Clunking noise when shifting

[geobiker]

owl poop?

[QUOTE= "BUT I also have my 79 which shifts as smooth as owl poop with virtually no noise or resistance and hardly bears any resemblance to the usual standard description of of a common XS transmission."[/QUOTE]

Okay, so I have been around for a while . . . just how smooth is owl poop? I guess it depends on what the owl has been ingesting!

I have found that if I shift up through all five gears, while staying low in the r.pm.s, my bike shift pretty smoothly. I also hesitate a split second after I roll off the throttle and pull in the clutch and shift. Other than that, it is also stated correctly that you want to shift firmly between gears.

[latexeses]

So, has anyone invented a YAGES eliminator yet?

Turn up your I-Pod???

[fredintoon]

Okay, so I have been around for a while . . . just how smooth is owl poop? I guess it depends on what the owl has been ingesting!

Hi geo,
while like any other bird poop it goes all crusty when it dries, newly eliminated owl poop is always of a very smooth consistency regardless of what they've been eating because
owls cough up all the bony bits like cats do with hairballs.
About those noisy gearshifts, though; I just ran the rig on a short errand. Started out with the minimal crunch into 1st from neutral that I get at ~1,000 rpm idle and subsequent shifts were quite quiet for the first mile or so.
Then shifts started to be audible and feelable with my toes.
Then it calmed down again. Slow and deliberate shifts seem to work best but there's no hard and fast technique to quiet shifts that I can find on my machine.

[FANNING507]

Yes, leave it on the center stand an roll off it after putting in gear. Mine seems so chunky, I put it in first and start the engine after its in gear. Just me though.

[geobiker]

owl poop

Fredintoon

Thanks for the info on owls . . . interesting that they regurgitate the bones. I did know that they can turn their heads almost 180 degrees. If I could do that, I wouldn't need mirrors on my bike! I guess if I could see in the dark and fly, I probably wouldn't even need my bike!

[SFerinTEXAS]

Welcome to everyone for the bird excrement fun. But to the original post I stick to my first hand dual comparisons . If I had 2 that were smooth or 2 that were clacky I might conclude that was normal. Or if I only had 1 ,,, I would be remiss to conclude to advise. Never said I only have just 2. Just 2 street legal.

[fredintoon]

Yes, leave it on the center stand an roll off it after putting in gear. Mine seems so chunky, I put it in first and start the engine after its in gear. Just me though.

Hi Kim,
the ol' centrestand trick would be hard to do when you are stopped at a red light, eh?
Starting in gear with the clutch pulled will work but I am inhibited from that thought from all those years riding kickstart only machines where that just don't work.
I find that my bike goes into 1st from neutral with an acceptably mild clunk so long as the idle is at 1,000 rpm or less. At ~1,100 rpm or more the noise it makes going into 1st is really scary.

[natemoen]

e

what, you don't like that hard clink and the accompaning lurch Fred?

[fredintoon]

what, you don't like that hard clink and the accompaning lurch Fred?

Hi Nate,
what with not having a centrestand because of the sidecar and all, the trick is not possible for me.
It's that for a solo rider to stop, haul his XS11 onto it's centrestand, rev up and ride off the stand to get moving again would take at least two red light cycles which would really annoy other road users.
The clink and lurch wouldn't bother me, I used to ride a Royal Enfield.

[natemoen]

I was just talking about shifting from neutral to first with a high idle.

[mack]

preloading

As you know I'm the original owner of mine. It was always clanky going into first from neutral. Lowering the idle to 1K gets rid of a lot of the lurch. However, after that going up and down through the tranny, " preloading" the shifter makes them smooth as silk with both high and low RPM shifting.

[BigDick]

IMHO RPM's are the key. I've timed it just right going from first to second and sometimes from second to third and it's made no noise at all! When it does that I'm not even sure it has shifted until I get in the throttle again and hear the RPM difference. Every time this has happened I've been fairly low RPM's, around 2200 (if I had to guess, never happened to be watching the tach when it's happened).

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Me too

Both my bikes tarnys shift pretty smooth. Both also have good tranys with no dog wear of rounding off. I think positive shifting, proper clutch adjustment and use are important for these bikes. I do not recommend clutch-less shifting with these bikes. Given that many do in fact have trany issues, why push it beyond the manufacturers suggested use.
I would recommend that you check and adjust your clutch play inside and at the level as a starting point but do note that the tranys on these bikes can be noisy. Noisy is one thing, difficulty getting it to shift to the point of needing to force it often is another.
Rob

"Onece in 1st, "an expert" "can" shift to 2nd,3nd,4th,5th without using the clutch at all, just syc the rpm, speed, force, shift. In the same way, good clutch or bad, the syc, timming and rpm skill will make your shift cleaner the better you get used to the bike

Not recomending "anyone" shift without the clutch, just trying to explain how important rpm vs syc, just trying to help them understand the need to syc each shift

[slow mo]

That's just the YAGES (Yamaha Audible Gear Engagement System) doing it's thing. Gotta pay extra for that on other bikes

the Audible Gear Engagement System,,,BRILLIANT i laughed pretty hard at that one ,,thanks dbeardslee and ride safe ,,slow mo!