Motorcycle Repair: Shifting Problem: 82 Yamaha Maxim XJ750, kawasaki 500, clutch replacement

Question
Chris,

My 82 Yamaha Maxim 750 jumps out of first gear.  The problem began with a very occaisional jump from 1st into neutral, especially under hard acceleration (fun!).  Got progressively worse over 6 months.  Now jumps out almost every time I use first gear.  Bike has 32,000 miles on it, but is otherwise in very good mechanical shape.  (I bought it new in 1982).  Recent clutch replacement had no affect on this problem.  Seems like it's getting harder to get into 3rd gear now, too.

Bike's not worth spending a lot on, but I'd be willing to fix it, if I could do so with a couple hundred bucks or less (I'm no expert, but rebuilt my old Kawasaki 500 triple years ago, and this would be a good winter project with my teen-age sons...  Is this something I'd have a chance of handling? The bike's not worth a lot - trim/emblems are worn and tank needs paint.  The only remaining option is junking it/parting it out).  Found a factory manual on-line (60$!).  What's the odds/where can I get all the parts I might need?  Shifter plate?  And if I were to split the case and get into it, are there other things I should do, as well.  Things to look out for?

I'd like to save this old bike.  As you can imagine, I'm pretty attached to it after 22 years, and would appreciate any advice.

Bob


Answer
Hi Bob.
 Well, it's rare to meet up with someone who is an original owner of a bike that old.  So I know that you have complete knowledge of the bike's maintainence history and would know if there were any past problems related to this problem.

 Since no previous problems were mentioned, then this is a completely new issue and, considering the age of the bike, I would attest this to age.  Possibly the shifter fork has spread or the gear is worn away just enough to slip out.

 You would have to check in your repair manual, but I am reasonably confident that your bike will require the engine to be pulled and split to access the shifter mechanism to check anything in it.

 As far as being able to handle it, I don't see why not.  It will be quite a bit simpler than a complete rebuild, but be careful not to reinstall anything backwards or improperly torqued, since once it's in and closed up, it will be a real bear to have to redo.

 A tip in the area of placement is to use a marker and mark allignment points and directions on some of the parts that are big enough to do so (i.e, for gears, I = inboard side, O = outboard side).

Good luck.
FALCON