can't get it moving

[ebock112]

ok well first off i have just finished my building a hard tail bobber xj 1100 i will post pictures later. when i bought the bike it all came in boxes so i already knew i had a lot of work on my hands the PO told me the engine was fine and the transmission was fine on it . first off when i tried to start the bike after i did a lot of work on it the bike wasn't starting bad compression in all four cylinders pulled the head off and had bent intake valves replaced all the valves and put everything back together. bike started fine sounds awesome. now when i went to ride it i pulled the clutch and shift into first start letting off the clutch and it clunks and then i can't shift back to neutral so i kill the bike and push it to pop it back into neutral. i don't know if it is a first gear problem as people described happening more on the xj as opposed to a second gear problem or i don't know if the clutch needs to be adjusted. i am more of an engine and carb guy but i'm not afraid to dig into the trans because i would love to learn from it

[DGXSER]

The typical problem is getting it to stay in gear, not getting it out of gear.

Sounds like either you need to adjust the clutch, look in the tech tips section under maintenance for directions. Or you need to dig deeper into the shift mechanism under the shift shaft cover on the left side of the bike. Or you need to check the shift forks.

I'd start by readjusting the clutch, then work your way in from there.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Don's given ya good places to start...
Only other thing I might add... these are pretty clunky transmissions by nature anyway. Most have best equated their shifting characteristics to a Russian made tractor...

Idle speed should be 1100 rpm on an XJ1100. Faster than that, she'll really clunk and lunge forward when you go for 1st from neutral. Slower than that, she'll stall, and won't charge right...

You may have a bent shift fork, or something else wrong in the tranny... but sometimes you can rock it back & forth a bit and get it to free up and shift back to neutral.

If you need the common XJ 1st gear fix... like Don said... it'll will show it's ugly head under acceleration & feel like a machine gun's firing under your butt... real notchy, slippage effect. Dremmel's then the medicine for that ailment.

Hope it's something simple & you get it figured out.

[ebock112]

could it be possible the middle gear?

[DGXSER]

If it rolls when it is in neutral ok, then everything behind th eclutch is working as it should with the possible exception of the transmission gear selection.

If the final drive, the drive shaft, the u-joint or the middle drive were dorked, it would not clear up no matter what gear you were in, and it would not move even under power.

Everything you have explained points to clutch and or tranny.

[ebock112]

ok so i readjusted the clutch it seems to be releasing all the way and everything seems to be fine with the clutch. when i put it in first its fine to put in and then when i start letting off of it clunks and then hard to put in neutral sometimes push it so it clicks up . i tried riding it in second gear and it starts making a clicking noise and i and then i stop and find out im in 3rd gear it's starting to seem to me that i might have a problem in the trans

[DGXSER]

Hard to say exactly, but from your description it sounds like it is in the tranny somehwere. I would pull the shift shaft cover next on the left side and look at the shift pawls and the shift drum end and its pins.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Ebock,

Sorry, but you've been PO'd!

You were told the Engine was OK, then you found the bent valves.

You were told the Tranny was ok, but now sounds like it's got a bad case of the 1st AND 2nd gear missing/skipping syndrome!!

Check out the tech tips for the several threads on the Dremmel fix for the 1st and 2nd gear problems. Sorry that you put the engine back together before you found this out, would have been easier while it was torn down!

Have fun, it's really not that hard to do, lots of pictures there and such!
T.C.

[DGXSER]

Dont feel to bad about it, recently worked on another members bike who went to his friendly mechanic for his work, then his engine self destructed so he went to see him for an engine and got a "good" engine from him.

Well, that started out with the oil pump not working, which was caused by the oil pump drive gear laying in the clutch pan chewed like a doberman pinschers toy. That was followed closely by finding that the gears needed to be ground as you seem to need. When that was finished, discovered a bent valve.

Funny what some folks define as "Good". I reckon by their viewpoint Charlse Manson will get a front of the line ticket to the pearly gates, he was a "good" person after all.

[79XS11F]

OK, after you hear this second clunk will the bike go? Is it in first gear? If it will go like it's in normal first gear selection check your shift paw position and clutch adjustments.
Pull the trany cover and confirm that the shift paws are properly lined up when the trany is confirmed to be in 2nd. gear. If everything in there is good to go then check the clutch to confirm full disengagement when you pull the lever. If the clutch is not fully disengaging you may not be getting the trany fully into first gear and it may be clunking as the gear is fully engaged or clunking as the gear is disengaged.
If it doesn't go, dig deeper into things like worn gear shoulders, bent forks etc.
Rob

[ebock112]

the clutch though seems to be disengaging properly though because when i loosen it or tighten from the cable end and try to put it in gear the shifter pedal will like vibrate up and down fast and won't let me in gear. when i have the cable adjusted the way i have it now it seems to be fine it will make a clunk when i put it in first and seems to be normal on these bikes as i read they are built like russian tractors but when i start letting off the clutch it will start rolling for a little bit then start clunking like it is missing the gear. and not catching at all. when i try to start going while in second gear i will let off the clutch and i'll start moving a little bit and then it seems that it slips into thrid gear cause i rode it around the block in third gear and i didn't fully release the clutch until i was going about 30 mph and i would have to release the clutch super slow so it wouldn't stall out

[79XS11F]

OK, then it does in deed sound like your going to get to know your trany real good. Depending on what is wrong with it you might be able to do the work without pulling the engine but in my opinion that is for members with a lot of hands on experience with trany work. myself I prefer to pull the engine for any trany work that goes beyond the 2nd. gear washer change fix. Your going to want to check it out fully from shift drum down.
Rob

[DGXSER]

Ahhhh...a little more light has been shed on the subject now. I agree with TC, you are over due for the infamous 1st/2nd gear repair. It is easily done through the tranny pan. However, it will result in a bit of a swearing match to get the gears either in or out or even both depending on how upset your bike gets with you for ripping her guts out.

I've done it three times (on three different bikes) and all have been on the centerstand. The last one I did lay it on its side to get the bloody shift forks to cooperate. I have determined that each time you do it, something different will give you fits. But still, if you can change spark plugs on some of the newer cars, you can do this repair.

Check out the tech tip under repairs transmission. Read it through a few times, print it out and take it to the workshop with you when you do the work. It is well written and very useful.

[ebock112]

ok i had a question when i took my side cover off the one on the left hand side the two dots were not lines up and that just seems odd like cause i was playing around with it and it seems they should be lines up at all time tell me if i'm correct?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey again,

Yes, the dots on the shift lever and pawl gears are supposed to be mated and lined up, HOWEVER, the shift lever easily slides away from the engine when you pull the shift cover off, and can let that gear slip so that they get misaligned when you get the cover off.

Had a fellow Xsive that I helped to some tranny work, and I had gotten the dots aligned, but when he was putting the side cover on, he inadvertantly pulled it back out a bit, which allowed the gear to slip, but he didn't realize it, and when we tried to run it, would only shift into 1st, and would NOT shift back up thru the rest of the gears. Took the cover off, realigned, and then it shifted just fine, but the gears had already been undercut with the Dremmel fix!!

The tech tip has a nice pictorial to view and then you can decide how you want to approach it, belly up in the frame, or YOU laying on your back on the hard concrete with oil and gears and shift forks falling on your face!!

T.C.