opinions wanted

[skids]

I guess I have been lucky. I have owned 4 xs11's and NONE needed the tranny repair.

Hey Mack,

If you have not already been through these things, I highly recommend you check the valve shims, run a compression check as stated, do the first second gear repair.

[CatatonicBug]

I guess I have been lucky. I have owned 4 xs11's and NONE needed the tranny repair.

I must have made up for your fortune. I've had to "fix" mine 4 times in the last year! Once each for 3rd, 2nd and 1st gear, and a second time for 1st because I didn't do it right the first time! I Can now do the entire thing without the manual or the tech tip, and I have the torque settings memorized!

[DGXSER]

Yep, my first 81 special, a well cared for machine in general could have gotten by without the repair if I never took advantage of the upper RPMs in second and therefore the available torque of the machine. But I went ahead and fixed it and never had an issue since.

The newest beast, the barn find, well, I have yet to get pictures but, the forks for second and first are both thinner than they were when they went in. I believe I posted a pic of the rear brake shoe or what was left of it, well the same amount of the shift forks are gone from the wanker PO standing on the shift lever to keep it in gear on both. The gears are not TO bad and will be repaired, but if not for a fellow XSive in Indianapolis sharing some spare parts, I would be investing in new shift forks.

Speaking of that guy in Indianapolis, he got a used engine to replace his grenaded one. Advised him to check the gears and the valves and run a compression check before he put his in. And we all went up and loaded it in without looking at any of it. Since then, we have repaired the gears, pull the head and replaced a bent valve and reshimmed most all of the valves. How much easier would all that have been out of the frame?

[mack]

Ya what he said, I knew what to do , just not how to say it. Will do the shim and compression check for sure. Question though. If I remenber correctly. Every spring my clutch would be frozen up. I'd have to start the bike in neutral, push it then jump on and drop it into first the give it some gas, pull in the clutch and slam on the rear brake to break it loose. Not sure what causes this but every year it was the same story. Anyway, from what I've read here, the clutch is a !@#$% to get out and in properly. Any tricks to fix my issue?

[DGXSER]

Two things,

One, ride it more in the winter. Every couple weeks put on a coat, scarf and gloves and get out for a few miles or so.

Second, the clutch is not hard to get in or out. The starplate thing can be scary, but if you do it in small steps like torquing down your head bolts, should never be a problem. Heck, you can pull the clutch without draining the oil!!

[cywelchjr]

Two things,

One, ride it more in the winter. Every couple weeks put on a coat, scarf and gloves and get out for a few miles or so.

Second, the clutch is not hard to get in or out. The starplate thing can be scary, but if you do it in small steps like torquing down your head bolts, should never be a problem. Heck, you can pull the clutch without draining the oil!!

Yep, you sure can! I pulled mine and reinstalled it twice before I got it right, and didn't drain the oil either time, just kept it on the side stand.

After breaking one star plate I was really careful and don't expect to break another, just take the bolts in working around the star plate 1/2 turn at a time.

[Athedra]

Partly off topic, but just did a CB400n for a guy. It has been standing for 25years (According to him). Did the spark plug change, fitted a new battery, drained all the fuel, and found the carbs seized up. Took the carbs apart, soaked and cleaned them. Added some engine flush, started her up, drained the engine oil after getting her to running temp, refilled the oil, and he left my house smilling driving his bike home.

So I read that all of you spoke of tranny problems. Will the tranny damage after standing so long? Or is it just something to look out for after it stood so long. My XS stood for 5years before I got round to working on her, and apart from my carbs didn't have any major tranny problems when I started her up about 2 months ago. (Well that is a bit of a lie, she kicks out of second gear when going over 7500rpm). Would this be due to the long stand? But as far as I know that is a usual Yamaha problem in second. Heard Rossi also skips second gear when racing (Hahahaha)

[DGXSER]

Hey Athedra,

that issue has nothign to do with how long they sit/stand. It is a matter of the ends of the dogs on the gears rounding off from wear. It will start at the hgiher RPMs and with time and use eventually become a problem at lower RPMS. You cna choose when it is time to pull the gears and do the repair. But do not wait to logn after it starts in the lower RPM ranges like 5,000 or so. The longer you wait the more damage can be done and the costlier the repair becomes.

[Athedra]

Well that cleared up my weekend for me. Sounds like I am fixing tranny this weekend. Will pop her open on friday night and get the parts on saturday. Just need to get me a reliable local XS supplier.

Never thought it would be so hard to get hold of Yamaha parts.

I have a friend driving a 400 Yamaha and he is also battling with parts. Think it is a verago 400.

[DGXSER]

If you have a dremel tool or something like it to grind the gears, the only parts you need are some gaskets and the bits to grind the gears and dogs with. In a pinch, you can make them all from a sheet of material or even from RTV. Mine sat in a barn for two years so the longest time I spent was cleaning up the covers before I reinstalled them.

[CatatonicBug]

Well that cleared up my weekend for me. Sounds like I am fixing tranny this weekend. Will pop her open on friday night and get the parts on saturday. Just need to get me a reliable local XS supplier.

Never thought it would be so hard to get hold of Yamaha parts.

Parts? What parts? All you need to do the tranny fix is a dremel and a good bit, and a tube of RTV. Works a heck of a lot easier than any gasket, and if you ever have to get back in there again, it's a LOT easier to remove.

[Athedra]

Gotcha. Wife is going to pick those up in the morning.