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locked up in fourth gear gs550es

  • Thread starter Thread starter alfiedog
  • Start date Start date
A

alfiedog

Guest
Driving along at 30mph suddenly the back wheel locks up. Pull in clutch -still locked. Got stopped , chain ok still on sprockets. Can't move gear lever or move bike as wheel still locked.
The bike (16v Gs550 1983) has only 11k on it and absolutely no transmission problems before this.
Any help greatly appreciated . This could also help someone avoid a very bad accident.

Kind regards, Tommy
 
welcome Tommy, good thing you could stop safely.

Did the engine lock up, or did it keep running when you pulled the clutch ?
Does the engine still have oil inside ?

Remove the front sprocket cover to see if all ok there.

With the bike on center stand, can you rock the rear wheel a little bit ?
If something locked up in the engine, you should still have some play on the rear
wheel.

Was any work done to the bike prior to this issue ?
 
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My friend had a 83 750ES that suddenly stopped shifting, I don't recall the bike locking up, just that it wouldn't shift gears.
It turned out to be the spring on the shift detent, accessible after removing oil pan.
It's #21 on a OEM fische in the gear "shifting section".
It broke was all, replaced it and all was fine after that.

Might also be the rear pads seized on the disc from corrosion.
Pop cover off rear brake, remove locking pins and 2 dowels to see if pads move or are locked on disc.
Might notice discoloration on disc, if it did seize.

Hopefully it's not another cam sprocket bolt backing out as noted in another thread.
 
I was a victim of the cam sprocket bolt backing out. Are there other victims of this? I fortunately had just downshifted approaching a light and still had the clutch pulled in. The bike was able to roll with the clutch pulled and after I shifted to neutral.

This seems like a different issue.
 
Thanks for reply.
No, the sprocket and retaining nut ok. It seems to me that a selector fork has come lose or broke, this is only a guess but it definitely is gearbox internal. It's an early model so may have had a problem that was rectified in later models. The output shaft has locked , no swarf in engine and no bangs or rattles before it happened. Very sudden and a bit scary. Also no play in output shaft bearings.
I ve never had this happen in 32 years of riding, These bikes are known to lose second gear but I have never heard of this problem . Cant be the only one though....
 
yip different issue Hannibal and I depend on this for my daily driver.
 
Brake working perfect, this was like if somebody had put a large bar through the spokes in the back wheel-instantaneous. Pulled in clutch, engine running but bike stuck to road due to locked back wheel... I heard that certain gsxrs have a problem with selector forks coming loose. Is it possible that this has happened and two gears were simultaneously selected leading to locking of output shaft ?
 
Rijko thanks also for reply, just trying to find out if anybody else had this and if the remedy can be carry out without removing the engine.
 
Agreed, sounds like a transmission issue and if this bad, it looks like the engine needs to be opened up for repair.

Maybe you can get more info on the cause by removing the oil pan, that gives you a view on transmission and forks.
 
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Thank your brother, hope we can highlight this issue as there is obviously a very dangerous problem here. As I said there was absolutely no problems with the transmission immediately before this happened .....
 
i think we're not telling you anything you don't already know.

my train of thought : with the clutch pulled : if the engine still ran, if you can still rotate the crank for instance with a wrench on the crank behind the ignition cover, that would likely rule out anything related to crankshaft and connected components like starter motor, starter clutch, rotor, top end, etc.
It would probably mean the clutch hub is still rotating.
You can check this by removing the oil filler cap.

Releasing the clutch stalls the engine, something locks up. Correct so far ?

You are trying to avoid engine removal ofcourse, so i would remove the clutch cover
and the clutch hub.
Simple job, and even if it only confirms the issue is not in there, it is a step i would
take. You never know.

Next up is removing the oil pan, but if the issue is in the transmission or forks ..
you're likely looking at engine removal to repair.

Keep us updated, i am sorry this happened to you but eager to know what
could cause something like this on an engine with just 11K on it.
 
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While I don't have anything more to offer, I'm also following the thread as I have one of these mid-weights too, and I'm very curious as to what has happened.
 
Rijko said:
i think we're not telling you anything you don't already know.

my train of thought : with the clutch pulled : if the engine still ran, if you can still rotate the crank for instance with a wrench on the crank behind the ignition cover, that would likely rule out anything related to crankshaft and connected components like starter motor, starter clutch, rotor, top end, etc.
It would probably mean the clutch hub is still rotating.
You can check this by removing the oil filler cap.

Releasing the clutch stalls the engine, something locks up. Correct so far ?

You are trying to avoid engine removal ofcourse, so i would remove the clutch cover
and the clutch hub.
Simple job, and even if it only confirms the issue is not in there, it is a step i would
take. You never know.

Next up is removing the oil pan, but if the issue is in the transmission or forks ..
you're likely looking at engine removal to repair.

Keep us updated, i am sorry this happened to you but eager to know what
could cause something like this on an engine with just 11K on it.
Click to expand...


Good advice for starting the diagnosis here ^^^^

Hopefully it is something behind the clutch basket but I suspect you may have to split the cases to remedy the problem.

Fingers crossed and best of luck :)
 
Weird stuff indeed.
I've removed clutch cover and clutch all seems ok. I'd strongly suspect something has worked loose in the box and has jammed the output shaft. One other thing is there was no clutch slip at all, just a solid lock up.
I'll take off the pipes and sump when I get a chance and let you all know as this is important for others to cop.
My main objective posting this is to find out whether this is a known problem on gsx550's and to save me time and trouble , its also a major safety issue. Thank you all for your responses.
 
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