Symptoms of 1st and 2nd Gear Problems

[beegshot]

Newbie here...first post (long). I've been riding and enjoying my XJ11 for 18 years. But, lately I've been having a very unnerving and harsh mechanical skip during WOT acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear. I don't recall whether or not it'll do it in 3rd...I don't think so. Aside: I can't go test it right now...I waiting for a new rec/reg assembly from geezer (if he decides to go commercial with his design). I read with great interest all of the write-ups on tranny repairs. But, I didn't see any discussion on the symptoms. If my bike needs a 1st/2nd gear tranny repair, would it just "jump a tooth" when it malfunctioned? Or, would it jump out of gear into neutral? What leads you to believe your tranny needs to have it's cog teeth filed?

[Pat Kelly]

On my E the bike feels like it 'surges' when accelerating hard but only in 2nd gear. I think I'm due for the "2nd gear fix".
I think different bikes exibit different symptoms, this is what mine's doing.

[DiverRay]

My bike is in REAL need of a repair. it feels like it's "jumping a tooth" in first, and just won't go in second. Second gear sounds like a chain running on a sprocket with the teeth ground almost off. I know it is the dreaded second gear problem, but it will have to hold out for a few more months, untill I can take it down for the winter.

Ray

[dragxs11]

Both 1st and 2nd have been weak on mine for awhile. But they only slip if I'm full throttling. They will slip a cog or two under hard accelleration. Since I know what the problem is, I haven't made it much worse. While your in there, I'd replace the shift forks as well. They wear thin and bend, which can cause, or at least contribute to most of the issues above.
matt

[TopCatGr58]

Well,
My 81SH first failed in First, and so I didn't put much throttle into 1st, and started shifting into 2nd sooner, and within a few months 2nd started jumping as well. I've seen an XJ with 1st so worn that like DiverRay's 2nd, that with anything above IDLE, it would start skipping and sounded like a machine gun!

So, depending on the severity of wear, it can go into gear, but then pop/skip under strong throttle, but will go back or stay in gear, not pop into NEUTRAL.

And you may NOT need to replace your shift forks. Many folks when they start getting this symptom, find that IF they hold the shift lever down under pressure, that it would help to keep the bike in gear and reduce the skipping. However, they didn't realize that the aluminum shift forks are rubbing against the hardened steel gear sides......you can figure out what would wear first! But if you didn't take up this bad practice, then your shift forks may be alright, and it's mostly just the wear on the gears dogs and slots that need fixing!
T.C.