Self-repairing gearbox - what happened?

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Sycamore

Pack Dog
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
194
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Location
Southern Cape
Bike
Yamaha XT600
On the weekend I took the bike out - about an hour of fairly hard 3rd/4th gear riding on corrugated / potholed dirt roads, than about an hour of quite fast paved road, then an hour of dirt again, then another hour of paved. So the bike had a bit of a workout.
As I came back into town at the end of this, I slowed for a stop street (this was after about an hour of fairly open throttle on paved roads), down to first gear, then pulled away, suddenly the bike wont go into 2nd gear. No upward movement of the shift lever, nothing, like it was solidly blocked. Only 1st and neutral. Neutral was also a bit odd - not a clean click into neutral. More like, have to feel for it.

So I stopped for about 10 mins, noticed that clutch cable was a bit slack -  tightened that at the clutch lever, nothing major. Couldn't see any other problem. Pull off again, still stuck in first gear for while. Then suddenly (after a minute or 2) second gear opens up. A bit sticky at first, then back to normal, like nothing had happened. All other gears fine, rode for another 20 mins to get home, 100% normal through all the gears. Took the bike out today, completely normal again like nothing happened.

Anyone have an idea what this was?
If it's a warning sign of something serious I want to get on top of it and have it sorted before something big happens.
Bike is an XT600, about 35,000k's or thereabouts. New front sprocket and chain about 500k's ago.
 
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