5th gear?!?!?

[corey]

I'm new to this forum, and glad to be here. So I'll get things started quickly:

Just bought my first XS: a 1979 Yamaha XS11 Special. It's in excellent condition; I couldn't ask for anything else. My only problem is that I can't get to fifth gear. The other gears all work fine throughout the RPM range, but then I try to shift into fifth its just like I hit the end of the transmission. Any ideas on what could cause that?

It might be worth noting that sometimes, when downshifting from second to first, the bike will hit a false neutral. It get's kind of jammed up between the gears, but when I shift it back to second I can generally get it down to first. Don't know if it's related to the above mentioned problem, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

Thanks for the help guys!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Corey,

Welcome to the Forum, and congrats on your 79SF! Now, with regards to the 5th gear problem, check out this link!
Tech Tips 5th gear Blues

Secondly, what you are finding between 2nd and 1st is NOT false neutral, it's the REAL NEUTRAL!!! The false neutrals are inbetween 4th and 5th. Are you coming to a stop before you try to down shift from 2nd to 1st? The gears are notoriously clunky, but are more so when the bike is stopped, whereas when it's still rolling, it's much easier to downshift. This almost sounds like your shift lever return spring is getting weak, not returning the shift lever back up to reset the shift pawl/ratchet mechanism that grabs and rotates the shift drum. Have you noticed any occasional troubles in downshifting from the other gears? After you downshift into 2nd, try gently lifting up on the shifter a little, not enough to shift back up to 3rd, but enough to possibly reset the shifter pawl, then try to downshift and see if you're able to get it to go all the way thru neutral and into 1st.

Another thing may be as simple and doing the proper clutch adjustment at the engine cover, read the tech tips for the procedure!

Finally, with the shift cover off, you can put the bike into 2nd gear, then check the alignment of the shift pawl and shift drum, there's a small line/notch on both, and when in 2nd gear they are supposed to line up, if not, then you need to adjust it. The below picture(not great!) shows the shift drum, the pawl, it's NOT in 2nd gear, so the lines don't line up, but you can see the lines, on the shift drum it's at 11:30 position, and at 4:30 position on the shift pawl!!

[uk1.1s]

5th gear blues

I too had engine trouble with 5th gear... but the sympthoms were different.

If you find the shift drum isn't to blame then it could be related to what happened to me somehow.

One bright day I was riding back from a bike rally (pain in the head, tent on the back, looking forward to a hot bath and happy to be on the bike... you know the score.

Coming out of a town I shifted through the gears, 4th, fine up to 5th.... ouch... lots of grinding and other unsavoury noises. Back to 4th... try 5th, same story...hmmm.

I pulled over and stood beside the bike as it ticked over. All sounded fine.

Next 120 miles home were done on a 4 speeder - not too much trouble for an XS11 as long as you don't want warp factor 9.

When I pulled the engine apart everything in the gearbox was fine and all the ratios selected by hand and I could see them go in. That rebuild lasted around 12 miles

Took it apart again and noticed the crankcase beside the 5th gear had been worn away a bit.

After LOTS of head scratching it seems that the circlip at the end of the gear shaft next to 5th gear was sitting in a worn groove. As I selected 5th it would pop out and allow the gear to move away into the crackcase wall.

Your problem does seem to be more related to TC's diagnosis.... that's good... easy to fix. If you draw a blank there it could have more to do with how the gears tangle up inside the cases.... obviously not quite what was happening to me... but just maybe something odd is happening down below

[corey]

Hmmm... TC, it sounds like the link you posted will be the fix to my problem... at least I hope. I'll let you know how it goes after I tear 'er apart tonite.

Thanks guys!