Transmission trouble.

[adam79]

Ok, on my xs1100sf, I already know that I need to back cut my 1st and 2nd gear. But I have another issue too. The clutch never feels like it is working properly, as in, maybe it's out of adjustment. I've adjusted it at the handle bar, but is there more adjusting that can be done somewhere else? The reason I think it is bad or out of adjustment is that when I fully depress the clutch lever, and put the bike into first (from neutral), it slams into first, almost like a dirt bike. My bike idles between 900-1000rpm, by the way.

My second issue happens while I am riding. Ill be going up the road, accelerating quickly, and when I depress the clutch lever and shift up to 3rd, it just grinds! I have to let the rpm drop substantially before I can shift it cleanly. Is that normal?

My third issue is that since my center stand busted, I cant get the bike level enough to correctly measure my middle and final drive fluid. If I drain them both completely, about how much gear oil do I refill each to?

[bikerphil]

clutch adj.

http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-t...ng-clutch.html

Mid drive 375 cc
Final 300cc
Both use 80W90
Clymers manual is good to have.

[ccogswel]

I believe I can help with the first 2 of your questions.

You say it slams into first from neutral. Will on these bikes alot of members here call these tranny's like a rock crusher. They clunk when you shift into first. There have been more threads then I can count on tranny issue's here but they say holding the clutch in for a few seconds allows the gears to slow down before you shift. If it's more then a clunk then I'd say you may have a stretched clutch cable. Which may be what's happing to you third gear shift or you clutch plates are worn thin. They may need to be replaced. If you have to replace them you may want to check your spring height of each one or you could replace them with new ones if you have to replace the clutch plates. As for the oil in the middle and rear goes I don't remember right off hand on how much is in there. But I know someone here knows the answer.

Well Bikerphil just beat me to it. But all the help is good.

[Ivan]

I never measured my middle and final drive oils, and I don'[t even have a center stand. I eyeballed it and they have been good for over 6k miles.

Somewhere on the site is a template for making a dipstick for them. I used a screw driver and saw that I was close. Worst thing that could happen if you get too much in there is that the oil expands with heat and blows out the vent, too little is a really bad thing, so err on the too full side.

[trbig]

For checking the middle drive or your engine oil level for that matter, you can simply hold the bike upright -ish while you look. On the final drive, I just fill it up and leave a little air pocket at the top. if there's more in it than it wants, it will blow it out that vent at the top. Next car wash.. it sprays right off.


Tod

[adam79]

If it's more then a clunk then I'd say you may have a stretched clutch cable. Which may be what's happing to you third gear shift or you clutch plates are worn thin. They may need to be replaced. If you have to replace them you may want to check your spring height of each one or you could replace them with new ones if you have to replace the clutch plates.

Are you referring to the torsion spring?

[bikerphil]

clutch springs

I think he was referring to....

[adam79]

what are those? Are they part of the clutch?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Adam,

Take a look at this tech tip for the extra steel plate for pictures of the springs, etc.

Usually as the clutch plates wear, they pressure plates get closer together, and so the throwout/push rod is closer to the throwout bearing, and will often cause the plates to slip, because it doesn't allow the pressure plates to squeeze the friction/steels plates together as tightly. SO...when you pull the clutch lever, it's separating the plates even more which should allow easier gear shifting, but when you release the lever, the plates don't grab as well, and so at higher gears they can slip a bit.

Your problem sounds more like the pushrod isn't close enough to the throwout bearing, so when you pull the lever, it's NOT separating the plates enough, so engine force/tension is still being sent thru the tranny, causing the gears to spin too much, grinding, etc.! Doing the aforementioned clutch adjustment at the ENGINE right side, will set that rod to the proper position so that your lever pull will provide the proper leverige to fully disengage the clutch for shifting.

Yes, the shift to 1st is ROUGH, as said, holding lever in several seconds helps to slow the spinning of the gears so when you shift, they aren't spinning as fast when they have to slam STOP, BUT if the clutch isn't separating all the way, the gears will be spinning much faster, and you'll get a bigger CLUNK!

Some folks after warming up their bikes will turn them OFF, shift into 1st, restart and take off already in 1st without the CLUNK! Also when riding and coming to a stop, downshift into 1st while still rollling and HOLD the clutch lever while stopped instead of putting into neutral, but this can be inpractible if you have a long cycling stop light!?
T.C.

[ccogswel]

Thanks bikerphil,

That's what I meant. Clutch Springs. And yes they are part of the Clutch.

It's not that bad so don't be afraid to tear into it. If you can read and understand and follow instructions then your good to go. There's alot of tech tips with plenty of pictures to help you through. If you need more help feel free to ask questions. Everyone here will be more then glad to help. I see that T.C. has already got you something. If that don't help, like I said before just ask.

Good Luck!

[adam79]

Thanks guys.....I'll be back.

[madmax-im]

2 things that TC said I'd like to add to..when shifting into 1st while still rolling do so at about 5 mph any faster will not be gentle on the tranny...second is leaving it in gear and holding the clutch while stopped.I reccommend doing this not only for the tranny wear...but from a safety point of view.Always be aware of cars behind you and be ready to get the hell outta there if it looks like your gonna get rear ended.I cant tell you the number of times this has happened to people I know(knew)

[kjohnson]

<snip> leaving it in gear and holding the clutch while stopped.I reccommend doing this not only for the tranny wear...but from a safety point of view.Always be aware of cars behind you and be ready to get the hell outta there if it looks like your gonna get rear ended.I cant tell you the number of times this has happened to people I know(knew)

I completely agree with that. It was one of the first things they taught in my motorcycle safety course. Has saved my butt a couple times.

Left hand on clutch, left foot on ground, transmission in gear, right hand on throttle, right foot on brake. They drilled that in for the first hour on the bike. It now bugs me when I see bikes at a red light sitting with both feet on the ground and their hand on their laps.

[The Lorax]

I have a dumb question. not to hijack this thread, but is it possible to pull the shafts, gears, drum, forks etc out of let's say an R1 or similar modern motorcycle and fit them into an XS case? my first thought would be not a chance, but I figure there's only so many ways to configure a transmission. it might be fun to look into, hell, it might be possible without serious modification. wouldn't that be cool? shoe - horning a six speed into the XS11. now, those who know lots more than I, feel free to shoot holes in my question . have a nice day and ride safe