There is usually a reason...

[Guest]

For a bike having a seized engine. Its likely some other mechanical failure that caused it to be parked.This now seems very likely with the Kat project bike.

As I thought I was getting down to the short strokes, I decided to mount a blitz this weekend and button as much up as possible. Maybe even get to a point where I could do a test ride. Fat chance.

Late yesterday afternoon, I was attaching the shifter mechanism to the shift rod and once in place tried to check the gear changing. I can get one click going down then one going back up....but thats it. The neutral light stays on in either position.

To be sure I wasn't missing something, this morning I took off the shifter mech and applied a set of vice grips but all I got was the same one click up or down. I then applied the grips to the shaft on the spare engine and got the same thing. That's confusing.

Moving over to the hibernating GS, I try the gearshift and get one nice click going down and four more coming up.

Bugger, Ive got a busted tranny. Make that likely 2 busted trannies as the spare feels the same.

Once again, I'm ****ed at myself for not delving into things further once I got the engine unseized. I should have checked this right away before continuing on, rebuilding brakes, putting on fresh rubber etc. Damn, too eager and didn't think it through.

After reading abit about tranny fixing, It might be a bit more than I'm capable of so I'll need to find out from the pro-wrench just how pricey this would be. That of course, will determine where I go with this thing. I'm thinking now of perhaps just cutting my losses and selling it on.

How frustrating.

Spyug

[gearhead13]

was the bike running or were you moving the rear tire back and forth as you were attempting to shift it?

[spyug]

The bike engine was off and it is sitting on the lift with rear wheel in the air. I did not attempt to turn the wheel, merely tried to move the shifter through the gears. I tried with the linkage and then with vice grips attached to the shift rod alone.

I did remove the clutch cover and cleaned and relubed the clutch disks while I was nosying around in there looking for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing weird looking however.

What are your thoughts? Should I try and turn things using the rear wheel? do you thing it might be stuck some how between gears?

I'm not sure what to do next so any thoughts are appreciated.

spyug

[Agemax]

gearboxes are designed to work when the engine is spinning, so the gears are spinning. if the engine is stationary and the lugs on the gears line up you will not be able to shift gear.
spinning the rear wheel by hand you should be able to shift all the gears but it will be much smoother and easier with the engine running

[gearhead13]

The bike engine was off and it is sitting on the lift with rear wheel in the air. I did not attempt to turn the wheel, merely tried to move the shifter through the gears. I tried with the linkage and then with vice grips attached to the shift rod alone.

I did remove the clutch cover and cleaned and relubed the clutch disks while I was nosying around in there looking for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing weird looking however.

What are your thoughts? Should I try and turn things using the rear wheel? do you thing it might be stuck some how between gears?

I'm not sure what to do next so any thoughts are appreciated.

spyug

Running it or turning the back wheel while trying to shift. Some bikes need to have their gearcases moved around when shifting, especially one that has sat for ages. Even if it is hard to shift now, after some miles of riding, the shifting should get better.
This is the first thing I would check before buying a bike/engine.

[tkent02]

Sounds like you just need to move the rear wheel back and forth while you shift, but even if there is a shifting problem it could be east to fix, you don't necessarily need to split the cases...

[chef1366]

gearboxes are designed to work when the engine is spinning, so the gears are spinning. if the engine is stationary and the lugs on the gears line up you will not be able to shift gear.
spinning the rear wheel by hand you should be able to shift all the gears but it will be much smoother and easier with the engine running

Right
Try moving the countersprocket if the engine is not in the frame and shift.

[spyug]

Many thanks guys. I had not realised that the engine needs to be turning since I seemed to be able to run through the gears on my dormant GS.

My best bud, who is a teacher but has a mechanic's ticket, mentioned the same thing just 10 minutes ago in our telephone conversation. After super I'll hold my breath and give it a "whirl".

I know you all have the knowledge and experience so I'm sure I'll be in good shape and can breath a sigh of relief.

I appreciate the input and thanks for the lesson. Its a good day when you can learn something new.

Cheers all,
spyug

[Carter Turk]

There's a GS750 engine 80-82? for a $100 on Bellingham Washington Craiglist. Might be worth a look. It's still sitting in a sawed up frame. http://bellingham.craigslist.org/mcy/1631371838.html

[spyug]

Thanks for the heads up on that engine. I don't think I'll need it now as I seem to have gears again once I turn the back wheel.

Getting an engine from that far away from me would likely cost a bunch anyway. I do have a spare engine so my first move would be to dive into that if I needed bits and pieces. My pro wrench operates a wreckers and he'd have one too I'm sure and if not there is a really huge bike wrecker about 45 minutes away down the highway.

Dodged a bullet I think.

Cheers all,
Spyug