bypassing clutch and sidestand idiot switches

[Kelly Cash]

Hi all, I have a '99 KLR 650. On a road trip, my bike started getting weirder and weirder. When trying to find first gear, it only seems to find neutral. It started out missing first only once out of 5 tries, but now I can't get to first at all, whether moving or not. The problem's gotten worse- I now can't get into second when moving. This made a recent 535 mile ride home from Death Valley rather entertaining. But I got home, by running stop signs and lights, and slipping the clutch and revving a bit to get moving from a stop when in 2nd or 3rd. (I'm sure I'll be replacing the clutch discs sometime sooner than expected...) Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it something that's known, or relatively easy to fix? Barring that, does anyone know a good mechanic in the S.F. Bay Area who'd have expertise with this engine/trans? I know better than to ever take anything to Grand Prix bike shop; not sure how Bike World in Sunnyvale is. I might be inclined to yank the motor and take it somwhere. The could fix this problem, stop an oil leak, do the doohickey fix all at the same time. I wish the people who made diesel KLRs were selling to the public now. Thanks, -K ================================================================ Kelly Cash Email: kelly@... Web: http://www.the-clearing.org ================================================================

[Arden Kysely]

The easy stuff: If you have the stock shifter, check that it's not cracked at either weld. It's a cheese-mo piece and sometimes gets weak enough before breaking that it won't shift well. Also, top off the oil if you haven't already. KLRs shift better when they have plenty of oil. __Arden

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Kelly Cash wrote: > > Hi all, > > I have a '99 KLR 650. On a road trip, my bike started getting weirder and > weirder. When trying to find first gear, it only seems to find > neutral. It started out missing first only once out of 5 tries, but now I > can't get to first at all, whether moving or not. The problem's gotten > worse- I now can't get into second when moving. > > This made a recent 535 mile ride home from Death Valley rather > entertaining. But I got home, by running stop signs and lights, and > slipping the clutch and revving a bit to get moving from a stop when in > 2nd or 3rd. (I'm sure I'll be replacing the clutch discs sometime > sooner than expected...) > > Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it something that's known, > or relatively easy to fix? Barring that, does anyone know a good mechanic > in the S.F. Bay Area who'd have expertise with this engine/trans? I know > better than to ever take anything to Grand Prix bike shop; not sure how > Bike World in Sunnyvale is. > > I might be inclined to yank the motor and take it somwhere. The could fix > this problem, stop an oil leak, do the doohickey fix all at the same time. > > I wish the people who made diesel KLRs were selling to the public now. > > Thanks, > > -K > > ================================================================ > Kelly Cash Email: kelly@... > Web: http://www.the-clearing.org > ================================================================ >

[a14@att.net]

Most likely the weld broke on the shift lever. Simple fix. Walt

> Hi all, > > I have a '99 KLR 650. On a road trip, my bike started getting weirder and > weirder. When trying to find first gear, it only seems to find > neutral. It started out missing first only once out of 5 tries, but now I > can't get to first at all, whether moving or not. The problem's gotten > worse- I now can't get into second when moving. > > This made a recent 535 mile ride home from Death Valley rather > entertaining. But I got home, by running stop signs and lights, and > slipping the clutch and revving a bit to get moving from a stop when in > 2nd or 3rd. (I'm sure I'll be replacing the clutch discs sometime > sooner than expected...) > > Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it something that's known, > or relatively easy to fix? Barring that, does anyone know a good mechanic > in the S.F. Bay Area who'd have expertise with this engine/trans? I know > better than to ever take anything to Grand Prix bike shop; not sure how > Bike World in Sunnyvale is. > > I might be inclined to yank the motor and take it somwhere. The could fix > this problem, stop an oil leak, do the doohickey fix all at the same time. > > I wish the people who made diesel KLRs were selling to the public now. > > Thanks, > > -K >

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 3:39 PM -0700 4/4/07, Kelly Cash wrote:

>I have a '99 KLR 650. On a road trip, my bike started getting weirder and >weirder. When trying to find first gear, it only seems to find >neutral. It started out missing first only once out of 5 tries, but now I >can't get to first at all, whether moving or not. The problem's gotten >worse- I now can't get into second when moving.

Is the shifter lever loose on the shaft?

>I wish the people who made diesel KLRs were selling to the public now.

That makes no sense. What does a diesel bike have to do with the transmission? Mark

[Kelly Cash]

> Is the shifter lever loose on the shaft?

I'll look. I don't think so- It shifts smoothly between 3rd-5th.

>> I wish the people who made diesel KLRs were selling to the public now. > That makes no sense. What does a diesel bike have to do with the > transmission?

Absoultely nothing. But it's something I've wanted, and getting a replacement engine/trans would negate the need to fix this immediately. Thanks, -K ================================================================ Kelly Cash Email: kelly@... Web: http://www.the-clearing.org ================================================================

[Tengai Mark Van Horn]

At 4:45 PM -0700 4/4/07, Kelly Cash wrote:

>> Is the shifter lever loose on the shaft? >I'll look. I don't think so- It shifts smoothly between 3rd-5th.

I had a lever loosen up on me a couple times. It caused the lever to contact the frame when down shifting to first. On the upshift to 2nd, I would occasionally miss the shift because the extra slop needed me to lift my toe higher to engage 2nd gear. For some reason, 2nd didn't seem to want to "catch" with the loose lever. Upshifting to 3rd-5th and downshifting from 5th to 2nd wasn't an issue. Sometimes you can't get the lever to grab the shaft tightly even though the screw is down tight. When that happens, you need to widen the groove to allow it to clamp down more on the splines. Mark

[Kelly Cash]

> Most likely the weld broke on the shift lever. Simple fix. > > Walt

You're referring to a shift fork in the engine? I doubt it's the external lever, as it is a heavy-duty replacement. (though I won't say it can't be; I haven't looked at it that closely recently) Thanks! -K ================================================================ Kelly Cash Email: kelly@... Web: http://www.the-clearing.org ================================================================

[Kelly Cash]

a14@... wrote:

> The external lever. It is common for the stock lever to break at the weld > If you already replaced it with an aftermarket one they have less clearance > at the frame and as was mentioned by someone else on the list if it is > loose on the splines you get the same result. You may only need to tighten > the 10mm hex head bolt holding the lever on the shaft. Check the simple > things first. > > Walt

Okay, I checked. Turns out the shift lever bolt was as tight as it could go, and yet the lever was still loose on the shaft. 1/3 of the splines were stripped (or worn) off near the mounting bolt. This is the Dual-Star replacement shift lever. I replaced the lever with the stock one, and all's fine. Apparently I must have a discussion with Dual Star. By not being able to downshift to first in the gravel, I dropped the bike, breaking a mount for my Jesse bags (which weren't on at the time). Cost me $40 to get it welded out on the road. Thanks for the advice all, and I'm glad it didn't involve going inside the engine. Cheers, -K ================================================================ Kelly Cash Email: kelly@... Web: http://www.the-clearing.org ================================================================

[Fred Hink]

The shift lever has threads in only one half of the clamp part. Your bolt could be tight because it was started in the treaded part first. Make sure the head of the bolt is facing up on the top part of the clamp starting in the untreaded half of the clamp. If the head of the bolt is facing up then check to see if there is any gap left in the clamp. If not then you can open up this gap by squeezing together the clamp in a vice and using a hacksaw to cut open this gap. Fred www.arrowheadmotorsports.com

----- Original Message ----- From: Kelly Cash To: a14@... ; DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2007 6:43 PM Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Can't shift into 1st or 2nd a14@... wrote: > The external lever. It is common for the stock lever to break at the weld > If you already replaced it with an aftermarket one they have less clearance > at the frame and as was mentioned by someone else on the list if it is > loose on the splines you get the same result. You may only need to tighten > the 10mm hex head bolt holding the lever on the shaft. Check the simple > things first. > > Walt Okay, I checked. Turns out the shift lever bolt was as tight as it could go, and yet the lever was still loose on the shaft. 1/3 of the splines were stripped (or worn) off near the mounting bolt. This is the Dual-Star replacement shift lever. I replaced the lever with the stock one, and all's fine. Apparently I must have a discussion with Dual Star. By not being able to downshift to first in the gravel, I dropped the bike, breaking a mount for my Jesse bags (which weren't on at the time). Cost me $40 to get it welded out on the road. Thanks for the advice all, and I'm glad it didn't involve going inside the engine. Cheers, -K ================================================================ Kelly Cash Email: kelly@... Web: http://www.the-clearing.org ================================================================ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Luke in Brooklyn]

Kelly-- I ended up clearancing the "gap" in my aftermarket shifter to make it wider, using a cutting disc on the dremel carefully held in between... actually I may have used the cylindrical carbide cutter attachment, can't remember... then used a longer bolt--so long that it pokes out significantly on the far side. I made REAL sure it was how I like it, then cranked it WAY down with the super strong loctite on it. With the widended gap it grabbed really well. Then I dabbed on a bit more loctite and backed on a nyloc nut to the exposed threads of the too-long bolt, as a sort of double lock nut arrangement. That was almost 20k ago I'd say, and it's rock solid. If your splines are already trash you're SOL, but I was able to save it in time. Luke

> Okay, I checked. Turns out the shift lever bolt was > as tight as it > could go, and yet the lever was still loose on the > shaft. 1/3 of the > splines were stripped (or worn) off near the > mounting bolt. This is the > Dual-Star replacement shift lever.

Brooklyn NY 92 CB750 nighthawk--naked simpleton 03 KLR650--fat girl with a dirty mind ____________________________________________________________________________________ Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL