xs eleven special shifter

[Salomon108]

Need some help
I am looking at a 1979 xs eleven special that only has 14,22l miles but am concerned about the shifter.
It will not come back up when downshifting with out help any Ideas what the problem might be.
Any help would be appreciated.

[Dennyz]

It is possible the shift ratchet spring has broken. You will have to remove the side cover that the shifter comes out of to make sure. I had this happen on my “F” a while back. It was very easy to replace.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Drose,

It's actually the shift lever return spring, not the ratchet or pawl spring. Mine did the same thing. You can still get them from Yamaha for about or less than $10.00. The spring is what pulls the shift lever back up far enough to reset the ratchet action to allow you to continue downshifting. I had to gently pull up with the side of my shoe on the shift lever just enough to reset the ratchet without shifting back up a gear before I could downshift. Got the spring and it works great now!!

BTW, where abouts in Va. are you? I'm way down southeast in Portsmouth near Suffolk/Chesapeake/Norfolk.

[Salomon108]

shifter info

Thanks T C
Thanks for the info it was very helpfull, I am in the southwestern part of Virginia,about 30 miles west of Virigina Tech.

[Ken Talbot]

Here's an extact from a note with a few photos that I forwarded
some time ago when another Xsive was having trouble with his
shifter. This should give you an idea of how the shifter works, and why yours doesn't......

First, here's an overview shot of what is inside the shifter cover. Note
the shift shaft assembly on the right - this where the shift pedal attaches....


Under the shift shaft assembly is a torsion spring....


The torsion spring returns the shift shaft assembly to a central position....


Here's what it looks likw when you are shifting up....


and when you are shifting down....


You can see that gravity would help return the shift shaft assembly to the centre position if the spring was broken, but but it would not help
when shifting down.

[Salomon108]

Shifter

Thanks Ken
Those pitcures are a really big help to me thank you so much for them.

[Geezer]

Damn Ken, that's incredible. Have you ever considered writing manuals? Your explanations and photos are far better than anything I’ve seen on the shelf in any dealer service department.

Geezer

[Ken Talbot]

Sure, Geezer, if I thought I could keep up my current salary, benefits, and pension package by writing manuals for the few things I have learned over the last 10 years about the XS11, I'd be there in a minute! Let's see now, there's gotta be at least a thousand or so folks out there that might be interested in buying a manual. Take a thousand, multiply by.....

[Geezer]

Originally posted by Ken Talbot
Sure, Geezer, if I thought I could keep up my current salary, benefits, and pension package by writing manuals for the few things I have learned over the last 10 years about the XS11, I'd be there in a minute! Let's see now, there's gotta be at least a thousand or so folks out there that might be interested in buying a manual. Take a thousand, multiply by.....

I know what you mean but that's why manuals suck. The publishers don't hire writers that know what the hell they're doing.

[Rant mode off] ;o)

Geezer

[Jeff]

I'm VERY anxious to see what the book on the XS from Bob Jones of Merriam Cycle looks like........ IF it ever finally makes it to final publication.

I have to agree that most service and repair manuals look like the person writing them has never even SEEN the vehicle they are writing about.... let alone performed the repairs they are writing about. And..... the photos offered often look like 3rd or 4th generation photocopies. I once purchased a shop manual for one of my snowmobiles that was advertised as an original John Deere Liquifire Snowmobile Service Manual and recieved a nearly unusable copy of someone elses copy. It was so grainy that the text in some places was nearly impossible to read and the photos were nothing but grayscale blurrs.

The Chilton and Clymer publications aren't TOO bad but even they are often extremely vague and sometimes erroneous.

Someday..... with all of the information and fine photo documentation that can be found on this site.... WE may have enough info to compile a usuable manual. LOL I've gotten more USABLE info from this site than I could have ever gleened from any service or repair manual. It is SO much easier to understand someone who has intimate knowledge of what they are talking about.

[glenn]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ken Talbot
[B]Here's an extact from a note with a few photos that I forwarded
some time ago when another Xsive was having trouble with his
shifter. This should give you an idea of how the shifter works, and why yours doesn't......

G'day Ken
I am having trouble with the selectors and other mysteries of the transmission on my 81RH (Oceania model)
To summarise Hard to select. Jumps in 2nd and 3rd under pressure and no 5th.
I would like to view the pics you mentioned in your post but am unable to access. I think the comparison will help me decide/determine at least some of the problems. With thanks Glenn

[mitch]

Tranny

Hi Glenn All the answers for your questions are in theMaintenance and repair sections under transmissions. I had the same problems,the 5th gear fix is real simple and inexpensive cost me 2.99 for the part! HTH .............MITCH

[Ken Talbot]

Sorry, Glen, and anybody else who has tried to access anything from my personal pages lately. It seems my ISP (local cable company) has recently sold, and there was a falling out between the new owners and the techie who put their whole internet service side together. The word around town is that the techie 'nuked' absolutely everything from their servers. They are only just now getting e-mail re-established, and the new guy I talked to the other day doesn't have a clue about setting me up with FTP access for reloading my stuff. Hopefully, most of what you need can be found in the tech sections as Mitch suggests.

[trapper_canada]

Ken, were you ever able to get those pics back (shifter side)? I had them printed out somewhere but can't seem to find them. I never got around to fixing (er..attempting) my missing 5th gear as winter came fast and furious.

I have some word descriptions but you know what they say about pics...worth 1,000 words

[mitch]

search members names

If you click on a members name then thier profile comes up, on the profile page there is a place to search all thier previous post on the top right . Try that ..................MITCH