bike drops a gear going up steep hills, any advice

[spitfire]

where i live there are some very steep narrow roads that i have been taking the xs up. i usually just potter up slowly in second gear (i should be going up in first but the revs are a bit high and noisy). so there i am chugging up this hill in the wrong gear and suddenly it slips out of second into neutral and i wonder is this normal for it to do this or is there a fault with the gearbox. i think if i go up in first its ok (mind you its got nowhere else to go i suppose)

any ideas ?

 

[Sundie]

go faster.

 

[xjwmx]

One of my personal rules of troubleshooting is if it's only reported once, it hasn't happened.

Maybe your toe hit the shift lever and you didn't realize it. When you tilted your body forward to go uphill it might have tilted your foot down.

 

[inxs]

- if this continues take a look at the shift drum stopper spring, could be broken or detensioned...also check the shift lever and shift lever adjustment...if this fails to solve it you may have to go into the gearbox, gear dogs and receivers worn, shift forks worn or bent, shift drum worn, gear teeth worn or broken...........

 

[spitfire]

thanks all,

i like the go faster suggestion as that is easily sorted.
i wish it was the operator at fault because that can also be fixed
but i have nagging feeling that it may be answer number 3, which means oil all over the garage floor, skinned fingers, lots of swearing and finally opening the checkbook again and getting the professionals to sort it.

 

[inxs]

- slow down merlin, first find out if this is a sytematic problem, then, these are pretty simple motors to work on, the spring is easily seen behind the clutch, lever adjustment requires clutch removal which is no big deal-putting the clutch back together properly is important as is not disturbing the kickstart mechanism when removing the sidecover

- enjoy the learning curve

 

[Sundie]

or= if that's your normal riding zone, you may want to look at a gearing change, going to a larger sprocket on the rear will bring the rpm's up and allow low speed quick altitude changes to be dealt with more pleasantly.

 

[spitfire]

i'm prone to imagine the worst possible scenario. i'm also quite supersticious now about even fiddling with the bike as i always seem to make things much worse.

i had that starting problem earlier in the year and after pulling carbs to bits then running the tank dry and crap from the bottom of the tank getting into the carbs and completely blocking them. turns out it wouldnt run right because of a fault with the boyer black box which i couldnt have fixed anyway.

actually thinking about the gear problem i dont think it can be too bad otherwise it would always be dropping gears, so maybe its this spring. i saw a good picture of it that you had posted recently INXS. so whereabouts is it ? left or right side and when i take off the cover does oil pour out ? bit of a novice, if you hadnt guessed already.

that sounds good logic Sundie about changing the gearing so i could use second gear in the hills with higher revs. unfortunately i am actually thinking of changing the rear sprocker which at present has 33 teeth down to a 30 tooth sprocket because on the flat i can only get about 42 mph in 5th at 3000 revs. that just doesnt seem right. any faster than 45 mph and it doesnt feel comfortable.

 

[inxs]

- an inline filter can help reduce the ammount of shit that gets to the carbs
- before draining the oil and opening up the rh engine case, ensure this is not a one-of, if its not a one-of fix it quickly as it may damage the shift forks, gears, dogs and receivers in the gearbox
- i keep several chain, sprockets sets and change them depending on whether im riding in the mountains or flat