Hey everyone. My name is Dan. I'm a new rider and for my first bike, I purchased a 1985 V-Max. I know, way more bike than anyone needs until after a decade of riding, but it's all been good and fun until recently.
I purchased the bike before I had a license and had a friend who had been around motorcycles for many years test ride it. He said it felt good and that it seemed to be in good mechanical condition. I purchased it, finished my riders course, and started riding. I was happy to finally have a vehicle with no issues, or at least I thought. I did some research and found that these bikes have 2nd gear issues. The guy I purchased it from was the original owner and he kept all service records. I found that not only had he just (less than 1 month before I purchased the bike) spent $1900 in carburetor and tank cleaning, he had 2nd gear replaced many years ago. That relieved me a bit. However, as I got more comfortable with the bike, I tried some wot runs. Every now and then, wam! Right out of 2nd gear.
I tried adjusting the shift lever, which I thought helped, but the last couple days I've noticed that it's worse. BTW, wide open throttle runs aren't a usual part of riding for me, but they are fun occasionally :biglaugh:. If you get on it, it kind of slips, catches, and them goes right into neutral as the revs increase.
So, sounds like it's going to need another 2nd gear replacement, right? The bike has 28.6K miles on it. The engine runs great, doesn't burn oil, no knocks, etc, so I'm hoping to not really have do much with it, apart from splitting the case of course.
This is my daily transportation to my job and to school. I've done lots of work on cars, a bit less on boats, but never a bike. Assuming I attempt at this myself, how much is a 2nd gear replacement going to run me? What about all the parts for a complete transmission rebuild? Is there a "fix" to this issue? I realize that any time you wind something out, you increase wear, but it would be nice if it could be a strong as other bikes out there. I'm not looking to race it, but I'd like to know that it's right. Also, can I continue to ride it in this condition for a while? Maybe until the weather gets poor and I'm forced to park it? It doesn't pop out of gear, unless I'm running it hard (I realize this will change). I have alternative transportation, but it's a 1950 Chrysler and commuting in it is a pain lol. It doesn't exactly keep up with traffic.
Thanks for the help everyone. BTW, the V-Max is a really awesome bike. I just can't get over the sound.
Dan
I purchased the bike before I had a license and had a friend who had been around motorcycles for many years test ride it. He said it felt good and that it seemed to be in good mechanical condition. I purchased it, finished my riders course, and started riding. I was happy to finally have a vehicle with no issues, or at least I thought. I did some research and found that these bikes have 2nd gear issues. The guy I purchased it from was the original owner and he kept all service records. I found that not only had he just (less than 1 month before I purchased the bike) spent $1900 in carburetor and tank cleaning, he had 2nd gear replaced many years ago. That relieved me a bit. However, as I got more comfortable with the bike, I tried some wot runs. Every now and then, wam! Right out of 2nd gear.
I tried adjusting the shift lever, which I thought helped, but the last couple days I've noticed that it's worse. BTW, wide open throttle runs aren't a usual part of riding for me, but they are fun occasionally :biglaugh:. If you get on it, it kind of slips, catches, and them goes right into neutral as the revs increase.
So, sounds like it's going to need another 2nd gear replacement, right? The bike has 28.6K miles on it. The engine runs great, doesn't burn oil, no knocks, etc, so I'm hoping to not really have do much with it, apart from splitting the case of course.
This is my daily transportation to my job and to school. I've done lots of work on cars, a bit less on boats, but never a bike. Assuming I attempt at this myself, how much is a 2nd gear replacement going to run me? What about all the parts for a complete transmission rebuild? Is there a "fix" to this issue? I realize that any time you wind something out, you increase wear, but it would be nice if it could be a strong as other bikes out there. I'm not looking to race it, but I'd like to know that it's right. Also, can I continue to ride it in this condition for a while? Maybe until the weather gets poor and I'm forced to park it? It doesn't pop out of gear, unless I'm running it hard (I realize this will change). I have alternative transportation, but it's a 1950 Chrysler and commuting in it is a pain lol. It doesn't exactly keep up with traffic.
Thanks for the help everyone. BTW, the V-Max is a really awesome bike. I just can't get over the sound.
Dan
