Stuck in Frist Gear

Tonight I was parked on gravel (no choice) and as the bike dropped off the kickstand while running and in neutral, it gently tipped onto the right side. Hit the kill switch and righted the bike. Some well-meaning friends helped too much and over she went, gently on the left. The saddle bags, fairing and engine guard all took some gravel but that's about it.

The bike started and away I went only to discover that the only gear I have is 1st. Neutral is there if I hold up the shift lever but it pops into 1st otherwise. With the engine off, 1st or neutral is all there is. What happened and how do I fix it?

 

Your Gear Shifting Selector's SPRINGS probably came loose when the Bike wen over on to the LEFT SIDE.

Without the SPRING ... It cannot engage the "Segments" on the Star Wheel.

This is 5.5 on the PITA Scale.
Remove Shifit Lever
Cover
Maybe need a Gasket
Hope the Loop is still on the end of the spring,'
Line it all up and hook-up the springs.

Replace Cover >>> Making SURE that the Pigtail from the Ign Coil PickUps DO NOT get pinched when the Coover goes back on.

 

Re: Stuck in First Gear

Ahhh! That's the tension easing out of my shoulders. Thanks Rick - like a virtual massage having such great advice. Hope I can make it work tomorrow.

Not sure what "line it all up" means, but I will go at it. Thanks a ton Rick!

 

OK Rick et al, here is a photo of what I found with the cover off. All the springs look fine and there are no broken parts. Moving the lever up moves all the arms and levers, but the round dogged wheel does not move when the arm pushes on it. Now where am I headed?

 

OK, so while waiting I had a look around some of the XJ Chat history and found a post that described fishing out cam tensioner junk from the gearbox. What i found that worked perfectly in about 15 seconds was the bent end of a bicycle spoke.

However, i am only half excited, as the transmission will now shift, but only to about halfway into 4th gear. Could there still be a piece of junk in there that I cannot see, reach or feel?

 

Yup, sure can. Unfortunately the "fishing" trip is only sometimes a solution. Sometimes, you have to split the case the get everything (unless you want to turn the bike upside down and shake vigorously) out and replace the starter chain guide.
Sorry about the whoops, I know I'd be gritting my teeth if it happened to me.
Best of luck to you amigo.

 

I had my fingers crossed that it was just that small Spring unhooked from the Drum Selector.

If you already found loose material around the Forks and Shift Drum; another piece must me preventing a Fork Traveller from moving or is physically lodged between the gears.

 

So what are the dangers of just using the bike as is until winter? If the engine has to be torn apart to get at all the material, what should I be looking to do besides the guide? Worked real well up until this issue and the concern is not wanting to do too much. Other than the usual shop tools and torque wrench, what should I need?

Would I be better off replacing the engine outright?

Thanks for the positive wishes Rob.

 

After a few days of sleeping on this issue, I have to wonder if there is a profession out there that could really assist this problem? There are cameras small enough to take pictures of heart valves, tools small enough for fine dentistry, surely there is a way to get in there without tearing the engine apart?

How dangerous is it to run with a chain guide that is all or partially destroyed?

 

You run the risk of the chain stretching and "slapping" the inside of the case, wearing aluminum off of the case, a potential for a breach.
I'd recommend against it. It will get you home, but you should fix it straight away.
You can score inspection cameras from a number of sources for under $200 that can peer into the dark.

 

So the message here is - tear it down and fix it, correct? Should i do anything else while there? Will I need a full gasket set, any replacement bits and pieces? I have a tourque wrench and a full set of metric sockets and allen keys, is there anything else needed?

On the difficulty and PITA scale (pain in the rear-end) would this be a 9 and a 10?

 

It's an 11. You need one more thing: A good service manual or two.

I would wait until you have the cases split before you decide what you'll need. This falls under "major surgery."

 

Well if this ain't a cod liver pill stuck sideways in the gullet! Or a cod rammed up the exit ramp. May as well cancel the bike insurance and put her away for the winter.

Service manuals I have so that won't be a problem. Hope that my patience doesn't run thin. Unfortunately this will replace other winter bike projects. If I didn't know any better, one would think my wife planned it to prevent a trip to Ottawa this fall.

Well, after a few years of 8-month riding, this is a minor setback. Thanks everyone for your comments. If anyone has done this before, any tips and tricks would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Pete

 

I dont know if your interested but I have a junked parts engine for an xj750 (probably an 83) kicking around in my back yard. If your interested it might be useful to you as a test run sort of deal. The head is off along with the cylinders but the engine hasn't been split so if your interested and willing to pick it up, it might be worth it for a practice run on ripping the halfs apart.

Anyway I live around the halifax forum area of town so if your interested fire me off a pm.

 

+1 on having the books, I would not have breezed through my engine without them. I don't know what everyone else does but the hardest part of splitting the case is pulling the engine. After you have it out on the cardboard on the floor, I'll rate it a 5 for difficulty if you have all of the right tools on hand. You will need a large Torx for the final drive assembly release (that and a steady hand to drill out the spiked Torx bolt.
Minimums for replacements are the starter chain guide, starter clutch springs, all new o-rings, ALL of the seals (you don't want to have to go back in and do it again) and a gasket or two. You do NOT have to remove the head, it can remain in place to perform the needed work. This cuts down on time and money spent.

 

Great advice Robert. When you say the head stays on, does that mean that the piston assemblies remain in the cylinder barrels? If so, it doesn't sound too over the top. Also, with the spiked Torx bolts, does that mean that they are pinned to prevent backing out? How does one replace the spike?

Looks like it's time to peruse the manuals!

 

When I suffered the dreaded "stuck in first gear" problem, I just pulled the engine (after draining it of course) and flipped it over on a sheet of cardboard laying on the garage floor. That is after I made a silhouette of the engine case out of cardboard and removed all of the case bolts (including the one located in the oil filter sump).
The Torx bolts are not pinned, they are spiked. That is to say that the manufacturer used a punch to indent the edge of the head of the bolt into a notch cast into the case for that purpose. When you read the manual, you will find a process mentioned there requiring a power drill and a certain sized drill bit (I don't remember the size, sorry) to drill out the spike. Replacement of the bolt and spiking it is recommended.
Sing out if you want to converse about this process, I'll PM you my #.
Mind you our conversations will fairly limited if you don't have your Haynes or factory manual handy.

 

Thanks Robert - A fellow local XJ here in NS has a 'practice' motor we are discussing. Seems like a good idea given the situation. Lots of manuals on hand so other than a few tools sizes, I should be good to go. Your offer IS appreciated and I will keep it handy for any 911 issues with the real deal.

 

What a process! For my first time pulling a bike motor, i would say it was three times as hard as yanking the slant six out of my old Dodge Dart, but then i had an engine hoist. The bike looks like a collection of toothpicks and wires and dirt. The connectors are a wonder - wonder how electricity flowed through the connector to the electronic ignition module. That came apart in a cloud of white corrosion. All these wires make me think there must be a better way to route everything when it goes back together, but just reassembling looks extremely complex. No need to add to it, eh?

The engine made it to the basement shop after a tumble down the short staircase - dumb choice of method. No major damage, just a pinched PCV tube fitting.

I have been through the service manual twice and find no reference to the spiked Torx bolts. What I was really hoping for was to not break the lump completely down, but it looks like a necessity. Will I have to hone cylinders, replace rings, etc, or is it less complex than that to get at the gearbox?

This looks like a true long-term project. How many hours should it take to get at the box, clean out the parts, replace the chain guide and button it back together using hand tools?

 

You may be about to make the same mistake I made on the first transmission I rebuilt.
I read the manual 3 or 4 times and pulled the head (CB450) jug, clutch, alternator, etc, etc.
Removed the case bolts, flipped it over and removed the bottom bolts, split the cases.
About here is where I figured out that all I need to do to split the cases was to remove the Carbs, probably the starter (can’t remember) and all those bolts, NO HEAD, JUG, etc. WORK NEEDED.

Someone who has done a XJ transmission should be along shortly to give you some specific info on transmission access.

One comment about the elect connectors, get some contact cleaner and di-electric grease.
Clean and grease the connectors.

Good Luck
ab

 

You do not need to mess with the top end to split the case. After you have the engine out of the bike and it's all drained, you'll be able to flip it over and this is what you'll see if it's a 650 your working on.

 

This is better news than was expected, thanks fellas. OK two more questions. Can I access and replace the exploded guide from here and with it flipped over like this, how easy will it be to fish out the plastic shrapnel?

All tips appreciated.

 

What else should I do while the pan is off and the gearbox exposed? Replace the guide and then what? I really do not want to do this again in spite of it being a great learning experience. Can the guide be replaced from the bottom? Looking at another post on gearboxes, this sounds impossible.

Any help appreciated folks.

 

Hi im having the same issue as what youve been experiencing before with the 1stgear stucked. Can i ask some help on which area should i check. Thank you so much.

 

I replaced the guide. All the shaft driven bikes have this guide. Mine is the 900f. The gear selection problems are caused by the alternator/starter chain guide breaking up and plastic bits getting into the selector drum and gears. Crankcase split is necessary to replace it. The nozzle in the light blue circle sprays oil on the starter/alternator drive chain. The nozzle will be ruined if the guide breaks up as the chain will hit it. Taking the shift cover off allows you to shine a torch inside the crankcase through the opening above the gear selector drum to check for plastic parts. When draining the oil small bits of plastic could be in it. I replaced the guide before it totally failed. You don't want any debris getting into the oilways either. And heat the old bolts securing the guide to the crankcase to soften the factory locktite or the bolts can snap off. The only guide in the crankcase if the alternator/starter chain guide.




https://www.xjcd.org/emergency_guidectomy

See photo with gear shift cover removed circled in red to see into the crankcase.