Why does my gear only engage downhill

Question

I'm having a mechanical problem with my 250cc motorcycle. It has 5-gears, and all work smoothly but the 5th gear.

the 5th gear will only work/engage when I shift to it coming downhill on a roadway, from this point it will stay in 5th gear(at least that is what the speed I can achieve indicates) while I'm either continuing downhill or riding along a level surface.

Once I begin to climb an inclined roadway, my motorcycles mechanical system(transmission I believe) enters this unknown state where, though I'm set to be in 5th gear, my motorcycle can't even achieve top speeds of the 4th gear.

Some input to consider when producing a valid answer to my question:

I've put +3500 miles on the bike, which was put on riding overt long-distances primarily in 5th gear.
It's been about 3,000 miles since the last oil change, and once again, a majority of those miles where accumulated while riding in 5th gear.

Rory Alsop · Answer

This is really what I would expect to happen. In 5th you have far less torque than in 4th, so under load you will not be able to maintain speed in 5th and should shift down a gear.

The general rule to apply on most bikes, as they have sequential gearboxes is to change down if the bike is not able to maintain speed, or you want more acceleration, and change up if your revs are getting too high or you wish to maintain a constant speed and don't need the extra torque.

I have had bikes that would not go up hills in anything over 3rd :-)

Why does my gear only engage downhill

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