A multi-speed transmission is disclosed having an input and output shafts supported by a housing, two gear sets each having a drive gear and a driven gear, and at least two shift forks coupled with synchronizers. An idler gear is selectively manipulated by a reverse lever to intermesh with a drive gear and a driven gear of one of the gear sets to create a reverse gear ratio. The reverse lever includes a cam portion that is selectively engageable with one of the shift forks. When the reverse lever is manipulated to move the idler gear to intermesh with the reverse gear set, the cam portion of the reverse lever triggers partial engagement of another gear set in order to synchronize the speed between the input and output shaft so that the idler gear is spinning at a similar speed as the driven gear of the reverse gear set.