Rear end locked on me today... xj1100 82

[Wouldstalk]

Just restored a garaged XJ1100J, that has not been on the road since 1984~. Tags on the plate said 85'.

Spent a good 6 months reconditioning the tank, painting frame, rebuilding/rejetting carbs (indiv. air filters) and doing the 2nd gear dremel fix and washer swap.

9 days on the road in 17 or so years and I find myself nearly falling off, dragging my back tire for 40 or so feet through a busy intersection during 5pm traffic on a 6 lane road.

Im not sure how I managed to keep the bike upright through that tore up street, down hill, through an intersection while surrounded by cars on all sides. I landed in the far left lane against the center divider just close enough to not be able to put my kickstand down.

I stood stuck there for 40 minutes waiting for a tow truck looking like a damned idiot!

I had exactly 0 cars and 3 motorcyclist stop to offer help, all in vain as with the rear tire locked up and the bike being some 700 odd pounds with a full tank of gas nothing short of a steel cabled winch was gonna move it.

And thats what happened. Dropped it off at home. Gonna crack open the shaft drive tomorrow and hope its something there and not the transmission that seized.

Anyone care for a wager on what happened?

[jjz28]

i was riding yesterday and my back brake started sticking and i hadnt even used it. I noticed i started slowing down and it kept getting worse. I pulled over and it was smoking so i tried to pop the bleeder but it stripped so i popped the 12mm banjo bolt and it freed right up took off again pulling in the clutch every 1/4 mile or so to see if it did it again and about 2 miles it did. popped the bolt again and noticed the spring was off the brake lever and put it on and hasnt happened since. I was afraid my back tire would lock up so i traveled slow for a while pulling in the clutch all the time to see if it would slow down faster than regular. Your brake may be stuck, just a thought.

[James England]

Seized transmission is my bet.........

[Wouldstalk]

It's definitely not the rear brake, I thought the same but could force the pads back in forth in the caliper.

It's been close to 100 miles since i did the dremel fix. What would cause the transmission to seize now? There was no noise (cracking, rattle etc) when the rear tire locked up. I was going constant and didn't shift when it locked up.

At the moment i can shift the bike into first and neutral and i think second, but im not sure.

What could have happened in the transmission to cause it to seize like that?

[jjz28]

Just for ****s and giggles try popping the bleeder just to make sure.

[DGXSER]

JJ...Your rear brake issue is in the master cylinder, the dreaded Spooge hole. Tell tale sign is the brake freeing up when the line pressure is released.

As to Mr. Wouldstalk My guess is the middle drive. Only because it is the more common fault in this situation. And it is only more common fault because it tends to be the forgotten fluid. Since the drain bolt is in such a strange location, it is either never drained, or often times folks think they drained the engine oil. Seen it more than once that someone drains it, then finds the true engine drain bolt, drains that, refills engine oil, but never puts the gear oil back in the middle drive. Not saying that happened here, just a that it does happen, and leads to of course failure of the bearings.

[BA80]

Yup rear master cylinder, either spooge hole blocked or pushrod too tight. Make sure your brake pedal is working freely jj and it's not sticky where the actuator shaft comes through the frame.

Like DGXSER said, it's probably the middle drive Wouldstock. That's the weakest link in the shaft drive system and what locks up most often.

[Wouldstalk]

The middle gear is just on the front side of the Ujoint right?

This is my first shaft driven motorcycle so im not too familiar with it.

it goes Middle gear then u-joint, shaft, to final gear on the wheel right?

Im going to break it all off tomorrow and see what it looks like.

Funny, but not so funny that I went through every square inch of electrical, rebuilt carbs etc, but never so much as checked the gears from middle to final. Just pulled the drain to see if there was any oil in the final drive gear. Negligence does not help reliability.

[Wouldstalk]

pft... i aint even upset anymore... if it was infact the middle gear that seized.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/82-Yamaha-XJ...item588ee4d04a

[BA80]

Yeah, just pull the boot back and take the 4 bolts out of the u-joint yoke and you should be able to check the FD that way. Then drain the MD (if there's anything in it) and remove tthe 7 allen head bolts holding it on and you can check it out. You should know the story by then.

[CaptonZap]

pft... i aint even upset anymore... if it was infact the middle gear that seized.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/82-Yamaha-XJ...item588ee4d04a

Not so fast, Mr Calm.
That is not the part that is toast, if it is indeed the middle drive that seized. The parts you see are INSIDE the case, and very rarely pose a problem. The part you will most likely need is,

[url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-YAMAHA-XS1100E-XS1100-XS-1100-MIDDLE-DRIVE-UNIT-/120406918787?hash=item1c08cfc683&item=120406918787 &pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr[url]

or parts thereof. CZ

[BA80]

OOPS............

[BA80]

Your link didn't work CZ. Try THIS

[trbig]

Seized transmission is my bet.........

Has anyone ever heard of this ACTUALLY happening? I can see an individual gear seizing, but a whole transmission? It would have to be running with no oil in the motor.. which would cause a piston seize before a transmission built up enough heat.

I've pulled motors apart that had some broken teeth on some of the gears and suppose it's not an impossibility to get something jammed in there, but I've sure never heard of an actual transmission seizing.

[DGXSER]

Yes, that is only part of the internals you see there. I would go for a complete used unit. The time and expense spent in properly setting up the gears is worth every penny of the added cost of the unit.

And yes, the middle drive from any XS1100 will interchange with the XJ1100, same parts.