no power to ground

[tom203]

cruiser58;
Hopefully, the ebay seller will send the housing shims-if he hasn't already misplaced them; it's nice to have a starting point as you play with the positioning before you reach for your medication.

[cruiser58]

The seller did send the shims and the order was promptly shipped and seems to be in good condition (more on this later). I'm not sure of forum policy on mentioning vendor's in the posts but they have a lot of used bike parts and I'll probably use them again. Just waiting till after the holiday madness settles so I can get back to the man cave and tear the old beast down (or up ) Happy Holidays!

[cruiser58]

Well I've replaced the trans mainshaft and layshaft, secondary bevel gear, assorted seals and gaskets and the ol beast is coming together. When I tore it down I found a broken timing chain tensioner shoe, and still it ran and had logged a few miles like this judging from the wear marks on the end of the broken shoe! I assume some po just couldn't resist twisting that little knurled knob sticking out of the back of the engine, seems this would have been a good place for one of them idiotproof screws. Hopefully a couple more weekends will tell whether or not my labors have been for naught.

[tom203]

Good work,I'm impressed- so you're having good luck getting parts? Another member recently posted about his 650 tranny locking up- you guys might be able to exchange horror stories! member is jzfn13

[cruiser58]

Thanks Tom, but I'm waiting til I hear it run before patting myself on the back(lol). I found the tranny parts on e bay but oem parts sure ain't cheap, timing chain tensioner(shoe) cost more than the tranny. And I admit I used an aftermarket gasket set, couldn't justify $120 for a head set before I learn a little more about the engine. But if nothing else I've had fun playing with it!

[tom203]

The smell of enthusiasm! You could have scooped a used tensioner assembly off ebay for less than $20 - they come up all time. Same two bolt unit was used on lots of models and years. Members here might have hordes of them! Anyways, just what did you find wrong in your tranny teardown?

[cruiser58]

The tensioner itself is fine, the "tensioner shoe" which slides against the chain is what I had to replace, broken in two right where the tensioner plunger hits it ( I know my pic ain't the best quality but check it out). I haven't disassembled my old mainshaft but the primary bevel gear can be turned by hand so I assume some splines are stripped. I torqued my clutch basket bolt by holding the secondary output so I think the new tranny will be ok, has all 5 gears and neutral when turned by hand.

[tom203]

The tensioner itself is fine, the "tensioner shoe" which slides against the chain is what I had to replace, broken in two right where the tensioner plunger hits it ( I know my pic ain't the best quality but check it out). I haven't disassembled my old mainshaft but the primary bevel gear can be turned by hand so I assume some splines are stripped. I torqued my clutch basket bolt by holding the secondary output so I think the new tranny will be ok, has all 5 gears and neutral when turned by hand.

Ok, got it ! If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me the length of this "shoe"- I got one in a parts lot, but my gut tells me it's too long for a 650.

[cruiser58]

The "tensioner" (and I do believe this is what they call it in the parts fitche, the plunger part is called a "cam chain adjuster" if I'm not mistaken) has a 90 degree curve on the end, I didn't try to measure the curve but total length looks to be about eight and a quarter inches.

This bike had been running with just the bottom half,from the "adjuster" down, can't believe it hadn't jumped time.
The part cost about 65 bucks plus shipping but this is not something that I would feel comfortable buying used.

[tom203]

Thanks for checking- turns out my spare shoe is the right one;
This motor design seems tough, willing to carry on. Probably a PO messed up how to use the tensioner correctly.

[cruiser58]

On the road again!

Well I've logged about 25 miles on the old beast and have no major issues (yet). I do have a cantankerous tach that works when it wants to not sure if its the tach itself or a drive gear problem. The purists will probly cringe but the stock GSG styling ain't my cup of tea!

[tom203]

Well I've logged about 25 miles on the old beast and have no major issues (yet). ....The purists will probly cringe but the stock GSG styling ain't my cup of tea!

I doubt there are many purists around here ; anyways, just what was wrong with tranny? any obvious failure items that you noticed?

[cruiser58]

I haven't disassembled the mainshaft but the drive bevel gear could be turned by hand so I am assuming the splines where it attaches to the shock damper are stripped, might take it apart some time if I get really bored. And as for the tach, seems the cable may have broken once upon a time, it's a little short and works it's way out of the drive, push it back down and it's fine (till next time). And many thanks to all, without the info and resources on the forum I would have been (even more) lost!