I hope it's not the tranny

[brower]

I post this with the understanding that it may be deleted due to the question already being answered in previous posts but I think this case may be a bit different.

My concern is the following. I have a 1980 gs1100e which I use for daily commuting. From what I gathered I need a clutch adjustment or a new clutch. The clutch slips a lot in any gear when I'm getting in it and has a tendancy to 'pop' out of 2nd or 3rd (once 4th gear) gear when I'm really getting into it (chasing my buddy on his Ducati). I am hoping this is due to clutch malfunction and not a damaged tranny. If I ride slowly and deliberatly it is ok and I know when it's about to slip out of gear (again when I'm quick shifting). There is no noise comming from the left side of the bike that I can tell. Is there a way to assess the need for tranny work by looking into the cases without splitting the engine or am I out of luck?

As the bike is my primary transportation I cannot be without it for very long or will have to make due with the current condition.

Regards,
Brower

[reddirtrider]

Unfortunately, there's no good way to check the transmission gears without splitting the cases, at least from the top side. I can't remember if you can see much after removing the sump cover and looking in from the bottom. It's been a few years since I rebuilt mine and my memory is going fast.

[Ola]

I can't help you on the tranny but I would suggest getting a dirt cheap 125cc or whatever to help you get to work so you can take your time diagnosing and fixing properly.

[NICK!]

Fix the clutch and see if it still pops out, I suspect it will. Popping out of gear is almost always damaged dogs and slots.

Take your oil fill plug out and stick your nose in there and give it a good wiff, if it smells like a campfire then your plates are hurting. You might get lucky and get rid of some or even a lot of the slipping by putting in a new set of springs (Suzuki OEM) and having your steel plates glass beaded. If the fibres are badly worn then this might not help much.

[Guest]

Fix the clutch and see if it still pops out, I suspect it will. Popping out of gear is almost always damaged dogs and slots.

Take your oil fill plug out and stick your nose in there and give it a good wiff, if it smells like a campfire then your plates are hurting. You might get lucky and get rid of some or even a lot of the slipping by putting in a new set of springs (Suzuki OEM) and having your steel plates glass beaded. If the fibres are badly worn then this might not help much.

Agreed.
Try sliding your foot down the shifter a little so a larger portion of your foot is under it so you get a stronger shift. If you don't engage the dogs and slots the whole way it can slip out of gear. Or as Nick said the dogs are rounded off and need to be replaced.

[brower]

Thank you gentlemen, I went for a ride today (first one of the season) and had no issues what so ever. I still had clutch slip but I know that was going to happen. I am on the books at the local mechanic to adjust/replace the clutch. I am wondering if I had bad oil by chance. I realize this is absurd but ran car oil last year for a quick top up. I was a my friends place and he put in motorcycle oil. Could that have effected it?

[Guest]

The only oil I hear not to put in the bike motor is one that has an energy star on the oil container.
You topping it off shouldn't have hurt anything.
I run Chevron 20/50 and this is "car" oil.

[Zooks]

If your tranny is no good perhaps this one will be a help -



LOL

[NICK!]

if your tranny is no good perhaps this one will be a help -



lol :d

Bahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

I really do not want to know if that has dogs or slots!!!

[bonanzadave]

How much free play do you have at the clutch lever ? This could be as simple as a 5 second clutch cable adjustment or a clutch cable replacement which is not that bad either.