rattle sound when driving in 1st gear

[excess11]

I have a 78' xs11 and the trany has a rattle sound in 1st gear.The sound goes away once in second but the shift to second is a hard pull also when down shifting in any gear it takes a hard push to drop into lower gear. I also notice a sound in all gears. It is a very faint groan that you have to listen for. The drive line seams to have alot of slop in it when you roll off of the trottle. Does any one have Ideas on where to start when tracking down these trany problems.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Excess11,

Well, not sure how long you've had your bike, just know that you are new to the FORUM!? First, you want to read up in the tech tips, and then do your clutch cable adjustment under the right side cover for starters!

Secondly, check the oil levels in your MIDDLE GEAR!! A groaning whine could be the middle gear running dry!! You can then pull the rubber boot off of the end of the gear and check your U-joint for wear! The XS11 does have a sloppy drive train, due to all of the conversion points in the driveline: the middle gear, the U-joint, and then the rear wheel diff!

Next, you can take off the left shift cover...drain your engine oil first, and check to see that the shift drum and pawl are properly aligned, synched! There is a notch on the shift drum, and a matching one on the shift pawl/lever, and when the bike is in 2nd gear, they should line up, if not, then you loosen the lock nut, and turn the slotted screw on the shift lever closest to the shift lever arm until you get the notches lined up, and then secure the lock nut! I had posted some pictures to another thread about this, will search and add a link to it to show!

The drum is NOT IN THE 2nd GEAR Postion, so the notch doesn't align with the shift pawl, but hopefully you can see them!?

The lock nut you're looking for is in the lower right corner, this picture was done for earlier tech tip to show the alignment DOTS.



You could have bent/worn shift forks, damaged or worn shift drum, etc., but you'd have to at least pull the bottom oil pan off to see these parts, so it might be worth trying the above less invasive checks first!?
T.C.