Time to fix my second gear 7700mi

[2WheelFun]

I'm sure that it's the reason the bike only had 7200 mi when I picked it up.

So far I have left and right sides stripped down. This week I will take the mac header and oil pan off then hang it from the neck so I can get a good vantage point for digging in.

It's a hobby, not a job, so I will be taking my time to clean things up and polish some aluminum before it goes back together. Any recommendations for a good match on the silver paint for things like the starter cover?

Wish me luck.

[LenB]

Just completed a second gear gear upgrade. Didn't do any dremelling of the dogs/slots on second gear and fifth gear wheels but was able to find fresher parts from an '81 and swapped the washer. Belated thanks to Topcat for the step by step instructions. Not drag racing any more so gentle 1st/2nd shifts should make the trans last longer. Have the advantage of my brother's heated garage and a block & tackle to get the beast inverted. Also much easier to replace a cam chain with the pan off. Also was easier to replace the drive boot with the bike upside down, too. Can't just buff the starter cover or is it plastic?

[DiverRay]

Starter cover IS plastic. Not sure of the silver color needed, as I have not painter an engine silver.

[jetmechmarty]

I've put about 100,000 miles on mine. Somewhere along the line I replaced my gear wheels with new and did the washer move. It has been a lot of miles and still it's working fine.

[Rasputin]

Not drag racing any more so gentle 1st/2nd shifts should make the trans last longer.

Shift it like a Russian tractor, with firm, hard shifts and it will last way longer. Those lazy gentle shifts are what kill the dogs on the gears.

[LenB]

OK, Rasputin, point taken. What I meant to post was "no blazing-tach-needle-in-the-red-I'm-going-to-stomp-that-Nova-SS-lined-up-beside-me-at-the-lights-all-he's-gonna-see-is-my-tail-light-disappearing-over-the-horizon-power-shifts"

[2WheelFun]

I definitely have to think through my shifting on the XS vs my Kaw that I've spent the last 25+ years riding. A hydraulic clutch and trans that shifts like butter has spoiled me.

Mt XS clutch I'm guessing is unmolested, it has blue paint on the springs so not really sure if that's original. The clutch stack will be disassembled and inspected before putting it back in.

I'm going to try to get the trans fixed over the holidays but I may not get to the polishing of the cases before new year. I tore the RH side gasket and will need header gaskets, any leads on cheap gaskets would be appreciated.

[DiverRay]

Replace the clutch springs with Barnett while you have it apart. It will save you from doing it later, as age is one killer of spring pressure/tension. You can use a non-hardening gasket material like Yamabond in place of the side cover gaskets. I do NOT recommend silicon, as it can squeeze out and loose small particles into the engine oil. Ebay should have some decent priced gaskets for the exhaust. Be sure you get the old one out, though. Some people can't see the old one because it's crushed into the head.

[2WheelFun]

Using this guide https://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-...html?task=view
I'm to the point where gearset is supposed to drop out. It's not dropping. On the right side teardown, the pic shows the gear and shaft gone at "right side stripped down" and that's looking like why I'm hanging up.

Do I remove that shaft or try to keep wiggling around it? Any words of encouragement?

I took the oil pump off and the baby slid right out. Easy part is done. Words of encouragement still appreciated

[DiverRay]

It's been a few years since I last did a trans repair, but if I remember correctly I needed to turn the gears a bit to get things to line up. If you can pull the one gear off, like it says in the first option, that should give you a bit more room.

[2WheelFun]

Thanks Ray, once I pulled the pump it came right out, no need to play with kickstarter shaft. Getting ready for dog and groove cleanup, they don't look too bad but I can see the tips that are warn from slipping out. The help pics https://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-...strations.html state to modify both sides of the slots and dogs, this doesn't make sense to me as to why both sides need done when the torque is only applied in one direction. Undercut of the back side would weaken the dogs by placing a stress riser at it's base, am I off base with that thinking?

[DiverRay]

Just do the worn side, but be sure to match the dogs/slots so all three contact as even as you can make it. That is the hard part, but worth it as it will keep it working well for years.

[2WheelFun]

Magnified photos of how they look now. I'm 99% sure just smoothing the casting bumps on the dogs would take care of the issue. The worn part of the slot on 5th gear runs ~1/2 way down, so it didn't look to be making full contact all the way down the dog. Time to clean things up

[DiverRay]

You should have sharp edges on both the dogs and the slots. See how the side of the slot is, the worn part needs to look like that. On the dogs, same thing, NO curve on the part that engages the slot, just a sharp edge and even undercut the engagement side about 5 degrees on both the slots and the dog. I know, kinda hard to do but it will keep it in gear under full throttle, and keep you from power-shifting as you will need to let up slightly to shift.

[2WheelFun]

Put trans in, did the washer swap too. I think that it will have enough bite now, hope anyways, this is something that I really don't want to have to do again. I contemplated taking a dremel cutoff wheel to the radius at the base but blew it off, hope it don't come back to bite me in the arse. Those shift forks are tricky buggers. The gears only have 7700 miles on them, I really think if Yamaha machined the cast surface off the dogs the second gear problem would be a non-issue.