yea i have actually experienced this problem as well on my 02 from 1st to 2nd. It is the synchros. But the thing is that i have heard this problem on only the AP1 (00-03)and not the AP2 (04+). On the AP1 this happens to a lot of us. They changed the type of material the synchros are made out of in the AP2. I have taken it back to honda 3 times and they couldnt find anything wrong with it (since they couldnt duplicate the grind). They finally told me that they would take apart the tranny and check for me but if they couldnt find anything wrong they would charge me labor fees ($500+). So i am still debating if i want to do that. (bought extended warrenty until 100K)