2nd Gear Fix. Any Words of Wisdom? :)

[anarchy18]

HELLO GUYS the weather in Germany has finally let me roll out the XS1100 today. So since I havent had a 2nd gear for awhile I am ready to try the fix for the first time. My 2nd gear does not pull and just spins through making a rattling sound even jamming up my shifter on occasions while in traffic!!! If I use Topcats WALKTHRU should I be alright or is it easy to get stuck? Someone told me its a 1 - 2 day job?

[madmax-im]

have someone who can help you...I was very fortunate to have some XSelent gurus helping me otherwise I dont think I could have done it alone...and I only swapped out old gearsets for new ones...dremmeling was not something i wanted to do....
nonetheless...once you get to the point of reassy....make sure you dry shift all the gears so that you know they are engaging correctly....BEFORE you button it up...DAMHIK...for the beginner i would not typify this as an easy job...its a major surgery actually and it took me with help several days altogether...you will no doubt encounter setbacks...no procedeure is infallable... the level of mechanical skills does help...but there will be some things that wont go as smoothly as they are written out to be...Good luck with it...

[BillyRok]

Don't let Ben scare you, you'll be fine. I've done 2 and both times had the motor upside down...once because I had the motor out doing a restoration and the other time I flipped the bike on its back. Be sure to drain middle and final drives as well as drain the oil and remove the filter or you will have fluid all over the place. The write up may not say it but if you also remove the oil pan before flipping the bike you won't have any crud that might be currently in the pan end up falling back up into the motor, and you may also discover some small parts in the bottom of the pan, too. Take a few pics as you disassemble stuff to help you remember how things go back together. And if you get stuck, just ask for help...the guys here will get you through it. Can't beat the satisfaction of knowing "I fixed it myself!" Have Fun!

[anarchy18]

I appreciate it. Im just worried because im doing this with a german guy and he can only go by the pics and i will be trying to translate the words in TOPCATS walkthru that I printed and I'm not sure I have everything I need to do the job either!!! Tools, parts, equipment? So far I have only general tools and i ordered a set of those diamond dremel bits and a small deadblow hammer. Do I need to order any bike parts or am I just modifying whats already in the bike? We will flip it on its back also. Do I need to only do the 2nd gear dremmel fix since I lost my 2nd gear? Meaning I heard theres other gear fixes how do I know if I need them? Also did the XS1100 have 5 gears cause Im pretty sure I only have 4 and that leaves me behind of the other guys on the autobahn alot

[DiverRay]

Try and buy a used transmission BEFORE you start the project! I found it easier to set up the counter shaft and all the gears, as well as check on the shift forks, before the tear down. I've done a few 2nd gear repairs, and it IS easier if you have that "spare transmission" before starting.
In the US, we can usually get a good price from andreas, a member here who lives in Canada. You will STILL need to work on the gears a bit, but that you can do a little at a time, and NOT be in a hurry! Saves a LOT, and makes it easier to do a "one day" job.
Also, if you only have 4 gears, including the second that does not want to work, you will probably need the bent washers that hold the shift pins in under the shift cover. That would come with a "complete transmission".

[anarchy18]

Cant really afford a used tranny but I'll look around so are you saying originally I had 5 gears total? And I can have 5 gears again but I need the parts?

[DiverRay]

Yes! If you look at a manual or the pictures you printed, one has the shifter mechanism. It is the part that controls how many gears and what gear you are in. There is a "star washer" that holds what look like single needle bearings in place. Sometimes one of the points on the washer will break, and the bearing drops out. when this happens, you loose a gear. There is a thread in here about that, and one member was able to fix the washer by tack welding the tip back on.
I WOULD try and find a shift fork! Your second gear fork will probably be beyond use, and they cannot be repaired reliably.
I'll try and find the thread and post a link here for you.

[DiverRay]

Second page of this thread shows a good picture of the star washer, and what it looks like bad.http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...ht=star+washer

[anarchy18]

Another gear in Land Of The Autobahn!!! THATS THE BEST NEWS YOU COULDA GIVEN ME!!! Why didnt I figure this out sooner? lol I been laggin behind the boys in the motorcycle club on almost all the autobahn trips. Wonder how much of a difference it will make and if it will make cruising at 90 mph more relaxing

[anarchy18]

Alright thanks I got alot of learning to do on what I need and what to do if im gonna get 2nd back and have a 5th gear but needless to say the thought of having both back excites me

[anarchy18]

Why did he tackweld the tip of the washer back on are they that hard to find or expensive? Well here begins the perilous journey of translating the part names like shiftfork into German and trying to find one here I put in tranny and xs1100 in German Ebay and everythings for the 2H7 and 2H9 models will those fit in my 5K7?

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_odkw=...s1100&_sacat=0

[DiverRay]

Yes, the transmission is the same for ALL XS1100 models! you can mix and match as needed!
On the speed/RPM front, the XS1100 should be running about 5000 RPM's at 90 MPH. The only way to lower that is do an 850 final drive swap. That will drop your RPM's by about 500 at 90, and maybe keep you feeling better about the Autobahn. I DO remember cruising at 110 to 125MPH back when the bikes were new. No, NOT legal in this part of the US, but I could run that way for two hours with no problems. Even now, I tens to run at 80MPH a lot, and the Midnight Special seems to just enjoy it.

[anarchy18]

Cool a final drive swap is possible huh? Then thats just another thing to add to the list!!! Did you check out the last ebay link and did you see any parts I could possibly use to help simplify the 2nd gear fix? Btw thanks for all your time!!!

I found some shift forks and they are all sold seperately and have numbers on them like 2 and 3? And how can I tell if they are still good before ordering?

Over here we usually cruise around 140-160kmh on the autobahn for a hour or so at a time when we go to parties in a group. I do agree it seems the xs does love to scream but the bad part is when we fuel up i always need the most fuel out of everybody and i gotta do something about that

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ray,

I think you missed the point he made that he only has 4 operational gears, so he's running the autobahn in 4TH, not 5th, and so he's screaming at 7+K rpm for the speed he's trying to maintain, not 5th gear...and I think you hit it on the head, he's probably lost his 5th gear pin in the shift drum assembly with a bent washer nipple, and so YES he needs to pull the oil pan BEFORE he flips the bike so he can find that 5th gear pin to be able to put it back in.

I just posted in the other thread about ORANGE having fixed his fancy shift drum washer because he got tired of waiting for it to arrive. I posted about WHY was the shift drum built that way with the varying length pins and that rediculous washer?? I think if that happens to me, I will just grind flat all of the pins so that they are FLUSH with the shift drum surface and then put a large THICK FLAT Washer there to secure the pins instead....not have to worry about the little tangs getting bent again, or trying to find a pristine OEM unbent fancy star washer!?!?

Hey there Derrick. I looked at the ebay page...regrettably it's in GERMAN! But I can also tell that some of those tranny parts are from the PRIMARY shaft and gears, as well as the Countershaft and gears....we only have to Grind on the Countershaft gears, and the countershaft is all you have to remove for the repair. Another member posted a recent addendum to the countershaft removal and installation process, I have yet to add it to the formal tech tip. It makes sense about how to make the insertion easier, but having the bike/engine on it's back makes the process....especially for a novice the easiest it can be anyways.

The 2 sets of 2 shafts of gears have both the countershaft and Primary-Clutch shaft gears....so you're paying too much for gears and parts you would never really need. As for the shift fork, I can't remember which number controls 2nd gear....will have to review the fiche, but someone else may know and post before I get back. And YES...as I stated in the Tech Tip, while you are in there, go ahead and dress up the 1st/4th gear sets as well, 1st gears gets as much or more stress/wear as 2nd, but it has twice the # of dogs/slots to handle the extra CLUNK engagement when you shift into 1st when stopped/neutral, but it rounds off also. If second is skipping, 1st isn't far behind. Many people don't run in 1st very much before they shift into 2nd, and also with only 3 dogs/slots, 2nd rounds and wears sooner. However, on mine, 1st went 1st, but 2nd failed just 1 month later!! You don't want to have to go back in there again if you don't need to...just ask Catatonic Bug, or was it Jesse?? One xsive went in 3 times....2nd gear, then 1st gear, then 3rd gear even!!

If you click on the add for each part...ie, one of the gears, at least that one has the OEM part # in it's description....I think one of the Dremmel repair tips, perhaps not the one I posted, lists the part numbers for the separate gear wheels so you can match them up. 5th gear engages with the 2nd gear slots to give you 2nd. 4th gear wheel engages with 1st gear slots to give you 1st. SO...you see you would want/need to get 4 gear wheels to replace the faulty ones in your transmission if you were wanting to predremmel them.

Also, yes, there is a final drive swap..an 850 preferred..stronger, or a later model 750, but folks have reported that even though it does lower the rpm by about 400 or so...it also puts 5th gear so high a ratio that they can't get the bike to reach anywhere near redline, it just doesn't have the horsepower to push it against the wind in that gear with the final drive mod....so you might not really gain anything. IF you are in fact missing 5th gear due to a dropped shift drum pin, fix that, fix your slipping/skipping gears, and put it back together, then with an actual 5th gear, you should be able to get it up to 110 or so MPH and be able to keep up a bit better with your riding buddies....but you will probably still have to fill up with much more fuel anyways....you're pushing 30+ y/o technology and 600+ lbs of weight at high speeds vs. their crotch rockets and such!!

T.C.

[madmax-im]

wasnt trying to scare him off just my perspective thats all...
BTW dont forget to do the 2nd gear washer swap...