lock-up

[desert1]

Guy approached me the other day said his XS11 all most killed him, ays the gearbox lockedup and he took a ride into the woods bike etal! Question is has this ever happened to any of you Guys?
I mean if you run your gearbox empty of oil till it heats uo and destroys itself sure.......waddya say?
Bruce

[Crazcnuk]

It's never happened to me, but when I was still in high school, an acquaintance bought an XS1100 Special (would have been a '78 or '79) .

He was on the highway one day when his drive locked up and caused him to lose control and hit the ditch. He wasn't seriously hurt, but the bike needed a fair amount of repair.

At the time he thought it was the final drive. that had locked, but later found out it was the middle drive.

The bike might have been a year old at the time, not much more.

Is his name Howard by any chance? lol

[79XS11F]

My 1978 XS1100E trany seized while on the shops work stand. The bike was on side stand because the KerKer pipe did not allow for the main stands use. The bike lunched itself into the guys tool box and bounced off the floor. I had owned the bike for about 2 years when this happened. The damage was over 1000 including labor which I didn't have at the time. I was therefore propelled into the world of motorcycle mechanics. The 2nd gear had froze onto the shaft.
Rob

[MAXIMAN]

A common failure is the middle drive after an unexperienced hand has changed the oil. Here's the scenario:

A shop or mechanic changes oil. The drop the pan pull AND the middle drive plug to drain all oil. Then they only refill the crankcase plug on the clutch cover not realizing they must put gear oil iin the middle drive. About 10 - 20 miles later the unsuspecting rider locks the rear wheel when the middle gear seizes.

Many shaft driven bikes ...the middle gear runs in motor oil with the transmission. Not the Eleven and some shops don't realize this.

This has happened to more than one XSive.

[Ken Talbot]

This has happened to lots of folks. The middle drive lock-ups due to lack of fluid. When it goes, it goes suddenly just like your story. One minute you're cruising along. Next thing, the rear wheel locks up as you slide to a stop. Not a pretty sight.

[GtrMn]

I use a product called CLM along with gear oil in the middle and final drives. Believe it or not...even if somehow the oil where to leak out...it would still run for quite a while after the fact. Too bad I can't use it in with crankcase/tranny oil. It'll make the clutch slip badly.

[Dsxs11]

With mine I can lock up the trans if I leave it in 2nd to long. I've got 2nd going bad and the trans will lock right up but a quick pull of the clutch and it rolls free and comes out as soon as I shift.

[desert1]

Middle gear

That Xplains it then ....it is the middle gear thats the problem but occasionaly a transmission failure can cause this scenario. I may add a bit of molly slip, maybe a tablespoon or so,wont hurt.......

Heres a bit of a humorous story that happened to a Buell rider in this area, the Guy was doing a tire burn out surrounded by about 100 other bikers and bikes (always got to be a witness when something embarrasing happens) the rider lost control of his bike during the burn and launched into an HD that was in its path causing some damage to the HD.....
Bruce

[wa407mpp]

lock up

You don't have to unknowingly drain the middle gear box, those Aussi gremlins will do it for you They got mine about eight years ago, I rode into Spokane Wa. one saturday and the bike started acting funny, like a brake was hanging up. I checked brakes ,all ok so I headed home .At 35 mph on sprauge Ave she locked up big time .I muscled it off the street and called for a trailer, it could be pushed backwards but not forward.Back home pulled the middle gear box replaced the bearings,available from the auto parts store by the way, reinstalled the box, it's run great since All you have to do is set it up like you would a car rearend. watch your gear teeth engagement . you don't have to pull the engine like some books say either it will come out the side you mite have to move the engine in the frame though,don't remember for sure. theres my age showing again

[DiverRay]

I have two engines at home with the TRANNY locked up. They are both late '78 engines, and I don't know how they became locked. The PO told me his locked up on him, and he got a wrecked XS and used the engine from it to run. It also locked up on him.
If I get the tranny on the spare engine in neutral, I can spin the middle gear with ease. I'll be diggin in this winter, so I'll let everyone know what I find.

[The Lorax]

I had a trans. lock up on me. just got the bike running, it was a couple years ago. I was on my way to work, pulled out from a red light, all of a sudden it didn't want to shift correctly, then I came to a screeching halt, thankfully, I wasn't going fast. as it turns out, the #2 shift fork broke allowing the bike to engage (2) gears at the same time. took some time as I travel in my work, but I fixed it, it was also my first adventure into a motorcycle engine / trans. if I had to I would do it again, I'd just rather not. anyway, I guess it wasn't too bad. I did learn alot.

[andreashweiss]

that happened to me in february 1980. My 79f was in for routine service at a honda dealer(no Yamaha dealer then in town) in the fall, put it away for winter,being 20 at the time did not think the dealer could ever make a mistake.Nice day in feb took it out for a ride. Drove approx 30 miles it was pretty cold, all of a sudden it stopped moving forward and started to skip or bounce on the real wheel. Really hard time keeping it from going down. Had to haul it home on a truck, had a solid fused blue middle drive. The cold weather allowed it to run longer but I always remember those people I was passing and if it had locked up sooner. I measured the hop marks later some were over 15 ft long. I think I was running about 75. Dealer got a personel visit from me. Honda got a letter. I got new middle drive,new rear tire, new pair of shorts. Check the gear oil, no need for that to ever happen. andreas

[79XS11F]

When my 2nd gear seized on the shaft at the shop the bike was on side stand. I have a gut feeling that it's not a real good idea to run the engine for long periods of time while the bike is on the side stand. I now always put my bike on the main stand even if parked for only a short time. I never allow it to idle while on the side stand for very long.
Rob