2nd gear problem, what is it??

[newmaac]

Anyone who has been around the XS11 for a while knows that the two most problematic areas are the pick-up coil wires and 2nd gear.
What exactly (what symptems) is wrong with 2nd?

Riding home tonight, I was frustrated being stuck behind some shmuck who had nowhere to go and all night to get there.
When I finally swung around him I was in 2nd at about 4000RPM.
I hit it pretty hard, (but not too) and just before I shifted into 3rd it disengaged. It was very breif, as I already had my hand on the clutch and was just about to pull it. I actually thought for a second that I pulled the clutch before I meant to, but that wasn't the case.

The "2nd gear problem", is it a "popping-out" situation?
If so, does it usually come-on gradually, or is it a sudden thing, where something actually breaks inside?

This bike has 56K miles and this is only the 2nd time that this has happened that I know of. I REALLY am not thrilled by the prospect of tearing into the bottom end if it's avoidable.

Thanks in advance for any input,

[xswilly]

that sounds like a classic case of the dreaded 2nd gear problem

[BLUEJEEPLAB]

Most often it is a "chattering and Stuttering" when you romp on it in second gear. It can be slow to onset, because it is a wear problem.

The Battle Cruiser was fine up to a point and then one day, I got on it pulling away from a light moderately hard and the bike shook so bad as I went through second that I fragged the Shift Pin retaining washer on the shift drum. It seemed fine after I put a new washer on it, but it got easier to make it shiver.

Slipping out on a regular basis could be a shift fork or alignment (shim or washer in wrong position in tranny) problem, but if you have never had the tranny apart, most likely you are seeing the beginning of the second gear problem.

Be gentle on it, but my advice is to search the threads and get after it as soon as you can. It's not as daunting as it seems and the longer you wait, the harder the job is.

[trbig]

Yeah.. sounds more like it went into a false neutral to me. 2nd gear is jumping in and out of gear really quickly... you'll think you're sitting on a machine gun!

Tod

[TopCatGr58]

I second that emotion!

Hey NewMaac,

Mine actually started in 1st, when putting some throttle stress on it, would pop out of but then back into gear, so I started going easy on it, but just a few months later 2nd gear followed with similar symptoms....I also had estimated 50+k miles on it!

Eventually it will start to pop out more frequently, and you can get the ratchetting sound effect, but usually just the occasional pop at first! I worked on an XJ that had the 1st gear so bad that anything above idle would cause it to machine gun!

There are several tech tips in the repairs/tranny section from the MAIN FORUM PAGE that you will find very informative!
T.C.

[goldcoastguy001]

You may find it daunting to think about having to go into the bottom end, but i agree that the second gear fix is needed......if you tackle it yourself you'll be ok just take it slow.....it is more of a tedious job rather then a hard one....but my suggestion make sure you print out the thread on the fix first and have it with you if you get stuck...if you are in the gearbox make sure you do fifth gear too so you dont have to go into the box again.......Cheers

[newmaac]

Thanks for the input guys.
I will keep a close eye on it. It sounds like I will be learning more about the gears in the near future.

[mro]

this is only the 2nd time that this has happened

I've only got 29,900 on the G and have had it pop out of 2nd and 3rd on occasion. Think mine is just due to not shifting "firmly". (I hope)


mro