Middle gear warning !

[TERJE ANDERSEN]

Hello guys ! I can not remember if I told you about this earlier,but anyway here the story comes again - and I hope you will check your middle gear oil level after you have read this little story :

In april 2005 I was riding on my SG. The speed was approx. 50 mph - suddenly the rear wheel was blocked. I held hard on the handlebars and the bike ended up in the left lane of the road. The bike did not fall over on the side and the bus coming against me did stop in time !
I think I was lucky surviving that one!

The reason to this was a leek in the middle gear box which caused the bearings to "grow" inside the middle gear box. I had not seen a single oildrop under the bike when it was parked,so I had not checked either the middle gear or the final gear oil level for a long time before the almost fatal accident.

A friend came and picked up me and my bike - I replaced the middle gearbox,and after that I check the oil level quite often.
Have some of you other guys had the same experience?

[randy]

I have had the middle gear leak into the swingarm. The seal at the rear of the middle drive is a poor design, with no sealing compound between the gear case and seal (OEM). Mine was leaking there. I replaced the seal this past winter and used sealant at the joint. Luckily, I didn't lose enough oil to cause damage.

Take note: there is a weep hole in the drive boot, make sure you install the boot the right way, with the weep hole down, so if there is a leak there, you'll know it.

[snowdog51]

mid

just reading that and thinking what might have been i check mine every mounth.
scares the sh--- out of me just reading it.
as ever bill

[Trikerneil]

I had one sieze on a Trike once.

It locked up the backend absolutely solid at 30mph and that was with a pair of 8 inch wide tyres!

I hadn't had the Trike long and found the gearbox was bone dry. I check it regularly now.

[AlanB]

Hi Guys,

I had one lock despite being full of oil; It had been a bit "grumbley" for a couple of hours during a run, so I had dipped the oil, and checked for metal shavings in it; All looked OK.

I then got a "bang" and it locked...... Then a bigger "BANG" and it loosed off.

I think it broke a tooth, and then picked up the broken piece.

Second (LOUD) noise was more teeth being broken out of the gears and fired out through the side of the casing, along with the oil.

I rode it another 50miles home.....SLLOOOOOWWLY!!

It was incredibly noisy; like a tin bath full of old bicycles being dragged along the road, and towards the end, it was slipping a few teeth each turn. The whole time I was terrified it would lock again, But I was not leaving it at the side of the road!!

I could not find an XS11 middle box, so I fitted an XS750 one. It looks different (Less Bolts!) but works just fine; It is still on there.

AlanB

[skids]

I bought a middle drive that was supposed to be for an xs11, but it had one less bolt at the bottom of the round cover. It would not engage at all and just spun. I wonder what the hell it was from. I suppose I could try to look it up by part number, but I lost interest in it.

Originally posted by AlanB
Hi Guys,

(snip) I could not find an XS11 middle box, so I fitted an XS750 one. It looks different (Less Bolts!) but works just fine; It is still on there.

AlanB

[MIDWAYAUTO]

Not to sound stupid but how do you check the oil level in the "middle gearbox"? You guys got me paranoid now! Thanks

[malber]

Originally posted by MIDWAYAUTO
Not to sound stupid but how do you check the oil level in the "middle gearbox"? You guys got me paranoid now! Thanks

It's outlined in the maintenance chapter of Clymer. You use the plastic dipstick that comes with the stock toolkit.

[xschop]

for skids

The xs750 had two different middle drives, one with 3 bolt cover and one with 4 bolt cover. one of the middle drives had a cam and spring drive between the middle driven gear and the middle housing itself.....sounds like you didn't get that cam part in the first place....chop

[Crazcnuk]

Not to sound stupid but how do you check the oil level in the "middle gearbox"?


Easiest way, is to drain and put the measured amount back in. For the cost of 80/90 gear oil, it's cheap insurance.

I've never had a bike with a seperate middle drive before, but all my shaft drive bikes got me in the habit of changing the final drive oil every year, so likely will just change the middle drive at the same time.

[malber]

The most challenging thing I found about changing the middle drive oil is the placement of the drain hole. It ends up draining right above the center stand crossbeam. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get it to drain without making a big mess?

[John]

Just crease a piece of cardboard, and place it over the cross brace for the center stand, and then you can direct the flow where ever you want it.

[GtrMn]

Hey malber..had the same thing happen to me when changing the oil..big mess ....Thanks John for the tip!

[malber]

Another problem with it being over the center stand is that it's difficult to position a standard sized oil pan under the drain hole. What I did was position the oil funnel to channel the oil to the pan, but it still made a bit of a mess. John's suggestion sounds mighty better.

[blue giant]

I too, had the same problem. Found a new use for kitty litter.

That above mentioned story scares the hell out of me.