Cranky gearbox

[gixxer]

I've been noticing that my gearbox has been getting cranky and more clunky than usual when changing gears. Oil level in the gearbox is OK. I thought maybe the clutch wanted some fresh oil so I changed the engine oil with the usual 10-40 bike oil, gear shifting still cranky. So, I was coming up an on-ramp this morning pushing ol' Betsy a bit and looked in the mirror to see a cloud of white smoke behind me and I thought, oh crap, I've blown a valve seal or something so I pulled off. On the side of the road everything seems OK, crankcase oil level good, idling fine, no smoke or weird noises, so I pull back out into traffic again, no smoke, good power but the transmission is now smooth as silk, shifting smoother than it has all summer! Anybody have any idea what just happened here?

[powerram50]

i dont know what you did but you want to do it to my bike.lol.

[boyat68]

gixxer:

Just a WAG, but what probably happened was the oil breather pipe may have been stopped up allowing pressure buildup, and the action of changing the oil may have loosened the wad and a sizable amount of oil was gurgled into the air box causing the cloud effect.

[gixxer]

I think you're rigtht, boy. When I came out to the parking lot at lunch time there was a spot of oil under the bike. I followed the trail back to the underside of the breather box which was dripping oil. I think I may have overfilled the crankcase when I changed the oil but I only put in 2.5 litres along with a new filter. Maybe the oil cooler didn't drain out or something. Anyway the clutch and transmission seem to be happy about the whole thing...still smooth as silk. Powerram, you might want to try overfilling yours

[powerram50]

i just need to do the dremmel fix.

[ClarkGriswald]

Ive been thru a lot of changes lately as my bike started to get back its missing compression and then has now lost it again.. It would start running chunky and rough and I would have to resync the carbs.. then it was smooth again.. then comps would rise/fall and it would get funky again.. I noticed that it not only would idle strange and noisy but shifting was harder too , I think because when it runs rough like that it is sort of lurching or jerking instead of smooth power..

Mabye you had a slight blockage happening that was making something like that and it cleared and is now smoother.

[gixxer]

Yeah, Clark, sounds like you've got some other issues for sure. My engine has been working A1 except for an annoying buzz at around 3K. Reading through the posts here I'm not the only one with a buzz except that most of the others are above 4k. My bike is vibration free above 3k so I guess that's a bonus. I might need to balance the carbs but it's not annoying enough yet for me to dig any deeper.