Stuck in 1st gear XJ650 with 20000 miles....

Gang, So far any time I have had an issue with my 82 XJ650 you guys have always been bang on with your advice.
So last evening she decided not to shift up out of first gear, not even into neutral. Had to get a breakdown truck to help me out. I have been reading the threads here suggesting the primary chain cover break up and am wondering would this happen on a bike with only 20k miles on her.?
One thing I did notice a few days ago is the oil light flashed on while I was accelerating and I topped her up. My question is...Is it possible I overfilled the engine causing shift issues.? Or is it just coincidence lol...
Thanks again all,
Morg.

 

Hey Morg.

Overfilling the oil won't lock the shifter. I understand it's pretty common for the primary chain guide to crumble and wedge in the shift mechanism. Even though you don't have a lot of miles, that piece of plastic is 30 years old.

I believe that if you pull the left engine cover it is sometimes possible to fish out the offending piece. Good luck!

The oil light is on a simple level switch at the front of the pan. When you accelerate oil sloshes to the rear. Under hard acceleration the light might come on, even with the proper amount of oil.

 

Thanks MiCarl.
I Hope so... Shes my number mode of transport even in winter. Cant have her off the road for too long.
My first hope is when I pull the casing that one of the springs has broken.
Thanks again,
Morg.

 

+1
from what I understand, the piece of plastic is in the shift drum -
Once you knock it loose, you should be good until another piece fouls you up. - - Good Luck !!

 

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but this brings to mind a question: is the famous crumbling primary guide still a problem on the 'newer' XJs such as my 85 750X? I had to tear apart my previous 82 650 Seca engine because of that problem and ever since I've been wondering if and when it's going to happen to the X engine. Anyone ever had the problem on an X engine?

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... +drum.html

http://www.fixya.com/motorcycles/t17576 ... _downshift

 

I haven't heard of it happening, but it's entirely possible -- the parts fiche does have the guide listed, and it's the same part number as the one for the 650. From what I've read (magazine review of the X), the bottom end is the same between the two; they transplanted the FZR's water-cooled cylinder bank and modified the head to take side-draft carbs.

 

The hunks of plastic that prevent shifting are large pieces that get stuck in the shifter forks. There is a "view hole" under the side cover and above the shift linkage that allows (limited) access to that area of the transmission.

Or it could just be a broken spring in the "mousetrap."