Pressureangle

Truth. Risk management.

When I put Caruso's gears in the 'Sport, I had no leaks. I replaced the front cover seal as a matter of course. The new one leaked. I replaced the leaking black seal with a new blue one. Just got it all back together again, went out for ~100 miles to find a few drops from the front seal again. I had to replace the front seal in the '85 LM twice also. Is it the Chinese Conspiracy? Are the seals crap, or have I simply become an ape? WTF, universe?

Can't make RPM without air, it's getting in there somehow. Spray some liquid- I like WD40, or alternatively a combustible carb cleaner etc.- on the intake manifold gasket area and also the boot sealing joints. If you hear any change in RPM, you have a leak. Check to see your idle air screws haven't fallen out (never heard of such) The last time I had a high idle, it took a minute to figure out I'd left the 'choke' lever partially engaged. Regularly, my Kaoko cruise control drifts enough to make a high idle. This is one with simple answers, as fuel and spark cannot make RPM without air.

My grandmother had a '82 Oldsmobile 98. After about 90k miles the rear axle started clicking annoyingly. We opened it up and had a look, found nothing. It got worse for a while, and never got better- but never failed either. The boss said, 'Sometimes you just have to let it break to see what was wrong'. My experience has shown that more than a few times over the years. My own 'Sport 5 speed had a 'pop' or 'click' in the driveshaft (I thought) so when rolling in neutral or spinning the wheel on a stand you could hear an audible noise with every driveshaft rotation. I'd had the shaft apart, everything is in fine shape. No aberrations could be felt in either the transmission or rear axle without the shaft. I disassembled the rear axle recently, looking for something. The only change I made was to replace the outside axle bearing in the gear housing. Now, the noise is gone. I can't make any sense of it, can't assign a root cause, but it's dead smooth and silent now. <shrug> If it don't matter, it don't matter.

I just checked- I've never had them off on the 'Sport, mine are identical to those on the '85 LM1000. That is to say, they're a PITA but can be removed with common end wrenches. Some wrenches are thinner and smaller than others, could play havoc. Or the later bikes may have a different connection altogether. I got nothin'.

Mine is split open at the top. I cleaned everything up and used liquid electrical tape to seal it. This will be a regular maintenance check at least with any tire or brake service.

Take my advice- since I'm probably only the latest in a long history of sufferers- use Craig DeOxit on all your relay terminals and use silicone (dielectric) grease when you assemble them. I chased gremlins for a long time, rejecting advice here from multiple sources, which turned out to be dirty relay contacts. Despite changing relays multiple times with the last time to the hard-to-find Omrons, nothing fixed it all until I cleaned and sealed the contacts properly.

First ride after major maintenance. Brake light failed. Bulb not grounding. Fixed, then brake light stayed on constantly. Spacer behind handlebar switch missing. (there is a spacer there, right?) Found this too, drat it all.

The first thing you lose sight of as an expert in any discipline is that everyone begins without knowing even the most basic tasks. So with that in mind, don't be afraid to ask basic questions. Yes, changing the oil is as simple as draining the oil from the plug at the rear, and changing the oil filter. I only change my filter every 2nd or 3rd oil change.

Here's where to start; follow the links to 'Frequently asked questions' and 'how-to'.

Ok, swinging a wild bat here. Since there's no obvious physical damage or disorder, let's go back to the facts; the only time you have noise is *in gear when the clutch is rotating* correct? If I read the transmission correctly, there are 4 shafts- the output, 2 gear shafts, and the input or clutch shaft. It appears that both of the gear shafts rotate with the output shaft always; that would place the noise on or around the clutch shaft. Check your bearings, see if the cages have any damage or disarray. Does the input feel dead smooth when you rotate it by hand? Is there any detectable movement to the shaft, either radially or axially? Are any gear shifting devices located on the clutch shaft- sliding gears or sleeves, shift forks? (again I'm not familiar with the particular arrangement) Look to see that any engagement dogs are centered between their fore and aft partners, especially if they float on the gearshafts and rotate with the clutch shaft (not output shaft) That should make a right mess of things.

It's the transmission. Here's mine before the Caruso gears. I was a little disappointed that the gears are quieter than my chain was.

Oh man there's a lot going on in there I didn't know about. I think that pretty much says everything.

Yes, the clutch input spline nut, and the output shaft nut accessible after removing the driveshaft. I'm not at all familiar with the 6-speed to know exactly what's there.

Yes that's what I meant, but you're well past that. Despite the 'maintenance' items in your bellhousing, I'm behind Pete's simple suggestion that your shaft retaining nut(s) is not tight, allowing misalignment in the gearbox. Unless you've missed a broken tooth on a gear, it's just about the only possibility remaining.

...and as Pete says above, be certain the shaft retaining nuts are tight. On my 'Sport, the driveshaft has a spring to maintain a bit of pressure on the joints, I suppose to insure they don't walk off the shafts if (when) they get loose. If the output shaft nut (on 5 speed) comes loose, the pressure drives the shaft forward until the gears are so far out of alignment you can't shift them.

Here's a short video showing reassembly. Disassembly obviously is the reverse order of operations. There is a tool to center your clutch discs without taking off your transmission drive gear, likely available from a vendor or member nearer to you.

My gut reaction is that your old oil filter left the gasket stuck on the ring, and either twisted out of the way unsealing the filter, or blew out when oil pressure hit it.

I'mma gut an Omron relay and swap it in while you sleep

Game On

You're right, of course. I have a corollary to Waddington; "It ran when I shut it off..." Bring the gears, they'll make nice centerpieces.

I replaced my intake rubber boots today. Along the way, I bothered to do some discovery on best method, at least on my '97 Sport-i. The winner is Lucky Phil- taking the intake manifolds off is enormously easier than working the boots otherwise. I'm not even certain I could have installed the new boots at all without removing the manifolds; the bar that ties my TBs together is very close to the frame bracket for the transmission brace and wouldn't move back much at all. As it was, I removed the clamps, pushed the rubbers away from the manifolds, removed the 3 mani bolts, slid the rubber back onto the manifold and off of the TB. The mani and rubber pop right out with only a little fiddling and no force. Reverse the process to install. It's easier to install the mani bolts in their holes and place the rubber before working the whole thing into place; take care with the threads as you have to keep the rubber from pushing them around. Installing the screws last is difficult because you can't slide the rubbers back away very far. A ball allen is nearly demanded. I had different gaskets on L & R sides. No info. Both sides stuck to the manifold and came off the heads clean. I cleaned the surfaces and put a very light coat of Permatex #2 to be sure they seal. Reinstalled my throttle rod, synched the TBs, set the TPS and tomorrow a test ride. Idles dead steady at 1100 now. Again. Those throttle rod knobs are still in the works, but they are a secondary priority behind real work.

Well, just think of the bashing I'll give you at the Spine Raid if your stock chain busts and bends all your valves and pushrods. Just think of the bashing I'll give you at the Spine Raid even if it doesn't. Every time your steed hiccups I'll be throwing stones at you.

I've said elsewhere that it's my observation that the bike starts easier, idles faster, never coughs or stalls, lost any hint of the ~3200rpm hiccup and generally runs better everywhere. That said in the environment of neglect, where I'd been sidelined by relay connections and a failed starter motor- the gears were a big improvement even then. I haven't had a whole good day at once on it yet since, but a couple hundred miles says it's great, and a *lot* of maintenance while awaiting the return of my throttle rod makes me very hopeful. It's my opinion that the stock chain tensioner simply does not hold timing well, particularly at idle and ~3200rpm.

That's a tough 'telephone diagnosis'. Are there cushion springs in 6 speed clutch friction discs? Big trucks break those springs all the time. Could be a bit out of place, protruding just enough to clack against the flywheel.