1st gear fix

[rover]

I had my trans all apart, could not get the countershaft back in, would not clear the large gear and the gear for the kick starter, so I took out the whole gear and shaft assy. . Finally got all the forks back in place, then noticed I did not have the starter gear assy in. Can I run it without the gear and shaft? I have the plug from an 80 to fill the hole. Does anything else drive off that? I had gears from the 80 MNS, and ground them before I took the 79F apart, but the gears in the 79 looked like new, the only thing I found was really bad wear in the #3 shift fork. I replaced that and the gear it rides on (5th in the book). The PO must have changed the gears, but it would sometimes jump out of first gear under a hard pull. Maybe he changed the gears, put it back together and still had the problem. Maybe that is why he sold it to me 10 years ago for $500, with a good windjammer and Samsonite bags and trunk and about 35K on it. I just babied it in 1st gear, and now it would not stay in even on a slight pull, so I tipped the bike upside down and got after it. I really don't want to go through the hassle of dealing with the shift forks again. I hope I can run it without the whole kick start shaft and gear.

[jwhughes3]

You can run it without the kickstart gears in place - the 80-81's typically do not have them and are fine. As long as you plug the shaft hole up you should be good.

John

[BA80]

I had my trans all apart, could not get the countershaft back in, would not clear the large gear and the gear for the kick starter, so I took out the whole gear and shaft assy. . Finally got all the forks back in place, then noticed I did not have the starter gear assy in. Can I run it without the gear and shaft? I have the plug from an 80 to fill the hole. Does anything else drive off that? I had gears from the 80 MNS, and ground them before I took the 79F apart, but the gears in the 79 looked like new, the only thing I found was really bad wear in the #3 shift fork. I replaced that and the gear it rides on (5th in the book). The PO must have changed the gears, but it would sometimes jump out of first gear under a hard pull. Maybe he changed the gears, put it back together and still had the problem. Maybe that is why he sold it to me 10 years ago for $500, with a good windjammer and Samsonite bags and trunk and about 35K on it. I just babied it in 1st gear, and now it would not stay in even on a slight pull, so I tipped the bike upside down and got after it. I really don't want to go through the hassle of dealing with the shift forks again. I hope I can run it without the whole kick start shaft and gear.

That drive gear shaft will go in there with the kicker in place you just have to mess with it and use ALL your cuss words.

The first gear dogs and slots need to be dremel cut to repair just as the second gear fix. The slots are a little more difficult on first though because they don't go all the way through. The wear is pretty hard to see even with a trained eye.

[rover]

1st gear fix

OK, I will go in there again and cut the 1st gears at a bevel. After some thought, I figure the shift fork wore cause the slots and dogs pushed apart. That is the side the fork was worn on. I finally used grease and wires to hold the forks in, worked pretty good. I think I will leave the kick start gears out. In 34 years of riding XS11's, I have never kick started either one. Never had a starter pedal. Thanks for the info and the quick responses, you guys are the BEST.

[BA80]

In 34 years of riding XS11's, I have never kick started either one. Never had a starter pedal.

It has saved me a walk home or a tow truck ride a couple of times.

Stinkin' batteries never die at home. If the battery gets low enough it won't turn the starter it usually still has at least 10.5 volts, enough to run the tci.

Or, if the starter clutch decides to take a powder it's a life saver. These 1100's are really pretty easy to kick start. Easier than a Hardley

[red bandit]

As heavy as they are they aren't that bad to push start. You don't have to be moving much. Use 2nd gear, they fire right up. Had to do this a couple times due to low batt. Of course kicking it would be much easier on your legs but if you don't have a kicker....