Nightmare Clutch - Gearbox

[Cmcada]

I have just bought a fixer up ZXR 400.

She sat in a shed for 4 years so shes in a bit of a bad way.

52,000 miles.

Anyways, after I spent all weekend on the carbs, ignition I finallly got her running nicely.

I took her on a test ride after changing all the fluids just to see what was what,

First things first, she would not go into first...at all, when in neutral hitting down just simply didn't do anything.

Pulling up presumably got her into second and away she pulled lovely!.

got her up to 30 and slowed back down.

Went to put her in neutral and she jumped down to 'first'! Great I thought!

So i tried to pull off in 'first' and she stalled, I then pre-loaded the revs to 8k and very slowly released the clutch, she dropped down to 2k revs and very very slowly pulled away.....like she was in fourth gear or something.

Anyways, I then noticed a leak coming from my expansion bottle and took her inside to sort it out.

once inside she will not for love nor money go into neutral or back down to first (from second).

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong?, tomorrow i am going to check the clutch tolerances and adjust it properly as the bite is practically at the handlebar which could affect the gears.

Is it worth stripping the transmission and having a look around? I hear ZXR gearboxes are indestructible right?

[banner001]

1. get the clutch biting point sorted
2. check the condition of the friction plates, steels and springs
3. if its still bad its got to be either selector drum, selector forks, or transmission gears worn.

they are not indestructable...i did this to mine...viewtopic.php?f=117&t=13653#p102323

im not 100% but if you drop the engine and drain the oil, you should be able to get to the transmission by removing the clutch cover, sump, and splitting the cases...i would think it had to be selector issues though.

so its not like its jumping out of gear, it just refuses to select is that correct?

also the zxr 400 should only select 2nd gear if you are already moving forwards. at a standstill it should only go between 1st and neutral.

[RedexRobB]

You have put the gear selector on properly havent you? Wrong way up and you will be back to front with the gearbox selection which considering it felt like it was in a higher gear than 1st could be the issue?

[Cmcada]

I only bought it last week so I haven't stripped it apart, the previous owner claimed it was running before it went into storage.

The more I work on the bike the more I think otherwise!

The mixture was a complete mess....the electrics were a catasprophe (fixed now).

The transmission hopefully doesn't need too much work Ill sort out the clutch tomorrow, if that doesn't fix it then I'll have to find a weekend and strip the entire motor down.

Thanks for the input guys, should make problem solving go a lot smoother

[bendog66]

I agree with Rob, as from memory it won't go from neutral to second when you're stationary. Put a picture of the shifter up, rather than stripping the engine down for no reason

[RedexRobB]

yeah dont strip it just yet. Gear selector i mean by the gear lever, the rod that come from it pushes on a splined shaft, if the the wrong way up on the shaft it will all be back to front. I wouldnt be at all suprised if some did that so they had a race style shift. The rose joint should be pointing to the floor. Get a piccy and we will have a look

[Cmcada]

You guys are absolute gods! The gears have indeed been reversed

just took her out and tested that theory, presumably she was in sixth gear when i tested her the other day? Mental!

Clutch is being stripped on the weekend, new piston rings, headgasket and cam chain while im at it, shes very smokey yet to check compression.

Keep an eye out for a build thread next month!

[banner001]

if you are doing all that, might be worthwile replacing the crank and conrod bearing shells?

52,000 miles...it will make the bottom end feel brand new.

[Cmcada]

I'm doing this with a competent friend of mine who is teaching me as I go along.

He is in Swansea for the next month so I think I'll wait until then before messing about with the bottom end, I've done a few top end rebuilds but I have never been down under yet.

How complicated are we talking in relation to shims, piston replacements etc?

[banner001]

easy, most difficult bit is getting to the crankshaft as most of the engine needs to be disassembled to get there.

then you just slide the bearing off and slide another one in - dont touch the mating surface with your fingers, use gloves and try to still avoid touching the mating surface.