First Gear woes...

I just changed my oil in my 01 300EX for the first time (at about 12 hours or so) and used Mobil 1 Tri-Synthetic (20W-50). Occasionally while taking off in first gear, it will pop into neutral by itself. My oil level is a little high, slightly above the top notch when hot. Could this (high oil level) be causing the problem? Or is it related to the synthetic oil? I use Golden-Spetro Synthetic in my street bike and have never had this problem.

TIA

You are suppose to check the oil level when it's COLD if you check when it's hot the oil is all over and it shows a lesser amount on the dip stick. So you have WAY WAY too much oil in there, that could be yur problem, it's not good to run a motor with too much oil in it.

[Guy400]

I do believe the 400EX and Raptor both have to be warm when the oil is checked. Our dipstick is in the reservoir above the engine so the oil's got to be warm and pumped around to give an accurate reading.

[dirtclog]

i have always heard that synthetic really isn't as good as regular oil with frequent changes........I don't run synthetic and have had no problem yet...bought the 2000 300ex in sept 1999.

causes clutch slip..??

just heard not from experience.

Originally posted by Guy660R
I do believe the 400EX and Raptor both have to be warm when the oil is checked. Our dipstick is in the reservoir above the engine so the oil's got to be warm and pumped around to give an accurate reading.

Yes you are right but on a 300EX it should be COLD

The high oil level WAS the problem. I siphoned out about 1/3 of a quart and all seems to be well.

I hate to do this but going back to the synthetic oil issue and clutch slippage. There is some truth to this, at least from my experience. On my CBR, I notice some shifting issues going into 2nd gear from 1st for about the first few hundred miles after a fresh oil change. After the oil get's a little dirty, the problem seems to go away. I expected some of the same issues with my 300EX going to synthetic, but not the popping out of gear problem. Although it seems that problem was not because of synthetic, but due to my problem with not reading the user manual carefully.