won't shift to fifth gear ??

[thewiz]

Hi, everyone ... I have a 79F that I bought a while back with a shifting issue which, after only a few hundred miles on it, has apparently worsened. I've searched the forum with this question but haven't yet found a similar thread.

At first it was just a little bit tricky to get in to first gear ... sometimes ... but not always. On occasion, it just wouldn't tap all the way down into first gear ... UNTIL ... I lifted it carefully back to the neutral gate and tapped down once again .. then I could catch first. A bit annoying but not all that bad ... figured to fix it eventually somehow. The only thing I've done is adjust the clutch cable at the hand lever and at the screw on clutch arm.

The bike was up on the centerstand for a couple of weeks recently while I replaced the fork seals ... put it back together yesterday morning and went for a spin (was nice to have the front suspension back) ... a great runner and the strongest of my three 11s ... completely stock engine ... and now without any warning, out of the clear blue, it won't shift into FIFTH gear. WTF? The first gear issue is still there. The PO told me that he bent some washer (somewhere?) to make things shift better ... gulp ... dunno what that might mean.

There are no wierd noises or grinding or anything that I can point to as an indicator other than the fact that it's still difficult to find first gear and now totally impossible to get it into fith.

Anyone have any ideas, please?

[mro]

Something to check before looking for bent parts....

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...&threadid=2785
week or broken spring?
Also screw with nut below shift lever shaft is the adjustment for lining up the mark on the shift cam and lever.


mro

[thewiz]

Right on, M, thank you !!

Will check that out right now ... thx for the great pics link. Hopefully there will be something obvious in there to fix .... I'm ready for something simple . Bet that washer the PO was talkin' about is that lock tab under that nut your referring too .....

My friends all laugh when I tell 'em, "I don't really ever ride 'em too much, I'm more into wrenchin' on 'em" :-).

I figure to get the last laugh eventually though ... I've bought whole bikes for less than what they spend on a soft tail shock set or a derby cover.

[thewiz]

OK, Mike ... popped off the shifter cover ... shift cogs and rtn spring look fine, no metal or obvious wear that I can see .... BUT .... the 'hook' that grabs the shift cam to make the gear changes just doesn't seem to grab anything once it gets to the 5th gear position ... plus it's a little 'iffy' when I try to push it into first. The washer that the PO was referring to looks like it was the lock tab for the nut on the end of the shift cam ... I can see it's been jacked some ??? Wonder what he was up to there? Will that cam come out the side without flipping the bike upside down? Could that hook, the shift cam itself or something else right in that area be worn out?

[thewiz]

Just spotted ..

a tiny steel pin or roller bearing that looks like it belongs on the end of the shift cam along with another similar one ... musta rolled out on the floor as I pulled off the cover .... there is a tang that apparently keeps it in place which is bent all the way back thus allowing the pin to fall completely out of it's place on the end of the cam. It also looks like that tang might break if I try to bend it back into the correct position to hold the pin in place .... SHOULD I try to bend it back? ..... might this be somehow related to my fifth gear problem, do ya' think ? Is there some adjustment on the shifter?

[mitch]

Yup

Thats ur prob for sure the part is still available at Yamaha buy a new one they are cheap. I had to get one for my bike .
Doug

[thewiz]

shift drum

Thx Doug and MRO. Really appreciated the help ... think I got a handle on it now ... snagged a washer off a spare motor for now and ordered new bearings and new washer from the dealer. Would have probably learned enough initially without posting up the question had I searched on 'shift drum' instead of all the other less descriptive terms I used .... was a couple of good threads covering this exact same issue. Thx again ...
Steve