Clutch or trans blown? GS650G

[Del]

Hello, everyone.

I hope that you all are having a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. Mine began Saturday morning with a ride (good) that ended with a three-mile walk home (bad).

I need to know whether I?ve blown the clutch or the transmission in my ?82 GS650G.

I was slowing down for a light. Just as I downshifted to 2nd, the light turned green, so, without releasing the clutch to engage 2nd, I slipped my foot under the shifter and shifted back up into 3rd. Unfortunately, I hit a ?false neutral? so the engine revved up and before I could let off, the trans slipped into gear. There followed a severe jerk of the drive-train, then a noise I can only describe as rattling and grinding at the same time. Power was no longer being transmitted to the rear wheel, so I coasted over to the side of the road to assess the damage. The shifter seems to work as I could shift between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (or so the indicator indicated), but when I released the clutch lever, there was only noise, no motion. The noise is much less when the clutch lever is pulled.

Do you think it's more likely that I messed up the trans, or just the clutch? As I tear into this (my first time working on a motorcycle clutch), what should I be looking for?

Please don?t think me rude if I don?t respond to suggestions or questions quickly; I won?t be back until Tuesday.

Thanks,
Del

[jimcor]

Could this be a spline issue? Did the 650 shafties have spline failures?

[SqDancerLynn1]

I would start by pulling the boot back & see if the drive shaft it turning. Their have been some instances where the Drive shaft flange bolt has broken (beveld gears). then check the clutch

[Del]

I pulled the side cover and the rubber boot so that I could see the driveshaft. Then I started it and put it in gear. The driveshaft is turning normally, but the rear wheel is not. (sigh)

I guess I'm looking at a ruined driveshaft, or a ruined differential.

I'll pull it apart more next weekend.

Del

[Anonymous]

Definately look on Ebay - this is not a hard fix and the part shouldn't be more than $30 plus shipping.

[SqDancerLynn1]

That says the wheel adapter is bad. The splined adapter that is mounted on the wheel has the splined worn off. The driveshaft & rear differential should be fine, all GS shaft drives use the same part
Item #15 joint assembly- under the rear wheel

http://www.alpha-sports.com/suzuki_parts.htm

[Del]

Wow! I can't believe it took me this long to fix it, but I had other things happening that took precedence.

For those who are interested, it was the driven joint in the rear wheel. The splines were stripped almost completely.

I replaced it and yesterday I went for a nice ride in the hills of SE Ohio.

It's good to be back on the road.

Del

[gs650gt]

The same happened to my gs650gt too. I learned that the driven joint splines should be greased at least once a year...

[snowbeard]

and its been said you should use a special moly grease that is for high pressure lubrication, I forget the exact kind, but I think I remember Honda makes a good one, as well as some brand name lub people