XJ550 6th Gear

Hey everyone. Finally getting the ‘82 XJ550 Maxim on the road, and I can’t shift to 6th gear. 1-5 is all good; no problems. Are there any common/well known reasons for these bikes to have an issue like this? They don’t have a lockout until you reach a certain speed, do they?

 

Can you check if there are there any worn pins on the shift drum? Might not be rotating enough to get 6th gear?

 

Which part is the shift drum? Done other repair work on this bike I haven’t had to break into the transmission yet.

 

Shift drum here, parts 4, 5 etc are the pins. Do you have a Haynes manual for your bike? It is under the gear shift lever cover.

https://images.cmsnl.com/img/partsl...hift-cam-fork-xj550hjk_bigyau0922d-2_fbba.gif

 

I have the “genuine Yamaha manual,” which apparently isn’t as good at least for this. looks like I access that through a cover on the rhs? Am I able to check this without a full engine tear down?

 

Yes you should be able to. Here is a thread on the 550, have a look to see if this helps. You should be able to check by removing the gear shift cover. I know it is your sixth gear but have a look anyway. Check all of the springs.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/xj550-maxim-wont-shift-gears.63984/

 

Looks like these 550s are put together pretty different due to the chain drive. This is what is under the gear shift cover. I'll either have to go through the clutch side, or this is a much bigger job than I was hoping it would be.

 

Alright. Broke into the bike today. I'll include a bunch of pictures, most of which probably aren't relevant. Wanted to include them though so that 550 owners could have some reference pics on the forum. I don't see anything in particular that looks worn or broken. The pawl looks fine; all the dowel pins in the segment are totally fine. I'm not sure what the dimensions are supposed to be I guess, but they all measure at about 3.90+/-0.01mm. I'll include a video of the linkage shifting from 1 to 6 and back to 1. Kind of at a loss as to what the issues is though. Any ideas?
https://youtu.be/nb4zpSi_d1Q

 

Well, upon reassembly, I have broken my central clutch boss (clutch hub). That's what I get for trying to use a Harbor Freight torque wrench I guess. So a technical question for those more knowledgeable (Chacal maybe?): When replacing the clutch boss, does the clutch plate also need to be replaced? I know that the clutch boss and clutch plate have markings that need to be lined up, which makes me think that maybe they're balanced as a pair? Or can I just eBay a clutch boss and reuse the clutch plate I already have?

Edit: Also, what are the chances that an XJ600 or XJ650 clutch boss are interchangeable with the one on my '82 XJ550?

 

No, they are not a matched set of components.

Yes!

You have choices:

HCP3187 OEM clutch complete CLUTCH BOSS ASSEMBLY. This assembly contains the clutch Boss Hub (or "inner basket"), the seat plate, the spring, the clutch boss primary drive plate, and the retaining ring. For all XJ550, 1984-85 FJ600, 1984-91 XJ600 Euro, 1986-88 FZ600, 1986-90 YX600 Radian, and XJ650 (except Turbo model) engines.

 

Thanks Chacal. Your knowledge on these bikes really does keep this forum going.