2nd gear problem - prevention?

[beechfront]

i ran across this at merriamcycles.com .

has anyone tried this?


"If the spacer is put on the shaft first, then the gear afterwards, it will allow second to fully seat and the transmission problem will cease to exist. Since all the books and microfiche show it wrong, everyone has always put it back on wrong."

[Jerry]

Take a look at the Tech Tips section on this site, specificaly:

http://www.xs11.com/tips/repair/index.shtml

Many excellent articles dealing with the '2nd gear fix', including photos and transmission operation listed down the page a bit. Moving the washer is discussed.

An option discussed in the 'Black and Decker" fix is to add a 2nd washer, placing one on each side of the gear. That way the gear does not contact the clip that holds it in place. The face of the gear, part that contact the washer, must be cut down the thickness of he washer, about .040 in. You can grind the gear as mentioned in the article, or take it to a machine shop and have the gear cut. The shop that did my work cut a pocket for the exta washer:



Note the washer is no longer availble from Yamaha; you need to find one from a junked transmission or get one made. It cost me $35.00 to have the gear cut. My washer and gears came from a junked '79 standard.

It pays to read through all of the Tech Tips, including the Off-Site links. Lots of accumulated knowledge and information resides in these posts!

[beechfront]

holy crap.

I think I'll just make do with what I have.

I'm not too worried about getting the carbs done, 2nd gear issue can wait.




"We can do anything you might want done to Your XS1100. Carb's are a little harder than most people realize until they get into them and some parts can be damaged beyond repair and that would total your bike. A set of carb's rebuilt to work properly are worth $1200.00."

"The second gear would cost $700.00 labor plus parts. Usually they run about the same for the parts that are involved for that. We would also modify the second gear parts assembly, so that it would be unlikely to ever break again."

[beechfront]

that $1200 has to be a type-o.

[strom]

I think I sent an e-mail to meriamcycles a while back bout that. He said he has his XS stock, but has played with the washer on drag XS-es. He says that no such modification is necessary for normal riding. Also the problem has not reoccured in any of the fixed bikes (new cogs), and since I got a new set of 2nd gear stuff, I didn't bother with the washer. I kept the old ones just in case... blackndecker fixable.

LP

[Jerry]

Dogs (fingers) on the new gears are undercut (tapered) 1 - 2 degrees toward the gear. This serves to pull the gears together. Original dogs were straight. My impression is that Merriam uses new undercut gears - about $160.00 in parts - and moves the washer.

Incidently, the '2nd gear problem' occures on other Yamaha bikes of the same general era, and the fix, it you do happen to have problems, is the same for all of them. Move the washer, clean up the gears, undercut the dogs or replace with new gears which Yamaha now undercuts.

Adding the 2nd washer guarantees maximum reliability in extreme conditions, but takes time and you need to find the additional washer. I had it done as I pull a trailer, (extra strain on the tranny) had the gears and washer from a junked tranny that could be modified without tying up the bike, and figured the extra $35.00 in machining cost was cheap insurance. I don't want to go back into the tranny again. Trailer weighs about 180 pounds loaded, BTW.

[beechfront]

I guess I'm just overly worried about the 2nd gear after reading about it so much. Just a little nervous about putting money into a bike that's 24 years old.

[CA.XSer]

A set of carb's rebuilt to work properly are worth $1200.00."

Do they make them out of gold? What xs1100 carbs are worth that much?

[beechfront]

gears anyone?

Well I doubt I'll run across any surplus gears anytime soon, so if anyone has or runs across either the gear or the washer I'd sure take them off your hands.


I also got an e-mail back from merriam this morning - "A carburetor set if you had to purchase them, that had been redone is worth $1200.00." He wanted $240 to rebuild the carbs. that sounds more like it.

If anyone has parts that they absolutely can't find try merriamcycle - They claim to devote 75% of their inventory to the XS's. No online parts listing that I could find, but the owner promptly replied to my e-mails. If you have time take a look at the site. they've dones some pretty damn cool things to XS's. MY FAVORITE

[Robert Haller]

Originally posted by beechfront
I guess I'm just overly worried about the 2nd gear after reading about it so much. Just a little nervous about putting money into a bike that's 24 years old.

It's not necessarily going to be a problem. Even Bob Jones at Merriam says he didn't bother with it on his regular XS11. In the 2 years I've had my bike it's never been an issue.

[Jerry]

The great majority of XS and XJ 11s don't have a problem with the stock set-up. Specials and XJs seem to show it a bit more than standards, perhaps due to a more aggressive riding style.

If you are not having problems, don't worry about it. I would stay away from near-redline shifts from 1st to 2nd, though. If it skips from time to time, it will become worse with use, so you will have to fix it sooner or later.

Cost isn't so bad if you do the work yourself. Even buying new gears and gaskets, cost should be in the $250.00 range.

Point is, if you are one of the unfortunates, as I was, that needed (or need) to work on your transmission, fix it so the problem does not reoccure.