| Author | Message | ||
     Miss_piggy |
Hi guys, thought I'd better get out and about a bit... (some of you may (or may not, or even care) recognise me from the UKBEG) Anyhoo, aside from saying hello, I'd like to find out if you lot have any knowledge of a small problemette I've encountered with my XB9S Lightning. The bike's 8 months old and has just crossed the 10,000 mile mark. It had the 10,000 mile service just before it's expiry... Ah yes, the expiry. I was cruising along the motorway at the not-quite-legal speed of xxx!mph, which should be well within the bike's capabilities. Suddenly I noticed that the rev counter was bouncing off the limiter. So I pulled over thinking the belt had gone. No such luck. It's a mashed gearbox. I've now seen the broken bits, which amount to one selector fork (sorry, I don't know which one) which has obviously mashed itself into its gear for some reason. The fork's legs are bent about 90 degrees, and it's all gouged around the arch where it's dropped onto the gear. Does anybody have any ideas as to what may have caused this to happen? Has it happened before? Any known cures / preventatives to stop it happening again? Cheers guys MP edited by Miss_piggy on February 03, 2004 | ||
| Mikej |
"It had the 10,000 mile service just before it's expiry... " First question: During the 10k service, was the fluid replaced and properly filled for the gearbox/primary? | ||
| Miss_piggy |
So far as I know, yes. It was on the job-sheet for the service. Nobody's said anything about a lack of oil since... | ||
| Mikej |
Did you perform the post-mortem on the tranny, or did the shop that did the service do the diagnosis of the aftermath? I'm trying real hard to not lay any blame anywhere, but for a bike with no previous tranny problems to all of a sudden explode shortly after a major service, I myself start looking real close at what was done and wasn't done during that service. It's real easy to "forget" to add fluid, especially in a busy shop with different people doing different tasks on the same bike and when one tech assumes the other did/will do something like replace drained fluids. I suppose someone could have overtightened the primary chain adjustment, but a check of the rub block should show that. I'll back out of this now and let the more expert folks chime in. | ||
| Mikej |
ps, welcome to BadweB. | ||
| Miss_piggy |
Cheers Mikej, the thought has occurred... I've seen the parts but it's a long long time since I was inside a gearbox in anger, and that was a Japanese bike (125cc) anyway. It certainly seems to be only the one gear and one selector that have been affected I didn't get an oil warning light at any time. Not saying there was or wasn't oil, I don't even know what oil the warning light would warn me about (is the tranny oil separate from the engine oil?) Sorry, I'm a complete numpty when it comes to the technicalities on these beasts 'cos it's still new enough that I thought I wouldn't need to know just yet. Please humour me and I'll get there! | ||
| Davefl |
I agree with Mike. About how many miles, kilometers after the service did you have the problem? | ||
| Davefl |
No warning light for the trany, completely separate from the engine. | ||
| Mikej |
Over on UKBEG you mention looking at the broken bits, and I thought I read that you said it looked like something got hot. Could have been a short-shift, but that you would have noticed when it happened. Just be thankfull that it grenaded in a friendly non-seized mannor. Wheel lockup at that speed is not any fun at all. Bottom line is that you got home safe. Let us know what the expert says once he/she has a look at it. | ||
| Miss_piggy |
OK, it was about a week after the service so I'd say 250 miles or so. Yes Mike, the gear that belongs to the bent selector fork has been heated enough to turn blue, by rubbing on the selector. The gear has gouged quite a lot of material from the arch of the fork, some of which has "welded" itself to the gear. Some, presumably, was floating around in the oil... Although the bronze alloy (?) of the selector looked soft enough not to do too much damage... | ||
| Mikej |
It is possible that the oil level could have been set with the bike on the sidestand leading to a false level. It's also possible someone misunderstood what exactly a clutch spring plate looks like and might remotely have filled the oil level to the bottom of the clutch drum and not to the bottom of the clutch spring. Either of those could have led to oil starvation in the tranny. It's also entirely possible that you could have put 250 miles on the bike without noticing any symptoms, especially if you ride with a helmet on in heavy traffic and/or with an aftermarket exhaust. Wind noise can also mask sounds. Something might have gone out of adjustment or come loose, but I'll stick with my low-oil possibility until proven wrong. At least it sounds like the shop you have it at is interested in finding out the cause and appears proactive in getting the bike back and fixed for you. | ||
| Miss_piggy |
Mike, thanks for the thoughts, I'll put it to the dealer next time I speak to them (not today as they'll be closed time I get there now). I agree that I could have ridden 250 miles with *low* oil level before it gave in, especially as the tranny oil is separate from the engine oil and not covered by the oil warning light. If it had had *no* oil, then I would have expected it to have blown up before 250 miles, but it might be a tough box. The heat blue-ing in the gear was, interestingly enough, only on a few teeth, all consecutive and also they were the ones with the bits of selector fork welded to them. Hmm, perhaps I was thinking wrong earlier, if the heating process had been going on for a period of time, surely all the teeth would have been blued?? | ||
| M1combat |
I would say that it is indeed a tough box. America's love of drag racing has produced some VERY capable transmissions. I would imagine that there could have been a situation where the gear wasn't completely true or was being forced against the fork at only one place which could cause the blueing to only occur in one spot. Also, maybe the gear was just less tolerant of heat at that spot... |
