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1978xs1100 stuck in gear

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  • 1978xs1100 stuck in gear

    I am a British bike guy who experienced many years of happy Triumph Bonneville riding years and have a collection of old British bikes. I remember the arguments very well about Japanese vs British bikes. I never owned a Jap bike so i guess the discussions were somewhat theoretical. Recently i bought three older Jap bikes, 78 XS1100, 86 Honda XL600R and an 83 Yamaha Virago 920. My experience with them proves I was right about sticking with the British bikes. There easy to fix, you can still buy every part you need easily, and there still the best looking and sounding bikes ever.
    Now my current problem on the XS. First it was the Pick-ups that suddenly decided to open circuit knowing what a pick is and finding a used one was a job more difficult than landing on the moon. Then after getting the carbs all sorted out with jets that are like but not the same as the original, replacing the whole fuse assembly which fell apart, the kill switch which died and buying that $50 dollar in Canada air filter it finally started up. After less than a minute it suddenly decided to go TWANG and jump into a gear and not come out. The neutral light does come on but it is still in gear. The mechanic says he took off a cover not the clutch cover and didnt see anything he was going to take the clutch cover off and have a look. He says if not there then he would need to break the cases. On this forum I saw the 2nd gear ha ha issues. Not sure if this is related or a different problem. Anyway end result is a lot more cursing of Japanese bikes. All three of them have major inherent problems so It is back to the good old reliable, tickle the carbs, first kick, looks and sounds great, buy any part, Bonneyville.
    Any help to prevent pulling the plug on the XS would be sincerely appreciated.
    thanks Michael
    78 E

  • #2
    Sorry, but a bit distracted right now. You should be able to get to the root of the transmission problem through the oil pan. Often, case splitting is unnecessary with the XS11.

    There is truth to what you say about British bikes, but they have more than their share of issues. I love looking at 'em, but owned one only briefly. I will ride one at any opportunity.

    Enjoy:
    A Triumph Odyssey
    Marty (in Mississippi)
    XS1100SG
    XS650SK
    XS650SH
    XS650G
    XS6502F
    XS650E

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    • #3
      Originally posted by jetmechmarty View Post
      Sorry, but a bit distracted right now. You should be able to get to the root of the transmission problem through the oil pan. Often, case splitting is unnecessary with the XS11.

      There is truth to what you say about British bikes, but they have more than their share of issues. I love looking at 'em, but owned one only briefly. I will ride one at any opportunity.

      Enjoy:
      A Triumph Odyssey
      Actually, the mis-alignmet of the two stamped in dots on shift pawl assembly would be a big suspect. Remove the shift-side cover, put in second gear if possible and the two stamped in dots of both pieces should line up if correctly adjusted.
      81H Venturer1100 "The Bentley" (on steroids) 97 Yamaha YZ250(age reducer) 92 Honda ST1100 "Twisty"(touring rocket) Age is relative to the number of seconds counted 'airing' out an 85ft. table-top.

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