2nd gear

[Roseknight]

'83 GS 750E pops out of second gear on hard acceleration.. some times to nutreal sometimes just seems to "skip"
recent change back to stock sprockets.

whats happening here? is it as bad as I think it is?


Mitch

[wiredgeorge]

Bad as you think? That is hard to say because I don't know what you think. It is actually not that big a deal if you have a shop manual, some place to work on the bike and a gasket set, hehe...

The reason it pops out of 2nd gear is VERY LIKELY worn shift forks. The shift forks on your bike are sort of rounded so that if you shift sloppy, it will still go into gear. Problem is, when they wear, they tend to flatten and not hold onto the gears... You can also have gear wear which also contributes to the problem and worsens over time...

First, you really need to check your external shift mechanism. Look under your countershaft cover. There is yet another cover... you will have to take that cover off to see the external shift mechanism. There is a set of pawls on the end of your external shifter that pull pegs on your shift drum. If the pawls which look like the arms on a lobster get worn, the bike can pop out of gear. there are THREE springs under there as well... one returns the shifter and the one pulls the arms together on the shift pawls and the last one pulls the detent stop. The big spring that returns the shifter wraps around the shifter and is very likely just fine. If either of the other two smaller springs are shot, you can pop out of gear. Have a gasket on hand for the internal cover and drain the oil before removing it. Pay attention to where the bolts or screws go on the cover to get them back into the right holes when reassembling.

If the external shift mechanism looks OK, you will have to yank the engine to get to the transmission. You can probably look at it from underneath the bike if the oil cover is off but you will have to remove the engine and split the cases to get to the transmission. It has been awhile since I worked on a Suzuki but I believe you can remove all the covers and their gaskets and just flip the engine over after removing a few upper case bolts then remove the lower case bolts. The cases will then have a couple of 8mm threaded holes to fit bolts into. You turn the bolts and the cases just split with little force as I recall. Anyway, once you lift off the bottom case, the transmission just pulls out.

NOW you have two choices...

ONE is to replace the shift forks. Watch eBay for good used ones or perhaps luck into some new ones. Examine your other transmission bits like the shaft the forks ride on and 2nd gear itself.

TWO is to take the transmission to a machine shop and let them undercut the transmission gears. Even with worn forks, the bike will never pop out of gear again. You will also not be able to make any sloppy shifts as it just won't go into gear... positive shifts are a must. This is an OLD drag racer machining trick and isn't expensive.

THREE is to watch ebay for a complete good transmission and just pop it in and keep your old stuff for parts

Anyway, you don't have to remove the top end of the engine to split the cases and it is relatively easy to do if you have a Clymer or factory shop manual for your bike. Cleaning gasket mating surfaces to install the new gaskets is the hardest thing. You might want to consider buying a set of taps/dies and chasing out all your bolt holes for the case bolts and cover bolts as well. They will mostly all be 6mm and 8mm I think. Follow steps in the manual for reassembly and it really isn't a difficult job...

One last thing... when pulling a COMPLETE engine by myself, I rest the engine on a transmission jack and take off the motor mounts. Then I slide the engine out and onto a furniture moving dolly. It only requires about a 4 inch drop down and won't break your back. It is even easier if you can talk a friend into helping with pulling the engine and putting it back in but one person can do the job.

[Roseknight]

ahh yep it's as bad as I thought it was... boils down to engine removal and dismantaling to get to and fix the problem. (though I was expecting someone to tell me that the gear itself was worn.) Which due to busy life and lack of experince in the area means it will take a long time to get done..
looks like I am in the market for a inexpensive bike to ride while this happens...


Mitch

[GS550joe]

So that is why you haven't been seen

I guess seeing ya around on Thursday nights is out of the question... I can't help ya there on the removal but I have a cycle stand in layaway ( at a Garland Wally world ) I need to pick up.. and you could make use of that while fixing things if need be.

JP