Completely. Fell. Apart.

I am totally fscking livid.

10 days ago, I was riding my bike all over the place. If the roads were dry, I was out and it didn't matter if it was 20F degrees. The bike rode and shifted fine. It pulled hard on acceleration and didn't skip a beat.

I had cancer surgery 10 days ago so obviously the bike has sat for that long. Today, I checked the valves (See my other post) and put the bike back together.

Now, it acts as if it's running out of fuel, it's missing on a cylinder, and it won't shift past neutral, into 2nd gear and beyond.

The running out of fuel part I think I've figured out. A kink in the hose from the extra inline filter caused that. The rest I'm at a loss for.

Here's what transpired: I started the bike, and rode 3 miles through residential areas to the nearest strip mall. I noticed a lack of performance at this point but the bike shifted fine. I ate lunch and got back on the bike. I exited the strip mall and accelerated strongly, but nothing insane, and then observed that I could not go beyond neutral. I crossed the highway and limped home in 1st gear.

I have NOT forced the shifter. I have re-adjusted the clutch. I have checked the engine oil level. It's full. I just changed the oil 3-4 weeks ago, but it does look dirty already. I used 20w40 motorcycle oil, that Valvoline stuff in the black bottle. I can't tell if the problem is bent/worn shift components or poor lubrication. I'm about to park this thing on a set of railroad tracks and walk away.

I live in a townhouse so pulling the engine/trans isn't really a viable prospect. If I pull the left cover off where the shift lever is, what should I expect to see? Is there anything I can fix or adjust in there? Am I screwed? Should I change the oil and try again?

 

Dont know what happend to your trans, but when I did my vavle clearances I accidently swaped 2 of the 4 plug wires and it ran horrible no power, cold on 2 cyclenders, no power etc until I realized what was up and swithced it back.

 

(sigh) shit son, know how you feel, that cold alone feeling... but your engine may be screwed over, sorry about the surgery, hope it went well
but im 17 and take my advice with a grain of salt, but someone else on here has that same problem.. foget who it is.. look on the bright side... take the engine out, throw it on a scooter, and make the rear sprocket as tny as possibly, and you'll be set... should go 40-60, and taking off should be ok..
but 750 engines are hard to come by,
and maybe next time try to avoid buying a bike with 50K + miles, my cb750 has 12K and its a piece, sorta

 

check the oil for metal shavings

 

The not being able to shift part sounds like a common problem on the XJ's. Basically a little piece of the primary chain guide breaks off and ends up sitting on the shift drum which jams the shift fork - usually in 1st gear. The quick fix solution is to drain the oil, pull the left hand cover (shifter cover) and above the shift rod you'll see a nickle/quarter size hole. In side the hole is where the piece will be. pull it out and it should shift fine.

Thats the quick and dirty way, I've done it before, the only problem is another piece could break off in an hour, a day, a week or never. SO this solution will get you on the road again but the only sure fix (assuming the guide is your problem) is to split the cases and replace it

 

If you have pieces of chain guide in your trans, you flip the bike upside down and remove the oil pan and go fishing for the pieces.

My parts bike has that problem but since I don't ever plan to ride it again there is no need to do it save for educational purposes.

 

2-3 weeks ago when I changed the oil there were no shavings. I'll change it again tomorrow and check again.

If a piece of that chain guide has fallen, it must be large because I've bounced all over the neighborhood, over speedbumps etc, and all I get is 1st and neutral.

I shortened the tank line and fixed the kink. My plug wires are correct. They are cut to fit and only reach their proper cylinders. The performance seems to have picked up. Might have been that kink. If I fix the shift problem, I might be able to calm down.

If I fix it, I might put it on fleabay and buy a new VMAX before anything else goes wrong. :roll:

 

My chain guide self destructed in my engine at the end of last year. I'm currently working on that issue.

At first, I followed Ace's method. It worked. And just like he said, it only lasted about 2-3 months. Having torn the engine apart (cases are split right now), I don't see how you could replace the guide in any way BUT by splitting the case. So yeah...

But, if it's any consolation, I live in a studio apartment. Tore the bike down, moved the entire thing into my tiny kitchen on the fourth floor (thank god for elevators). You should be able to remove the engine and go from there. Quite an undertaking, no doubt about it...

 

Re: the size of the chunk.. I had to break mine into two just to fit it out of that quarter-sized hole. It's probably a good size.. But, sounds like that's you're only problem remaining.

 

You've got me wondering if this broken piece has been flitting around in there for a while. Once, and only once did this happen before, back in December. I attributed it to the fact that it was around 20F and a sluggish clutch...but in retrospect that doesn't make sense considering that I'd ridden it for 10 miles, shifting all the way. It only did it for a few minutes. I jiggled the shifter for a few minutes and it had been fine for 3 more months.

This really has me concerned. It sounds like my clutch and gearbox is a timebomb.

 

The chain guard's a piece of plastic. The gearbox is certainly not plastic. If not being able to shift into second is the only problem your bike is exhibiting, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

Plastic...wonderful. It must be hard plastic because that lever just will not go past neutral one bit.

 

#23

 

Wow, yeah I can see how a piece of that might jam things up. You really have to split the case to get at it? It looks like it's nearest the cover plate. Oh well. I dunno what I'm going to do if there's no piece of this thing wedged in there.

 

Believe us. There is a piece of that stuck inside.

I wonder if someone could make a guide out of billet steel or billet aluminum?

 

I would make sure it's not just something jamming the shift mechanism itself. Yes there's a real good possibility the chain guide is coming apart but the first step would be to pull the outer cover and be sure it's not something a lot simpler. Just double-check the whole mousetrap shift mechanism.

 

Well it's supposed to be unseasonably warm today so unless it rains, I'll be inside of it and back with the story.

 

Size wise, I pulled two whole teeth of it from my friends 750 - had to break it in two inside the case to get it out of the hole. Like fitz said though it may be something simpler with the 'mouse trap' - but you'll see that on your way to the hole

 

Well...I pulled 2 pieces out- one was a tad bit too big for the hole so I broke it into 2 pieces.

Overall, one was the size of a quarter, one was the size of a dime. I'm posting pictures in the thread: Yet another broken chain guide.