Jolene, Jolene, Jolene...

[gixxerjasen]

my 2nd gear has been jumping for 30k miles or more. I asked the dealer he said no, It is a wear item.

I'm sorry but WTF? Second gear is a wear item? Since when?

[Festus]

Started putting her back together last night. Viper Dad came by to help. Glad he did. Put the new gears in, laid them into the case and shifted through the gears. It worked fine. Did it a couple times, it worked fine. Then it didn't work fine. Humm...what the hell? Looked and saw some of the dogs not lined up when shifting, which wouldn't let the dogs go into the slots. Wiggled the shaft a little and it goes in fine and shifting can continue. Tried that a few more times. It worked some times, other times it didn't. Since one of the main notes in the manual is "make sure it's shifting before you put it back together", we got hung on this. We pulled the gears back out and checked everything, double and triple checked everything and then tried shifting with just the lower fork in place (technically the upper, but it's upside down right now). We never touched those gears or that shift fork. Same problem. Crap. Is there a deeper problem? Did I miss the original problem? How's this thing work, anyway? Put it all back in, went through the exercise again and again. Some times it shifted from 1st to 5th all the way, some times it didn't. It would get hung by the dogs not lining up with the slots in the mating gear face, and you could wiggle the gears a little and it would mesh, then it would work fine. We thought maybe the splined gear had a specific orientation that we missed on the splined shaft. Not a word about it in the book and not a mark on the splined gear to indicate where you might do that. The fact that it was happening to the gears we never touched lead us to believe it's normal, and with the engine running and the clutch pulled in, then these dogs would spin slightly and line up with the slots, just like when we wiggled them a little.

Honestly, there's not really anything else working there, that we can see. We didn't take anything else apart. Hopefully that was the right call because we started to button it back up. If someone knows that to be right or wrong, I'd appreciate them speaking up, before this gets too far.

Put the Yamabond on the transmission casing by the manual. It's very specific on where it does and doesn't go. You can't just slather it on and go. It's really only on the outer edges. Put that on, picked it up, flipped it over, and oil ran out the oil filter port, all down on the Yamabond. Idiot. I know the stuff should still create a seal, but we didn't want to risk it. Flipped it back over, wiped off the oil and Yamabond, and then reapplied. Worked nice until I stuck my finger in it while holding it. Dumbass. Flipped it back over and fixed that, and next step was putting it on. We had oiled all the bearing surfaces per the manual, so we dropped it into place and started bolting everything up.

Finished the night up by torquing all the bolts on the transmission casing. Laid the oil pan over the opening to cover it up and turned off the lights. Time to go home.

Viper Dad worked without gloves, had no VT gear on, and never approached me from the back. We're making progress

New gears and shift fork in place



Proof Viper Dad didn't wear gloves and actually worked



I think he's trying to stop the bleeding

[Festus]

I almost forgot, we got stumped by the manual. It told us to make sure we put sealer on oil baffle #2. Only problem is we can't locate any oil baffle #2. Or #1. Shows it in the manual, but it doesn't appear to be on this engine.

[raYzerman]

I think sometimes the hang-up is that if the engine is not running with it's oil in it and spinning the gears, it may not shift perfectly. Even when it is (back together and runnin), there's always an odd time you can't shift until you move ahead or back an inch or two, or engage/disengage the clutch... I don't think you've got anything to worry about....... the Yamabond will squeeze out real thin, it won't likely leak. Carry on..... fine job done so far.

[bungie4]

Q: Does the FJR engine have any brass screens inline with any of the oil passages?

I remember going through my Meanstreak 1600 service manual and seeing reference to those. Googling turned up some engine failures because of them (getting plugged and restricting flow). One of the filters was serviceable. The other, not.

[wheatonFJR]

This is the best thread ever. Thanks for the photos!

[Steel_Gin]

Those gears look brand new Wheaton. Have you put any miles on your bike since you rode it home?? ....I assume you rode it home, right??

[Uncle Hud]

Wheatie doesn't ride. He just posts.

[Viper_Dad]

Everything Festus said about the night was true except he left out the part where he made me go home. I would have stayed and worked all night to finish, it's one of the most rewarding projects I've been a part of. Festus and I have one thing in common: we're not afraid to read a manual. That should go a long way toward rebuilding Jolene into a solid supersport touring machine!

[wheatonFJR]

Wheatie doesn't ride. He just posts.

Ride what?

[wheatonFJR]

Those gears look brand new Wheaton. Have you put any miles on your bike since you rode it home?? ....I assume you rode it home, right??

Dean,
I think yer confused.
Read the whole thread again from the top and tell me if you've missed anything.

[crumpadump]

Been following this thread. Great write up and pictures (I read pictures better than words so thanks for the great pics). I've often worried about having transmission problems, especially anytime I miss a gear (1st to 2nd). I read about another rebuild like this years back and realized then what an effort it is to replace tranny parts. I would definitely be over helping out on this if you where near by, would love to see this first hand. Great job fellas, looks like she'll be up and running for spring.

[fontanaman]

Great thread. Thanks for posting.

[Festus]

Everything Festus said about the night was true except he left out the part where he made me go home. I would have stayed and worked all night to finish, it's one of the most rewarding projects I've been a part of. Festus and I have one thing in common: we're not afraid to read a manual. That should go a long way toward rebuilding Jolene into a solid supersport touring machine!

You could have stayed all night. I was going home. If the bike was at my house, it would be different. We'd pull an all nighter and it'll be ready to ride to work the next day

I have to use the manual. I can't remember how it came apart.

I hope like hell that we did it all correctly and it's sealed up tight and there's no Yamabond blocking any oil passages. Shouldn't be, but that's the stuff racing through my mind today. Of course I'm not pulling it apart to find out

Bungie, I don't see any brass screens.

I'm still amazed at how clean the engine is at 58,000 miles. That's pretty crazy to me. I've never used Yamalube, but I suspect I'll strongly consider it next time around.

On the things to irritate you list, I went to DMV to get the title transferred and they wouldn't do it. Said the bike was less than 5 years old and sold for less than $1500 below NADA value and that meant that the Bill of Sale had to be notarized. I asked how I was supposed to get the signature since the previous owner lived in Florida and I really didn't want to have to drive back to Florida to have him sign it again and have it notarized. They gave me a form and a method to make it all happen. Viper Dad has some key contacts in the food chain, so he's on it, resolving it today. They really didn't care that it wasn't running when I bought it, that it had been wrecked, or that it was all documented online with a For Sale listing. They didn't care that the previous owners information was all on the Bill of Sale and that it all could have been verified. Nope. No title for you, have a nice day.

Bastards. Just jealous of Jolene, I suppose.

[raYzerman]

Been following this thread. Great write up and pictures (I read pictures better than words so thanks for the great pics). I've often worried about having transmission problems, especially anytime I miss a gear (1st to 2nd). I read about another rebuild like this years back and realized then what an effort it is to replace tranny parts. I would definitely be over helping out on this if you where near by, would love to see this first hand. Great job fellas, looks like she'll be up and running for spring.

Well, have I got a deal for you! If you saw the pictures in my project bike thread, you'll see the engine is entirely apart and in 3 cardboard boxes. I'd be happy to bring it to tech day and watch you put that back together........ I'll take the pictures.

[crumpadump]

I don’t want to sound too confident...but I think that’s totally doable!! You just sit back and hold my beer!!

[LKLD]

Steve, if there's anything else I can do, to help with the ownership transfer, just say the word.

[Festus]

Steve, if there's anything else I can do, to help with the ownership transfer, just say the word.

Thanks Rob, I knew you’d help if needed. I think Viper Dad has it sorted. His circle of friends tell him we’re all good.

[gixxerjasen]

Texas has an easy plan for that kind of registration. You pay taxes on book value, or sale value, whichever is higher. Well, I know they introduced the book value thing a while back and my last used purchase was at sale value. Either way, they don't care as long as you pay the money.

[escapefjrtist]

Excellent thread Festus. Thanks for documenting Jolene's journey back to health!

Looking forward to the finish and your first ride.

--G