| Author |
Message |
    
Normthenomad
| | Posted on Friday, May 15, 2020 - 04:35 pm: | 
|
Somebody, someday is going to really be glad you did the incredible job of documentation.
As for being anal and forgetting you bought parts "just in case" and forgetting that you had them, I'm glad I'm not the only one.My personal issue is"I'll put this here so I'll be sure I'll know where it is". May as well throw it away because I'll never find "it" until I buy another one. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Monday, May 18, 2020 - 01:50 pm: |
|
"Somebody, someday is going to really be glad you did the incredible job of documentation."
Appreciate the comment! I hope it helps someone out, somewhere, someday.
And now, a word from our jury...
A partial verdict is in. On the first count of function, yes, it works. It shifts through all 5 and downshifts as well. I do get a neutral light. No leaks.
However...on the second count of improvement, jury is still deliberating. I gave this thing the acid test by riding up to put fresh gas in it wearing my worn out tennies. It was no more pleasant than in the past. In fact, it was damn uncomfortable and very un-Japanese. Also, while downshifts were crisp, the upshifts were sort of vague and mushy feeling. I only put a mile or two on it as the weather has been rainy and wet so not enough time to say I gave it a work over. Also, like Ocbueller mentioned earlier, neutral seemed sort of floaty and vague on the roll, and I'm pretty sure I missed a couple upshifts, which may or may not have been the fault of my chosen footwear. Bottom line; I'm not ready to call it a raging success, but I AM ready to say I think "smooth shift kit" is a misnomer at this point. Of course, everything is new, unbroken-in and it's been so long since I rode this bike that I might be mentally comparing it to my Jap bikes. If this weather breaks, I'll try to get some saddle time in and maybe have a more definitive answer for you all. |
Ocbueller
| | Posted on Monday, May 18, 2020 - 06:31 pm: |
|
Hope it improves a bit for you. Definitely not a life changing improvement, but it is an improvement. It's more of a tractor transmission than a sportbike, but it can be considered acceptable. If I would have had to split cases to fix it, it would not have gotten fixed.
SteveH |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Monday, May 18, 2020 - 09:40 pm: |
|
I guess I just thought that for the near side of 3 Franklins, it would be a noticeable improvement, rather than just a design improvement. Time will tell, I guess. |
Upthemaiden
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 10:31 am: |
|
I agree. I definitely planned on grabbing one of those someday, but for $300, I'd expect a noticeable change. I think in your case it was an investment in the time you'll save not having to continually replace those detent clips, but I think in my case I'd probably be willing to try cleaning up and polishing the original shift drum before I spent the money on the Baker piece considering your results. Hell, for the $300, I would've considered tossing an extra $200 at a Chinese workbench lathe to modify and tap the end of mine for a bolt, and tell myself the mini lathe really only cost me $200. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 11:11 am: |
|
Yes, but then you'd have a $500.00 dust collector you would be tripping over for the next decade.
Unless you decided to branch out into a side gig modding shift drums for us Badwebbers... |
Upthemaiden
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 12:31 pm: |
|
Haha I guess I should specify that it's only a good plan if you'd use the lathe. I come across things constantly that make me wish I had one so it'd be a welcome addition to my garage. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 01:04 pm: |
|
Do it with your Trump money... |
Ggggary
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 01:17 pm: |
|
Nope you need a MUCH fancier lathe to make $2 parts...
Day I bought it, and THAT was a story, them puppies ain't light, soft backyard, disasters....
Now fairly well tooled and making doodads.
(Message edited by ggggary on May 19, 2020) |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 01:40 pm: |
|
I did find an active link for R&D Transmissions in case anyone is interested...
https://www.rd-motorsports.com/
They do the threaded shaft mod shown in the XL forum.
XL Forum link:
http://xlforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=198227& page=3
R&D Trans link:
https://www.rd-motorsports.com/ |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 02:05 pm: |
|
"...to modify and tap the end of mine for a bolt..."
Honestly, I think the R&D lock nut is a better fix than the bolt from a mechanical standpoint. |
Upthemaiden
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 02:54 pm: |
|
That looks wonderful. I'd love one of the grizzly lathes. That size looks great, but I think I'd be giving up a bit too much workbench space in my 2 car garage. I'd be happy with something like the 7x14.
Unfortunately the money I got has to go towards a new roof, I'm well over due, and I was very unhappy to find out how much those things cost haha.
I agree, being able to use a locknut would be a bit more reassuring than a normal bolt, need that lathe either way though! |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 03:05 pm: |
|
"I agree, being able to use a locknut would be a bit more reassuring than a normal bolt, need that lathe either way though!"
Not if you send it to R&D... |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Saturday, May 23, 2020 - 12:44 am: |
|
OK, I managed to clock about 25 miles tonight. There was definitely a thing with shifting from 3rd to 4th at first. It went into a "false neutral" the first two times but slowly began improving. By the time I finished my ride it was behaving itself for the most part, but definitely needing the steel toe shoes and a bunch of monkey-motion with the foot and ankle to get a positive-feeling (and sounding) "clunk". The first dozen upshifts on 4th and 5th were, well..."mushy". After I got back I threw it on the lift and adjusted the linkage down so that hopefully I won't have to reach for the sky with my foot to get a solid shift. We'll see. It's behaving better as it breaks in, but nowhere near Japanese territory. "Smooth shift?" For now I'm calling BS on that one. It may get better with time, and if so, I'll say so. I do feel a whole lot better about the clip being gone, though. |
Roconroad
| | Posted on Saturday, May 23, 2020 - 08:14 pm: |
|
Had the same issue with hitting neutral between gears,i adjusted shifter and tried 3 different pairs of boots. Adjusted clutch and it seems better. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2020 - 02:10 pm: |
|
Well, now that I've got a couple hundred 'close to home' miles on it...
Let me say this much. The false neutral/fourth gear thing still happens now and again, if I don't really shift it hard and positively. I think this may go away as the shift fork pin wears itself in to the groove in the drum. Upshifts are not satisfyingly positive and seem to lack the definitive "CLUNK" that the older HD drum and detent had...but this may just be faulty memory altered by a lot of in-between riding on my other bikes...IDK? Is it "smoother", as the name suggests? Not. Not even close. It's, well..."mushier", for lack of a better term. Had I known it was gonna be like this I likely would have sent out my original drum to Mark at R&D for the mods that were shown on the XL forum. As for whether the hex button head screw will stay tight and in place...only time will tell. In hindsight, I would probably have felt more comfortable with a locknut threaded on to the end of the pin, or better yet, a castle nut and cotter pin setup.
So, bottom line...I think I spent too much for a fix that could have been done for a third of the price and would not have been somewhat misled by promising easier shifting. You can take this for what it's worth. Bear in mind I have not done nor tried the R&D fix, I'm just going by dead reckoning, which is what I was doing by buying the Baker drum in the first place. Just calling it as I see it.
(Message edited by captainkirk on June 03, 2020) |
Upthemaiden
| | Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2020 - 08:03 am: |
|
Probably not worth pulling everything apart already, but next time you have the primary open you could always try tossing the newer HD detent plate on the baker drum and see if that helps with the feel at all. I was always confused why HD would've updated their detent plates from a smooth curved shape to a more aggressive star shape for better feel, but then the baker kit has people going back to the smooth curved shape. I'd never tried it though so it was never anything more than a "that's odd..." thought. Sorry to hear it wasn't everything(or even anything) you were hoping for. Their whole replacement transmission costs as much as a used Buell, I'm wondering how many people put out the money for that upgrade and were nothing but disappointed. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Friday, June 05, 2020 - 11:52 am: |
|
The Baker trans is a six speed...I can't imagine why. The power band on a stock M2 is fine and with mine it's quite tolerable even with those big long-duration Andrews N8 cams. And as far as the Baker drum goes...put another 70 miles on after dinner last night and I do believe it's wearing in some. It's never gonna be a gym shoe ride, any way you look at it. But with a good set of steel or composite toe riding boots it's tolerable. |
Ocbueller
| | Posted on Saturday, June 06, 2020 - 05:23 pm: |
|
Yes,tolerable or adequate, describe it. Really bought it as the easiest solution to get rid of the crappy failed clip. others mileage may vary. Thanks for the write up.
SteveH |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Monday, June 08, 2020 - 03:53 pm: |
|
Quite welcome. As I mentioned, sharing the experience...good or bad...is the most important part of the picture. At least I don't worry about that stupid spring clip anymore. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Thursday, June 25, 2020 - 12:34 pm: |
|
Follow-up: With now nearing 500 miles on the trans, I can say that shifting is improving and false neutral incidents few and far between. Time will tell if the threaded fastener stays tight on the detent plate. I'm gaining a little more confidence in stretching the rides a bit further from home base, and with the summer roughly 1/3rd over, I anticipate logging on some 1500-2000 miles, at which point I'll be able to do another follow-up.
So far, so good. |
Roconroad
| | Posted on Thursday, June 25, 2020 - 08:04 pm: |
|
Good job captn I’ve learned a lot .my shifting issues are very similar. Thanks |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Friday, June 26, 2020 - 03:19 pm: |
|
"Good job captn I’ve learned a lot .my shifting issues are very similar. Thanks"
Have you done anything to address them yet? |
Roconroad
| | Posted on Saturday, June 27, 2020 - 09:44 pm: |
|
Nothing yet |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 - 10:28 am: |
|
Of note...got the Cyclone up on the lift last night for a general check and re-torque. Everything was good, with the exception of the clamp between the Pro-Series muffler and header. To clarify, the clamp nut was still tight, but the slip joint between the header collector and muffler was rattly-loose. It took a number of turns on the nut to get it snug. I'll be checking it in another 500 miles to see if it's loosened up again... |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Monday, July 27, 2020 - 02:36 pm: |
|
OK, hope I'm not jumping the gun here, but...with summer 2/3 over and nearly 1000 miles on the repairs, I feel I need to report that I'm good...so far...with the Baker Smooth Shift install. There have been no 4/5 false neutrals for some time now and the stiffness seems to be gone. I have not tried riding with anything other than steel-toed boots, though. At this point, barring any further issues, I would call the Baker kit a success and worth the money invested. I'll continue to ride and evaluate, as my previous e-clip replacements were great right up until they weren't... |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 - 12:54 pm: |
|
OK, I passed the 1,000 mile mark on last night's ride. Everything seems hunky dory at this point. I guess I could cautiously recommend the Baker kit at this point in time, but if I had to do it over again, I think I'd use a split lock washer and a better bolt. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2021 - 01:35 pm: |
|
So far, so good. Two rides into the 2021 season (roughly 85 miles) and no hanky-panky from the trans. Planning on changing the primary fluid and adjusting the P-chain tension before the season gets started in earnest. Or is that "Ernest"?
|
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Monday, May 09, 2022 - 03:55 pm: |
|
UPDATE: May 2022
Just began my 2022 riding season Saturday with a nice, easy 60 mile jaunt, with the occasional obligatory throttle slam through the gears. And happy to report it's as if there was never an issue.
I guess at this point I feel comfortable saying "go for it" if you are experiencing similar issues. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Friday, April 14, 2023 - 02:34 pm: |
|
UPDATE: April 2023
First ride of the season last weekend. No issues noted with regard to the Baker kit. |
|
