a serious safety issue due to it happens when a rider is starting to accelerate (possibly like me in a turn or merging into traffic) and is likely to eventually cause either a serious accident with injuries or possibly death.
2007 suzuki m109r transmission failure. Second gear pops out when the throttle is about 4000+ RPM and slams back into gear. The result is a bent shift fork and rounded off gear engagement tangs (dogs). Removed the engine and transmission on my own, and replaced suspected problem parts in the transmission such as: shift forks (to updated part numbers), shift fork shafts (to solid 14mm 4140 steel rods), unercut or backcut the gears by 5 degrees (to allow positive engagement of the dogs without slipping apart). The backcutting alone could be the sole fix for suzuki, if they produced these parts like this (5 degree cut) from the factory, and solid shift shafts prevent warpage to occur and the shift forks to positively engage the dogs. Although the bike was out of warranty, and research shows that suzuki is very reluctant to even admit this is a problem, it is dangerous and costly for the owners..
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Suzuki VZR1800 slipping
Which Suzuki VZR1800 years have transmission slipping problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2006 (9 complaints) and 2007 (9 complaints).
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