Hmmm? Clutch?

[cuda_phish1]

hey gang, I've been having trouble with my XS standard popping oiut of gear when I'm on it hard. It acts like I'm in nuetral when it happened mostly, BUT sometimes it will actually downshift on me.

I'm not sure if shifting too soft would cause this or not. I found i soft shift alittle when I'm eating the rpm's because I'm concentrating on keeping the front end down and the beast pointed in the right direction.

Had a 2nd question too. I need to replace my fork oil seals but would like to wait till this winter to do it while the the bike is being repainted.

In the mean time though, I need to add oil to the forks because of the leak. Can I just add it? Or will I need to disassemble the forks?

thank gang,
Dan

[ratbyk]

Fork Oil/Second gear

On the fork oil you can simply add some oil, only problem is / how much to add? You could drain the existing oil and top up with the correct amount. There is a drain plug/hole at the bottom of each fork leg. (a Philip's head screw) Add;7.17 US oz or 5.97 imp. oz or 212 cc. The book calls for #10 motor oil but I would recommend on these old bikes that you use #15 fork oil.
If you really are going to replace the fork seals in the near future then I would simply add about 4 oz of oil to each leg to finish out the season. Without being there and knowing your exact situation this is all I can recommend at present.
On second gear I'm sorry to say, it sounds like you are approaching the dreaded 2nd gear problem with these bikes.
Possibly your gentle shifting is not punching it all the way into second. Try being a little more forcefully on your second gear shifts and see if the problem corrects itself. If a little extra force does not solve it check out Tech Tips. There are 2 or 3 articles on how to make this repair. I have been fortunate so far on my bike and have not had to go through this repair.
Lots of luck.
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk

[cuda_phish1]

2nd gear

sorry I wasn't specific. This is happening in all gears. I noticed it when I used 30w instead of the 10/40w the previous owner used.
But I have noticed it doesnt do it as bad when I cram and jam the gears. So it's probably just me being lite footed. Especially when i'm wearing tennis shoes instead of my steel toed boots.

On the oil leak i've lost oil(visible on the upper fork) due to some heavy pot holes and hitting traon tracks wrong once. Now the forks are rather springy. that's why I want to add oil and see if it helps the ride. I have every intention of getting some progressive springs from Dennis Kirks this winter for the beast too while i'm in there.

Thanks for the help rat
Dan

[Ken Talbot]

2nd gear - if you noticed slippage starting after you changed oil, try going back to the other oil. Quite a few people have switched to one of the synthetic oils, or one of those high-tech friction modified oils, and had grief with a slipping clutch. With a wet clutch bathed in the same oil as the rest of the motor, it needs a certain amount of friction just to work. Some oils are just plain too slippery.

Fork oil - it would be as easy and quick to do a fork oil change as to try to add an undetermined amount to one fork or the other. There are a couple of articles in the tech section on how to do this, and I posted another variation a little while back in this forum