Jumping out of 2nd gear

My bike's in getting a RWC at the moment, and they said that it won;t stay in 2nd gear. I haven't ridden it myself to describe it better, but does anyone know what I'm looking at to fix it?

edit: Apparently it jumps out of 2nd and straight into 3rd

 

This is NOT the kind of news you want going into the Holiday Season.

You have an "Either / or - or - Both" situation.

Either you have a bent Shift Fork or a worn-down Gear Selection Dog or Both.

There's no adjustment that can be made to correct these problems.
Ideally, new parts are required.
There are a few shortcuts and fixes ... but, no matter what ... you're looking at having to get inside the Engine ... one way or another.

One way is to take the whole engine apart and split the cases and get into the transmission and replace both the fork and the gears that have worn-down Dogs.

Another is to remove the Sump (***On some Models***) and use a Dremel Tool to "Dress" the Dogs back to not having a rounded-off face that allows the mating gear to slip.

Easiest fix I can recommend:

Pull the Engine and swap-in one known to be good without transmission problems.

(I'd just peeked at Santa's List ... you ain't supposed to get just a lump of coal, this year. But it's lookin' like you're gettin' a whole load. Sorry.)

 

crap..... How hard is the removing the sump thing? Its an Aust model, VIN starts with 4K1.

 

Are there any "performance upgrades" that can be done to our trannies? At least this happend in the off season and maybe you can gain some knowledge and become the next XJ guru! I'm thinking about diggin into mine this winter for some education... Good luck and let us know what you find.

 

Maybe this is what you need? Just trying to help as much as I can!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1980-81- ... dZViewItem

 

I had the same problem on my bike and it was a worn selector fork (not bent and the cogs were fine) so I'll add a third possibility to the mix.

It is a $20.00 part but a ton of work to fix.

 

Or you could just ride more sensibly and not drag race so much, then it won't get a chance to jump out of gear.

 

here's an update.
I took it for a ride this morning, the jumping out of gear seems to be rev dependant and not load dependant. Basically, when you get to around 5000rpm it jumps into neutral, but just cruising around slowly it's fine. I even loaded it up by changing to 2nd at around 5km/h and it didn;t jump out. I'm guessing Fraps has the answer, the selector fork. I'm pretty sure the Haynes manual says you can change this without dropping the engine or splitting the cases.
GBambeck1 :I'm in Aust, we don;t have an off season down here

 

shamus:

I don't want to burst your bubble; but you have a problem that only gets worse.
Since the fork allows the gear to "Let-go" ... eventually you'll need to resort to "Holding" the gear in place by keeping pressure on the shift lever.

This tatic only causes the Fork to get worn-down faster than it is. Pretty soon, mo matter what you do ... you'll find that you cannot select that gear no matter what you do, because the Fork won't have the distance to engage it to the next range.

I can't remember ever learning a shortcut to service the Gear Change Assembly.
It's always been that way for Yamaha.
To get to the assembly ... eyeball it and determine what the problem is can be done without splitting the cases.

But to lift-out the transmission; to slip-off or disengage gears, fork or bearings ... you're limited to having to split the cases because the whole deal is laid-in there as a complete package needing to go-in vertically.

It doesn't slide-out from either side.

 

I seriously doubt that but I've been wrong before. I had to pull the engine and split the cases to fix mine. Good luck with it though.

 

shamus, what kind of engine oil are you using?

 

I have no idea what they put in... The bike has been off the road for about 4 years and I was hoping to get it registered, but I don;t think that s going to happen now

 

Fraps: How long did it take you to fix it?

 

Took me a good weekend to pull the engine, split the cases replace the fork and reassemble. About 20hrs worth and a 12 pack (although if you forgo the 12 pack it might only take 10hrs!!!!) - I am Canadian...

It isn't terribly difficult. A haynes manual can talk you through it. It just takes time and some new gaskets and fluids and a few tools.

 

awesome...sounds like its something I'd be able to tackle with a little bit of help... I've got the Haynes manual so there's a start. The bike shop told me that if I took the engine out and dropped it off to them then they'd fix it for about $500

 

That ain't such a bad deal.
If you decide to go that route ... have them replace the Starter Clutch Pins and springs ... and, inspect the Primary Chain Guide and replace that too if it looks like its starting to deteriorate.

 

Do you think i should give the 'dremel' trick a go before anything else?

 

and are the things I'm reading about the box being the same as in the XS1100 right?

 

You'd have to look at the situation, first. If the Dog needs to be Dressed ... yes.

If the Shifting Fork is bent ... you have to deal with that.

If you are thinking about a 500-dollar repair budget ... you could look for a whole used engine and swap it in there and be done ... then, you could take your time overhauling the engine you took out and have yourself a hand-built-by-you spare engine to place back in at some other time in the future.

 

so you are saying it would be easier to swap engines than fix the problem? (mine is doing the same thing, when it ran).

 

Absolutely,

Splitting the cases and getting-in to the transmission means disassembling the whole engine. You even have to pull the block to have it out of the way when you go-in to do a transmission overhaul.

Generally, with all that work and everything exposed ... THAT is the time to overhaul everything and make yourself a NEW Engine.

Head:

Valves seals and Lapping Valves.

Block:

Honing and Piston Rings
New Wist Pin Clips.

Engine (Lower):

Transmission Parts
Primary Chain Guide
Starter Clutch Kit or New

The Labor is yours ... so, everybody says it's Free.
It's not free. You'll be putting some serious wrenching down when you go for a Transmission Overhaul.

But, since YOU are not giving that Labor Cost to another person ... you save the Labor money and wind-up just spending the money on Parts.

It's and ambitious project.

The best course of action ... for a first-time Case-Splitter ... is to break-up the job in sections ... with Goals to achieve for the day ... then, cover it up and leave it for the next time while you organize and clean-up from the achievement of reaching the ... [ Time increment ~ Daily, 4-hourly, 2-hourly ] ... Goal for disassembly and organization.

You'll generally come to a "Progress Roadblock" a few times. Stuck fasteners or the need for a particular "Special" tool delays the job until you find a loaner, or get something unstuck with heat of impact.

I wouldn't dive-into this job just to do a worn-out Shift Fork or a replace or doctor-up a Dog or two.

Splitting the cases is something you want to do ... ONCE!
Get everything you need to rebuild yourself an engine.

To just get yourself back "On-the-road" ... do an engine swap!
SWapping-out the whole engine is a whole lot less labor intensive than getting "Right-down-to-the-real-nitty-gritty" of rebuilding an Double-Overhead-Cam Inline Four!

Each solution comes with its own specific-to-the-task reward!
Swap and GO!
Split the Cases and you get to say:

"Oh, yea ... it's running sweet. I spent last Winter rebuilding the whole thing. Ported, polished and ready to rock! Had to Split the Cases and lift-out the tranny. Rebuilt the blender with a new Second Gear and new Shift Forks. Dressed the channels and followers with 1200 ... I'd use my little finger to shift if I could ... but, I'm afraid of falling off!"

 

I've been reading about the XS1100 transmission being able to be fixed without splitting the cases. Is that the case with this too? Or do they need to split to replace the selector fork?

 

Give ame that link ... I want to read what's involved. I think the bottom ends on the XS Bikes open-up to expose more than the XJ-Series .... but, I want to read-over that Shortcut for myself, again!

 

It's in here somewhere.....

http://www.elbarfo.com/content/category/9/33/76/

 

ok... the engine is out and gettining ripped apart as we speak.....

 

Good luck.
Ambitious project underway.
Men at Work.
Detour.
Road Closed.

"Give it Hell; Shamus!"

 

I'm getting a friend of mine to do it for me.... he knows his way around bikes. It wasn;t as hard as I thought to get the engine out either, but next time I'll remember that if the Haynes book says to take the horn off then take the horn off!!! same goes for the oil cooler adaptor plate...

 

OK, apparently all of the gears on the output shaft are on the way out, so they're getting replaced. Then it should be all bolted back together and ready to go......

 

Good to hear man... How much did the parts cost you?

 

Do the Starter Clutch ... at least ... while your in there. Plus closely examine the Forks for shape and wear.

You'll be glad you did once its all back together.

 

And don't forget the starter chain guide!!!

 

haven't priced up the parts yet, will do that this morning. I want to get this on the road ASAP, so the gears will be replaced and then it'll get put back together....