Over revved now all gears are "neutral"

Went up the 1 (CA) about 10 miles from my house last night. On the way back, about halfway home, i was in 3rd or 4th gear at about 5-6k rpms and she over revs out to 9-10krpms. I thought she slipped (every once in a while it'll slip but never THAT bad) But the bike would not go into gear. It is now stuck in neutral. I can cycle through the gears with the shifter, but in every gear it is "neutral" meaning I can push it.

Outstanding problems with the tranny: 1) a little slippage in 3rd or 4th, especially after a new oil change. 2) Clunks into first from neutral/2nd. It has always done this.

Any idea of what may have gone wrong, or Do i need to open up the tranny and start poking around?

Also-Bike runs great, she just doesn't go anywhere. No smoke, funny smells or clanking when it idles. Clutch cable is still intact and functional.

 

Very unlikely you ruined every gear in the transmission. More likely you toasted the clutch. I'd pull off the right cover and have a peek at it.

Of course you do still have a chain and teeth on the sprockets?

 

There's also some kind of "primary" chain on the 550 - -
maybe that chain broke ??

 

chain and sprockets in tact

Opened up right side oil cover and found black granules all over the inside, smelled horrible. Oil was black with metal shavings. (I am always on top of oil changes..about 600 miles from the next one.)

Looked at friction plates and the ones closest to the cover were thin and brittle. None of them looked fantastic. These obviously need replacing. The gear mechanisms look like they are ok. Need I go further?

 

no need to go on. Your initial symptoms were enough and your digging confirmed. Let me be the first to congratulate you on your freshly installed new clutch that you'll be doing soon.

Be sure to do a good job of flushing/rinsing. Much of clutch bits aren't magnetic so they won't end up stuck to the drain plug. I would probably just wipe down what I can see and add a hefty amount of seafoam prior to my next couple oil and filter changes which I'd much earlier than necessary. That's the short-cut method that's recommended AGAINST around here. (with good reason)

New springs are probably in order when ya get new plates. There are some OLD parts in there. New plates alone would probably seem to work fine for a little while but tired old springs would soon start letting them slip again and you end up blowing up the new plates in a few thousand miles.

You already have it apart, it's a pretty straight forward procedure. Take the old one out. figure out what's busted and what's good. Get new ones from Chacal and put 'em in where the old came out from.
There ARE some critical torque specs in there so manual and torque wrench are the most "out of the ordinary" tools you need.

 

Sounds like the clutch finally gave up the ghost to me too.

New springs are a must, along with new friction plates. The condition of the plain plates will determine whether or not you re-use or replace them.

The clutch on the 550s is different from the bigger bikes, you need to pay attention to the orientation of the tabs on the plain plates when you reassemble, as well as the position in the pack of the clutch boss spring.

Necessary info here: http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... tml#195348

There is a primary chain in the 550s; it's a TRUE primary chain unlike the bigger bikes which don't actually use it as part of the primary drive. In the 550, the primary chain is how the crank drives the clutch, in the bigger bikes it only runs to the starter and alternator.

Highly unlikely you hurt the primary chain, it's tensioned by an oil-pressure operated tensioner, 9K is not an over-rev and 10K is only the beginning of redline. My 550s see 10K with regularity and nobody blew up yet.

You done blowed the clutch.

Honestly, not unusual. Quite often the clutch in these old bikes has petrified with age and fails soon after being put back in service. Remember the friction plate "pads" are like tiny brake pads. Once they've become petrified, they start to crumble (the granules you found all over) and don't do their job anymore.

 

New plates and springs for sure, you got your 30 years worth. The resident parts specialist can hook you up. At least it's not worn shift dogs like on a Penton-Sachs...six speeds and six neutrals lol.

 

just replaced plates, put back together, minus the oil and discouraged because the bike still rolls freely in 1st. it will shift to neutral, but not to 2nd. (this is w/ engine off)

 

When you had the clutch apart, did you take a quick inspection of the shifter linkage located behind the clutch? You might have a broken spring or a loose drum retaining screw. These components are on the outside of the motor, just hiding behind the clutch.

The clutch doesn't operate properly unless half submerged in oil. Did you "dredge" all the new parts in oil as you reassembled?

 

No there is no oil what so ever...dry. This might be the problem. I was wondering about this, but did not want to fill up to have it not work, then drain the bike all over. Should I just fill her up, or would it be best to disassemble then soak w/ oil and re-assemble?

I don't remember seeing any visible damage, but i didn't know what I was looking for, other than broken or shaved parts.

I also only put in 6 plates, not 7. i think i asked this in another thread, but fitz, your diagram only shows 6. Should i go back and put in these plates or no? If so, where do they go in relation to the clutch boss spring?

 

OK. Yes, the diagram is wrong if you count the plates. I will add that note to the original diagram "fix" thank you.

So, you don't have enough clutch plates in there. There are a total of 8 friction plates, seven "normal" ones and the one "secondary" with the bigger ID for the clutch boss spring. You start with a friction plate against the hub, and build from there, staggering your tabs on the plain plates as indicated in the diagram.

The one with the clutch boss spring goes in the THIRD position IN from the outside, the sixth as you're building the pack.

You can go ahead and fill the bike with oil whenever you want. When you work on the clutch, put the bike on the sidestand and you will lose little or no oil. I use one of those disposable aluminum roaster pans as a drip tray.

Keep a bowl of clean motor oil handy, once again from the grocery store those disposable storage bowls come in a size perfect for the purpose. DREDGE all the new clutch parts in oil as you assemble them; it is a good idea to marinate the friction plates in oil for an hour or so ahead of time.

While you're in there, take a flashlight and an inspection mirror and peek behind the clutch basket at the shifter mechanism. Have an assistant operate the lever and you can see the springs and pawl work; and simply ensure that the screw in the center of the shift drum is not loose or falling out. If the shift drum is sitting at an odd angle, its screw came out. I only mention this because it's not unheard of.

 

Thanks bigfitz! appreciate spelling it all out for me. I can definitely feel a difference w/ brand new plates. Now im just killing myself with clutch adjustment, posted on rick's step by step thread.

 

Don't kill yourself.

Simply reposition your throwout lever thusly:



Note the position of the end of the lever relative to the little "box" cast onto the clutch housing.

Note that the lever is being pushed forward firmly, it won't go any further by hand.

Start with the cable adjuster at the TOP screwed in about halfway. Then get a basic adjustment, with about 1/8"- 1/4" of play, using the adjuster at the BOTTOM.

Then fine-tune with the one at the top. You should have about 3mm of play with the bars straight ahead. DO NOT run the cable dead-tight, you will quickly kill your throwout bearing.