The Honeymoon is over

Well,
For what i paid for it ($250) and for the miles i put on her (a hair under 5k)i shouldn't be too p'd off, but i am.
It is officially winter as my beloved '85 maxim-x is out of commission.
I took her to work last Thursday. Was headed to the bank at noon and lost every gear but 1st, and it didn't sound great. Had to take through some fields to get back to the shop....
Trailered her home Friday and drained fluids and pulled the left engine cover...found the ear on the shift-shaft broken but otherwise didn't see anything wrong. I looked all through the bottom end looking for bits of primary chain guide but have found nothing. Welded the ear back up and re=assembled.
Took for a spin yesterday afternoon and had it in 3rd gear (makino ome horrible noise i might add) when the a$$-end lock up at about 20mpg (keep in mind i don't have a 2nd gear)...the only thing i could think was thank goodness i wasn't on the e-way.
It was locked up tight....couldn't get into N or any other gear...even with the clutch engaged the back tire was tight as a drum. I ended up jerking the bike backwards as hard as i could a couple of times and finally it broke free. Walked it back to my driveway and then started and rode up the driveway in 1st gear.
So, here i sit wishing i was riding my bike to work instead of my pos isuzu.
Right now have the tank and exhaust system off of the bike...am gonna pull all the instruments and drain all fluids and flip her upside down tear into the trans.
I am making a few assumptions:
-700 and 750 maxim-x bikes share the same trans
-700 air-head and 700 water-cooled share the sames trans
-the xs1100 trans disassembly link that's posted here in the xj forum should be very similar to what it will take to get my trans apart


Are my assumptions correct?
Are there any other trans that will work on the 700 max-x?

Sorry for the long post, am looking on flea bay right now tryin' to find some parts...

Thanks in advance

 

You sure a rear brake shoe didn't delaminate and jam the drum tight, locking the whole drivetrain; unrelated to your issue (or perhaps contributing to it?)

 

gimme a break

 

He said the rear drum was locked tight even with the clutch pulled in, and he broke it free by jerking the bike the opposite direction. Just a thought...

 

hmmmmmmmm........
i don't know fitz. but i can tell you 3 things.....
1. there are some very, very, bad bottom end noises (from the trans) even when rolling the bike in 1st gear with the clutch engaged
2. i have had the rear drum apart 2 or 3 times and there was no de-lamination. i have read the all of the horror story posts of the rear shoes locking up the rear wheel. that said, when i jerked it as hard as i could backwards i could hear something in the trans (or so i believe) "let loose"
3. ther very first thing that i will check tomorrow will be the rear drum and brake shoes...i will not count it out until i check it out and will post findings tomorrow.

am welcome to all input but i do want to know the answers to my q's in the likely event that the trans is toast as i need to get this bad lad back together.
ps...fitz, i think that polock was making a little play on words with the "gimme a brake"....lol....nice one polock
thanks in advance all

 

Mmmmm... That stinks. DesignerMike can tell you for sure, but I am pretty sure you have to pull the motor and split the case to work on the tranny. The XS-11 thread has some good info, but I don't think the tear down is the same.

 

This sounds a whole lot worse than a Brake Pad delaminating!

You have to tear it down and find-out.
Start with the Rear wheel if you think its a loose Brake Shoe.
I think its worse than that.

Pull the Left Crank Cover and wrench it over.
See what it "Feels" like.

Too bad. I had a ride on a Max-X.
I gotta bad feelin' on this one.

You ran-out of the fun that $250.00 bought.
Now, you make money on the deal parting it out.

 

Well, Thank got you were only going 20 mpg when you locked the rear wheel, at any speed that could have caused some serious damage

anyways, just look on CL, ebay, and wait, for either a parts bike or motor, and keep on truckin

 

pm'd him...we'll see
thanks

 

Hey, there's a nice looking 750 maxim on CL in Cleveland right now with 11,000mi for $900 that looks very nice! For that kind of money and that low of miles I would part out the 700 and buy the 750.

 

Here's the link http://cleveland.craigslist.org/mcy/1876979239.html

 

You can pull the oil pan and see inside but you can't do much to it without pulling the engine.

Personally I wouldn't even bother to try and do anything to it without splitting the cases....don't be afraid! (my new saying) it's not that bad. With the cases split to can be 100% sure that everything inside is functional and CLEAN (a wandering chunk of metal will ruin your day)

Pulling the engine isn't so bad on the 85/86 XJs. There is a removable section of frame on the right side that makes it a whole lot easier.

The manual will walk you through it. Don't mess with the top end otherwise you'll spend a chunk of $$ on gaskets.

Bob and I have LOTs of spare parts we can sell cheap.
PM me if you need me to walk you through it.
Oddly enough I'd say one of the biggest pains is the cooling tubes need to be pulled apart to get the clutch cover off. IF you are talented, you can leave the water pump in place and pull the clutch cover off BUT once you disturb the orings on the tubes they can be a bitch to get sealed back up so I think it's easier to pull everything apart and install new orings when you put her back together.

 

Micro, that sure is a nice ride but i have my sights on a different bike. Thank you for the post.

Thanks Mike...got your pm...
i noticed the frame segments...just looks heavy to get it up on a bench where i can work on it...easy? not too sure about that and the factory service manual stinks imo (good illustrations but hte pics suk).
I'll have to get a 12'er (coors light) and have a buddy help me get it out and apart.
As far as parts/pieces....are the 700 and 750 max-x bikes unique? other bikes' trans part usable (wishful thinking i'm sure)?
Thanks and you offered your some of your smartz so don't be surprised if i take you up on it and drop you a line....