Pulled gears for 2nd gear fix, what do you think?

[JTNWEvo]

Hey guys,

Photos of my gears are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/6857610...7632870624240/


They look great to me but I'm no expert, what do you think?

They are out of a 1979 Special with 32,000 miles.

The gaskets are all really stuck on so I don't think anyone has been in to replace or dremel the gears but they sure look OK to me and the washer is in the stock location.

Maybe it was driven by a grandma on the way to Sunday Church? :-)

Should I just swap the washer and put 'em back as is?

Thanks for any input!

-JT

[DGXSER]

Certainly the washer swap will do alot for second gear. IF you were not having any issues with the gears or first gear you could go back in with just the washer swap.

IMHO, you should go ahead and dremel the gears now that you have them out. This is one of those ounce of prevention things, and as you go to put it all back together, you will fully understand why you do not really want to do this again anytime soon.

[bikerphil]

They don't look too bad from what I can see, the only thing is they do not have the backcut/dovetail on the dogs and slots. If you grind that cut in, the gears actually pull themselves together tighter when engaged and will last much longer, JMHO

[crazy steve]

Those gears look great to me, but I will respectfully disagree about grinding them...

The factory gears are cast iron and have a surface hardening treatment to resist wear. It's not all that thick, which explains why when they do start to go, they go bad quickly as the underlying metal is much softer. If you go in there and grind them, you'll remove most of that hardening. Now, many have ground their gears with no ill effects, but some have had to do it more than once and at some point there won't be enough left to grind one more time.

And while this is a common problem, there's also a lot of bikes out there that still have OEM gears in them that work fine. I'm firmly convinced that most gear issues are due to improper shifting technique or abuse, and if the gears are good and you treat them right, they'll last.

Now, Yamaha did come out with an 'improved' gear set that had the angle grinding from the factory, so it is a problem. But those gears are still available new (unlike most other XS11 parts) so it's not like there was a huge stampede to replace them, or the factory stock would be gone by now.

Your call, but I'd personally reinstall as-is and worry about problems when they actually show up....

[DGXSER]

worry about problems when they actually show up....

I certainly agree with this theory, my premise for the response I gave is that there must be some problem since the gears were pulled out in the first place, and second gear set (5th dogs and second slots) do show some wear and it does not take alot to cause the problem.

I knew as I typed my response someone would provide the alternate opinion on the grinding.

[JTNWEvo]

Thanks for the input guys. I really don't know if this bike had the problem or not. It was a basket case I picked up in the fall and I am refurbing it. Decided to pull the gears to check 'em out while I had the biked stripped down.

Thanks again!

JT

[crazy steve]

It didn't have the problem, because the wear is very obvious when they do. Your gears are only showing the normal burnishing from use...

[mharrington]

I dont like it that Yamaha made an impoved REPLACEMENT gear... but kept installing the inferior ones in their bikes..?? Second gear issues plagued the V Max and Venture well into the 1980s. I had an 1100 where 1-3 were bad. The dogs were rounded and the pinions were in nice and deep.

[Yard Dogg]

When I grinded mine I had great luck with a cylinder shaped burr bit. It might seem like it would be too rough, but it turned out great an the bit wore nice and even so you can make those sharp cuts at the base for longer. If you go with dremel stones, you will need quite a few of them. I flipped both washers on that shaft, do you guys know what I'm talking about? There is another gear in there that actuates the same as 2nd and 5th. I figured it couldn't hurt to pull those together too. I know I said my shifter won't cycle through all the gears right now, but I'm sure flipping that other washer is not the culprit. Has anyone else ever flipped the other washer too?

Did I screw up?