1st gear issue.

[Troney]

Hey guys just wanted to pick your brains.

My 82XJ has a issue with first gear and before I take it apart I wanted your opinion.

:::Problem:::

1st gear at speeds of 5-12kph I get a hard clank sound from my bike and it doesn't pick up speed. As long as I'm in 2nd before then or even start in 2nd no issue. With this when going from neutral to first it seems no matter how long I have the clutch in the shift hits hard.

Would this be fixed with the dremel fix?

[madmax-im]

I have the same bike and it sounds like the same classic problem...the dreaded 1st-2nd gear slippage...dremel fix or spend more money and order new factory backcut geaars from Yamaha via someone like Bike Bandit. Most people opt to dremel them I opted to just replace the gearsets with the new ones...it wasnt cheap but it wont ever break again...I just wasnt confident that the dremel fix would last...YMMV along with your wallet...
These bikes always clunk going into 1st so that may not change wit the dremel fix...the tranny is likened to one on a russian tractor...LOL

[DGXSER]

Part one will be fixed with the dremel repair. For some reason, the XJ tends to have first gear go out, as where most of the XS's with this issue have 2nd gear go out.

As for the "hard" shifting, well, that is just part of owning an XS-XJ1100. The term often used here is that they shift like a russian tractor. Especially going from neutral into first. And you really have to hit the shift level like you mean it, no lazy toe tapping will do, you have to push the linkage full travel every time or you will end up in a "false neutral" where the shift is incomplete and your not in gear but not in neutral.

[jetmechmarty]

Mine was dropping out of 1st before I lost 2nd. In my limited experience, I would answer "yes" to your question.

[Troney]

Thanks. So is it safe to drive like this or should I park until fix?

[DGXSER]

That is up to you, safety is not the issue. The problem is, the more the gears slip across each other and hammer like that, the more your wearing off and rounding over the edges of the gears. That means more material to remove when you backcut the gears for the dremel work.

The repair can be done easily in a weekend by a novice that has never done it before. One item to note, the tech tip does not mention exhaust removal other than to protect the exhaust when flipping. In my experience with 4-2 systems, you have to remove the exhaust to get to all the tranny pan bolts.

[jetmechmarty]

I drove mine like that for a while. It will continue to get worse as you use it. It's not too cool having that thing drop out of 1st as you take off, especially if there's a turn involved. Be careful!

[SFerinTEXAS]

My XJ was the same. May also expect damage/wear to the shift fork from the po trying to force it to stay in gear.

[Troney]

Thanks for the info. The bike actually starts off real well in 2nd so for the mean time (since I don't have a garage) I'll drive it around town. Hopefully this winter I will be able to store it somewhere I can work on it.

[SFerinTEXAS]

I rode mine for a year like that. Got in the habit of counting up and down shifts to avoid ending up in 1st at an awkward/critical time.