Yamaha R1 is skipping second gear

Q. I’ve just bought a 2002 Yamaha R1 and the gear selection isn’t brilliant, with second gear skipping at 8000rpm. The fork seals are starting to leak too…
Gordon Harrison, email
 
A. Oh dear, it sounds like you have got yourself a bike that’s spent more time with its front wheel in the air than is good for it.

Those through-the-gear wheelies necessitate brutal gearchanges, and if it’s up in the air that long it has probably been coming down with a bang, putting too much force through the forks.

The forks are pretty straightforward, but the gearbox means an engine strip and replacing any chipped or bent components.