Missed upshifts

[zedman]

Hey guys, great info on trans repairs and everything else. I am new to this forum and new to the XS bikes. Long story short: Just purchased an 81 XS1100 midnight special, with 45 kms on the clock.

If I take the revs up (anything over 5000 rpm) and try to shift up (in any gear, 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th, 4th to 5th) it will not engage, it will clunk and grind and it will hit false neutral, at which time I'll have to pretty much come to a stop to get it back in gear.

I have adjusted the clutch, it downshifts with no problem. I have tried pussy footing the shifts, light clutch pull, light on the shifter, and I've tried manhandling it, all to no avail. I don't have any slippage (clutch) no popping out of gear, and very minimal trans noise/ whine. the PO said he was using 20w50 castrol.

I have read through the forums, would the black and decker fix solve or possibly help this problem ?

cheers and thanks all !!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Zedman,

If you have a manual, then you'll want to look at the part about aligning the shift pawl and such with the shift drum. There is a fine line etched into the shift pawl, and another matching line on the shift drum. When the bike is in 2nd gear, those two lines should line up with each other, but if not, then you need to adjust the shift lever to position the pawl so that they do line up!

It may be that it's out of line so that it has a hard time grabbing the pins on the shift drum for upshifts, but is apparently in a good position to grab them for downshifting!

The below photos, 1st one from Ken Talbot's return spring tip, shows the shift drum, and the notch is at the 2:30 position, you can't see the notch on the shift pawl, but in the 2nd photo below, you can faintly make out the notch in the middle of the shift pawl arm at 12 O'clock, and the shift drum notch at 4 O'clock.

I guess we need to make a tech tip about this!




T.C.

PS, there are also matching dots on a tooth and notch on the shift lever and shift pawl lever that should be aligned with each other as well.

[luckygpass]

Missed upshifts

Hi, I'm a little confused now where I thought I had this right....

In my Yamaha XJ1100J Service Manual #LIT-11616-02-78 it says on page 3-40 under Section C: Shifter; the following:

1. Install the shift lever2 on the shift fork guide bar. NOTE: Use New Circlip.

2. Install the shift shaft with the tension spring properly located on the stopper screw. The punch mark on the shift shaft must align with the punch mark on the shift lever 2.

3. With the transmission in second gear the scribed marks on the shift cam and shift lever #3 should be aligned. If not, adjust the eccentric screw until the marks are aligned.

4. Install shifter cover using a new gasket....etc...

My question is Which is Shift lever #2 and which is Shift Lever #3? Are they also the Shift Cam and the Shift Shaft? It calls Shift Lever #2 the Shift Cam in paragraph 3. and in paragraph 2 it calls Shift Lever # 3 the shift shaft.

And in Ken's Shift Photos it seems he is not talking about lining up the punched dots for the second gear shift alignment.

Please straighten out my puzzled brain. Thanks Gary

[mro]

The two partial gear like objects, one with 5 teeth and other with six have the "dots".

eccentric screw is located under the shift lever witch goes thru case and has the foot shift pedal mounted to it.

scribed marks on the shift cam and shift lever....
Shift cam is the round thing towards the front .
On the front side of the gear thing with 5 teeth is the shift lever (about 1 1/4 inch long , thin flat metal goodie, hooks on top of the shift cam)

The line on the lever and the line on the cam are adjusted using the screw under the foot pedal shift shaft. Metal lock tap and nut on this screw.
Have checked several XSes and have yet to find one out of adjustment. Once in awhile a "missed shift" happens but should not be a regular occurance.


mro

[mro]

BTW,
the lines are aligned when in second gear.

If carefull can lean bike on right side with a jack at an angle like the kick stand holds it going to left. Make sure it won't fall over. This will allow removing cover without draining oil. I've also been able to remove covers without having to remove exhaust, but is much easier and safer if you do it on the center stand with oil drained and exhaust loose.


mro

[luckygpass]

Thanks MRO,

That puts it in one big picture.

Wouldn't the only time the cam on the shift drum and it's shift lever would need adjusting to align would be if they were R & R'd?

[zedman]

missed upshifts

Thanks for the info and help guys. Hopefully next weekend I will get a chance to pull the side cover off and see what is going on. I hope it's just a case of misallignment ! While it's a apart I'll prob contemplate the dremmel fix as well !!

Cheers, I'll post the results once I've gotten it done !

Thanks TopCatGr58, luckygpass, and mro !!

[mro]

Wouldn't the only time the cam on the shift drum and it's shift lever would need adjusting to align would be if they were R & R'd?

I don't know. Not found one out of adjustment yet on a running bike. So far only time I've had to re-align is the few engines I've put together. Have checked several when I did not know better how the XS trany likes to shift.


mro

[zedman]

yeah, don't like the sounds of that ! hmmm... I know these things are finicky, I remember how my old maxim 750 used to shift, took a bit to get used to, but this bike, it's consistent misses shifting at high revs (and it wasn't fun discovering this after passing a line of cars only to hit neutral and have to coast to a stop (heheh !!).

I've got years of riding experience and have had many, many different bikes ! Anyways, going to just pull it all apart, check everything out, pull the clutch, clean it, etc, do the dremmel fix if it warrants, make adjustments, throw back together, new oil and see what we get !

thanks all ! keep ya posted.'

I'm almost affraid to pull the oil pan (and see what's in there !!)after some of the threads i've read !!

[zedman]

Thanks for all your help guys. I took the side cover off and noted that the notch that lines up with the shift drum was out ever so slightly (maybe half mil). I made the adjustment and threw it all back together. HAven't tested her out yet, but keeping my fingers crossed !!!

Cheers and thanks all !

[zedman]

Got'er all back together. Have yet to do a proper test ride (as it started to pour rain as soon as she warmed up !!)

So far I've only pulled the clutch and cleaned it all, and very minor adjustment on the shift drum/ pawl (was out by maybe a half mil).

We'll see. The weather is the ****s around here these days anyways, I doubt I'll get much hard riding in for the next few months !!

Cheers and thanks all for the help, excellent site and tech tips.

[zedman]

Thanks for all your help guys.

I adjusted the shift drum (was off ever so slightly) and re and re'd the clutch after cleaning it and checking that everything was within spec.

Took her for a ride, although I didn't push it, but it shifted consistently fine from 6000 and 6500 rpms. I missed 2nd gear once on a slow, low rpm shift, prob just didn't have my foot into it enough !

I also changed the oil and filter. Using CASTROL RX SUPER 15w40.

Finally got my collector approval and plates. I couldn't believe it was still close to 500 bucks a year with collector rate (1 mil liab and theft/ fire) (and i've got -43 and -13 and no claims. They wanted close to 1500 without collector rate. Sheesh I hate ICBC !

Anyways, cheers, my baby is running great and looking equally great !