Hey All, I finally done something wrong to my 86 xr, When I rode off last night I felt a slight pop and then it wouldnt hold a gear, I rode home at 15 miles an hour,,,Motor revs fine, feels more like a clutch then anything...Any suggestions? Is this the XR gear problem everybody gets eventually?

Third gear is a weak point of the XR600. I'd do some investigation before running it again.

Yeah, I've been dreading this moment. It feels like its not really in gear, pull in the clutch and it revs, but click into first and its still in neutral??

You may have bent a shift fork. I couldn't get to 3rd on mine when i got it and after dissasembly the shift fork was part of the problem that caused the rest. You will need to pull it apart to see whats wrong. Can it go into any of the gears or have you just tried 1st?

It wont go into any of the gears, its like its stuck in neutral...

Can the shift lever move up and down a normal amount even though it doesn't change gears? If it cant then you may have broken off a piece thats keeping it from moving the shift forks or have jammed a broken piece into the shift drum which will required splitting the cases to fix. :banghead:

If you can move the shift lever up and down a normal amount like you would shifting gears does it make any kind of click but still isn't in gear?If it does move down and up but doesn't click and doesn't go into any gear then it could be something as simple as the shift detent plate came off the shift drum that can be fixed by taking off the clutch cover and re-attaching the plate and tightening the one screw holding it on.

I had never split the cases before on a bike when I did it this last January and its not really that difficult to do and get back together. You just need a little patience and a lot of time, and a few tools to get it done.

Thanx for the heads up, gonna dig in to morrow and have a look

I have a really nice looking XL600R motor on my floor... no cyl or head, but the reast is there, and the trans looks OK, and the shift forks\drum looks new.

pm if interested.

cheap.

Hmmm, well just noticed the shaft with the countersprocket on it is spinning and the sprocket isn't. Looks like it sheared off?? Anybody experence this?

Post a picture of it. Sounds like the countershaft teeth became worn and finally stripped. More people here report it happening to 650Ls, but the older six-spline bikes are not immune (XL600s at least have a cushioned rear hub, though).

Thanks for the help so far, having some issues uploading photos from my phone. Looks like the shaft has a worn down area where the sprocket was sitting? Sprocket spline teeth don't look good either. Shaft has good teeth on the end tho. Does the shaft have teeth across its exposed length from the transmission?? If so I'm in trouble.

Heres a photo, let me know what you think

Your countershaft is hosed. The gap in the splines should not be there. You will have to split the cases to replace the countershaft. I have my 650L engine laying all over my workbench... in the middle of replacing my c'shaft. It's not as bad as you might think. The previous owner of my bike had the sprocket arc welded on the shaft which got it back on the road (Got it running so he could dump it on me:smirk:). I have a running journal of my teardown if you're curious what you are in for... look for a post called "Pig Rescue".

Thanks, thought so. This is a nice 86, have been looking for a reason to pull the motor and clean her up. Could be one of the nicer ones in the country... Ill check out that post.

The countershaft should be lubed with the Honda moly 60 paste.
The contents are solid and will not seperate. Recommended for gears, bearings and other high-pressure/high-temperature applications also driveshaft slines and rear hub splines on goldwings and other shaft model bikes.

Yea, any moly lube on those splines helps a lot. I swap my gearing often so I always clean it up and lube it. Dry metal on metal there is bad.

The good news is that your tranny gears are probably fine.

You'll need a full engine gasket set, new piston rings and a countershaft.

New rings every time, hone the cylinder, lap the valves and basically just clean everything else up. Let us know if you need any help. I have a thread going now too. It's pretty much identical.

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=841842

Would it be worth it to do the bearings, new piston etc. This bike hasnt had a hard life? Just wondering what you guys found when you cracked the cases for the first time on a 24 year old dirtbike...

I have been surprised by the good condition of my '93. You'll never know until you dive in.

Breaking loose gaskets that have been in place for a decade or more can be "frustrating":banghead:.

If you have the cases apart you may as well do the bearings,,You can get most of them from a normal bearing type shop [cheap] barring one of the mains and the odd other one..Just take the used ones in so they can match the numbers.The oddballs have to be purchased through Honda. They always get you somewhere along the line with some one off bearing..no way do you escape the [genuine part] tentacles with Honda ..Possibly don't need to do them all but I'd certainly do the Mains the Balancer the Clutch and the Cam..Fact is you may as well do the lot.