knocking noise when i shift gears

1982 maxim 400

dang it! i still hear the "clink clank" knocking noise when i shift gears. it's especially noticeable when i accelerate straight from second and skip first. i was hoping it was the oil, since i hadn't changed it since i bought the bike. but i just changed it and i still hear the noise. it sounds like parts moving around inside the engine. knocking and clink clanking.

does anybody know what it might be? i'm hoping i didn't do some serious damage in there by not changing the oil and driving on it. who knows how old the oil was and it was probably low.

on a side note, it does drive way smoother since the oil change...accept for that dang noise! uuuuugh!

any ideas? could it be my riding technique? am i shifting too early and ruining something? thanks for any help!

 

None of what you are discribibg sounds good, unfortunately

Does it only make this noise when you shift or does it make the noise all the time while engine is running?

Could it be your chain is lose and needs adjusted?

A lose chain will hit and clunk against the gaurd

or maybe the sprockets are worn allowing it to skip teeth?

 

Sounds like ricklees may be on the right track, are you sure your chain is properly tensioned/rear wheel aligned so that the chain isn't "clanking" against the chain guard? I would definitely check your rear chain adjustment, and check for wear in the sprockets as follows: With the bike on the centerstand, grab the pin of one of the chain links at the 3:00 position on the sprocket and pull it away from the sprocket. If more than half of the adjoining sprocket teeth are exposed then the sprocket(s) are worn and should be replaced. Unless you have reason to believe the chain has been recently changed and the sprockets ignored, the chain will need replacing also. How many miles on the bike? That will help with the diagnosis...

 

thanks for the help. there is 19,000 miles on the bike. i only seem to hear the noise while shifting gears right away. once i get the rpms up, it eventually goes away. like i mentioned before, it is especially noticeable when i skip first to second, but i also hear it when i shift in other gears too. i'm going to check the chain. i know that when i got the bike we had to play with the chain tension a little bit. it would be tight in some spots and really loose in others. i hope it's something along those lines instead of engine damage, but we'll see. i'll let you know what i find. thanks again guys.

 

There will be "tight spots" in the chain and "looser spots" but if the difference between those puts either out of the range of adjustment, it's new chain (and sprockets) time. (In other words, if you adjust at the tightest spot--which you should do--and the looser spots are way beyond the "looser" of the tension adjustment specs then it's worn out.) Chains don't necessarily wear evenly. If your bike has all the original bits, based on the mileage alone it could very well be time. This is not a difficult or overly expensive service, just one that will need to be performed sooner or later.