Dave's '82 XJ11 PROJECT~ Current Issue - DRIVETRAIN

[OnlyXJ]

Greetings all
I just finished my '81 XJ550 project... well not finished, but enough that it runs pretty well, got me to work today with a smile on my face!

My first bike as a youngster was an '82 400 special.
So when I decided 2 summers ago that I wanted to upgrade my 550 to something larger, another XJ seemed logical as it had been the only bike I had ever owned.

Looking on CL, I found an '82 1100 that was not far from me for $300, I was sold without even seeing it
I went to pick it up, it was in a dark basement. It started right up on the first push of the button but had a frozen clutch cable so I was not able to drive it.
33K mi.
Loaded her up and home I went.

I started to take it apart, part by part, cleaning and shining all the bits.... thinking I would paint the frame, repaint the tank and valve cover.

Not knowing if the trans/drivetrain was any good or not I stopped all my work as I didnt want to invest any more time or energy into something that was going to end up being parted out.

I finally got a clutch cable, used of ebay... thinking that now I could finally test the drivetrain, if I could change gears Ok and make the rear tire move that I would then return to working on spiffing up/fixing everything else.

Drumroll...

Got her into first gear and upon release of the clutch the tire started spinning but there was a nasty clicking/clanking noise coming from somewhere in the tranny.
Second gear seemed ok as well as all the others.

Not really sure what to do or where to go from here.
I have read that these xj1100's can have 1st and 2nd gear problems and can be a bear to fix.
Hmmmm...
Thoughts, ideas and comments are appreciated.

[DGXSER]

Sounds like your first gear is about cooked. If it does it under no load like that, it is BAD. Look in the tech tips for the 1st/2nd gear dremmel fix, here is a link.

Its not as bad as it first seems, especially if your already tearing it down like you stated. With your gear(s) as bad as they seem. It may be tough to get them back into shape.

[OnlyXJ]

DGXSER,
Thanks for your input
Yes, I had found that dremmel fix thread already...
I am expecting the worst, that the gears are trashed and in need of replacement.
I have looked at Len's (Charcal) page of parts on xjbikes.com and there are no gears there. (He seems to have EVERYTHING that is available and not used)

So I guess I am looking at my fix as being a used part bike, or raw tranny parts that I can find available here.
Anyone know of a good source to find things like this other than the forums?

Thanks
Dave

[bikerphil]

You can get new back cut gears here, they are a bit expensive though....

http://www.yamahaaccy.com/parts.aspx

You should be able to repair your gears. There is plenty of meat on them to refurbish them, unless they have already been repaired once.

Ebay has transmission gears from time to time, but they'll probably have to be cleaned up too.

[DGXSER]

IMHO, I would not begin to put a set of gears in my bike that were not back cut as shown in that tech tip. Either new ones or used ones. It is not alot of work or money to cut them and if it even COULD save me going back in, it is worth the effort.