Second gear fix issue: can't remove the countershaft!

[jmnjrpa]

Hard facing is often used on worn rocker arms. There is a hard facing powder that is used in a buildup torch and it is great!

[clcorbin]

Tod,

Thanks for the info. It does sound like just grinding and going will do it for me. It had the OCCASIONAL issue when I first bought the bike (30k miles and 21 years ago) and has just gotten worse with time.

I plan on riding it quite a bit more now than in the past, mainly to school and back (about 30 miles per day), so I will be putting more miles on it quicker, but NOTHING like 25k per year!

Although, I DO have to admit I have been thinking that a nice road trip this summer would be VERY nice. Just me, the bike, a small tent and a sleeping bag. No telling what kind of fun I could have.

[trbig]

Although, I DO have to admit I have been thinking that a nice road trip this summer would be VERY nice. Just me, the bike, a small tent and a sleeping bag.

Ya know, on this last trip I just took, I thought about just tent camping. A good sleeping bag and a tent heater, and you should be able to handle just about anything these lower states can throw at you. BUT... Seems like all the parks have a 5-8 dollar entry fee, then anywhere from 12-20 bucks for a tent site. I decided it wasn't much more to just go the cheap hole-in-the-wall motel route and have a warm dry bed with a hot shower. No wet tent to put up and down.. and less gear to carry.

Tod

[clcorbin]

What a pain! After getting the gear dogs ground and cleaned up (surprisingly easy with my pneumatic die grinder and dremel with a solid carbide spiral end milll), the first attempt at reassembly went VERY easy. The countershaft almost dropped in on it's own!

Of course, I then realized that I had not inserted the second shift fork or positioned the other two forks. Ok, no problem, the countershaft actually came out pretty easy. I positioned the forks and dropped the countershaft back in.

Again, it dropped in pretty easy. As I was inserting the shift fork support rod, the first fork dropped down into the tranny. After about 10 minutes of fighting with it, I was able to get it and the second fork onto the shift rod. Of course, during this battle, the last fork ALSO dropped down into the tranny! 15 minutes later, I was fairly sure there was no way to get that thing out with the other forks in, so the countershaft AND the folks came out!

Ok, no problem. Third try I used a piece of wire threaded through the forks to keep them sort of close to position so I could get the shift rod back in without loosing one of them.

An now, after spending 30 freaking minutes trying to get the countershaft back in, I have given up for the night! It just dropped right in two times. Now, even through I THINK I am using the same technique, the little PAIN IN THE BUTT will not drop into place! It seems to keep finding new things to hang up on.

Sigh.

These are generally good signs that it is REALLY time to give it a break! I'll try again tomorrow night and see how things go!

[DGXSER]

Yep, that is how this works. Every time I do this repair something different is the torture session. Hopefully when you come back to it the little sh!t will fall right into place for you again. If not, just keep wiggling it and try turning the rear wheel to turn gears a little and that can help things work into place.

[Bigfoot]

What a pain! After getting the gear dogs ground and cleaned up (surprisingly easy with my pneumatic die grinder and dremel with a solid carbide spiral end milll), the first attempt at reassembly went VERY easy. The countershaft almost dropped in on it's own!

Of course, I then realized that I had not inserted the second shift fork or positioned the other two forks. Ok, no problem, the countershaft actually came out pretty easy. I positioned the forks and dropped the countershaft back in.

Again, it dropped in pretty easy. As I was inserting the shift fork support rod, the first fork dropped down into the tranny. After about 10 minutes of fighting with it, I was able to get it and the second fork onto the shift rod. Of course, during this battle, the last fork ALSO dropped down into the tranny! 15 minutes later, I was fairly sure there was no way to get that thing out with the other forks in, so the countershaft AND the folks came out!

Ok, no problem. Third try I used a piece of wire threaded through the forks to keep them sort of close to position so I could get the shift rod back in without loosing one of them.

An now, after spending 30 freaking minutes trying to get the countershaft back in, I have given up for the night! It just dropped right in two times. Now, even through I THINK I am using the same technique, the little PAIN IN THE BUTT will not drop into place! It seems to keep finding new things to hang up on.

Sigh.

These are generally good signs that it is REALLY time to give it a break! I'll try again tomorrow night and see how things go!

That is why I suggested using the wire as well as some gentle persuasion with a rubber mallet if needed. Keep at it and eventually the planets will align correctly and it will slip into place.

[clcorbin]

That is why I suggested using the wire as well as some gentle persuasion with a rubber mallet if needed. Keep at it and eventually the planets will align correctly and it will slip into place.

I THOUGHT I had all the forks in a good place where I could slide them into place without them falling. I was very much mistaken!

Oh well. We will see how it goes tonight. I think part of the problem is that I am getting really excited to see how this bike runs with all of the CLEAN parts inside and out. I'll hit the shop with fresh attitude tonight and see how it goes.

[clcorbin]

I finally got it together yesterday. I ended up leaving the first gear shift fork out and was able to get it all together with the other two forks held in place with a piece of wire. I used a piece of 12 gauge solid copper wire to feed the last fork into place and pull it up into the counter shaft. That actually went pretty easy.

At this point, I have the engine completely buttoned back up. I still need to reatttach the front wheel, carbs and fuel tank. I also need to pull the valve cover off so I can go through the valve lash and also replace the leaking valve cover gasket and cam end plugs.

Of course, due to the aforementioned leaking gaskets, I REALLY need to take a pressure washer to the block on both the carb and exhaust side while those parts are sitting safe and dry in the shop.

One way or the other, I am REALLY glad to be on the reassembly side of this project!

[DGXSER]

Congrats, hopefully before you buttoned it all up you checked that the gears worked through correctly and smoothly.

[clcorbin]

Yup. They work exactly as they should.

I have finished up for the night. All the fluids are back in except for the rear brake fluid. The front brakes really needed a good flushing. Thankfully, the insides of the master cylinders actually looked pretty good. I would have finished flushing and bleeding the rear brakes, but I ran out of brake fluid. I also got the front tire mounted and (rough) balanced as well. That was a pain...

Tomorrow, I am going to finish up the rear brakes, then roll it out and pressure wash the block to get all the crude off that I couldn't get to with the carbs, intake boots and exhaust header in place.

Once I get the valves lashed and everything sealed up again, it should be a pretty quick job to get the carb and exhaust back on so I can fire it up and start fine tuning the pilot circuit.

Man I want to get this thing on the road!