Busted Trans.

[Scro]

My 07 trans has been acting up lately. Shifting down into first, it hits very hard. Shifting up into second, it feels like gears are grinding against one another. This is just sitting with the engine running. It's also very hard to find neutral.

So I tear it down and find that the first (and smallest gear) on the main shaft is missing a couple teeth. Nothing else looks wrong. The gear on the counter shaft looks a little worn, but it's nothing drastic. I figured I would replace both these gears.

My question is what could have caused this? This is my race bike, and I've caught myself banging gears before without the clutch. But I would have thought the shift forks would have bent before the gears busted???

I've talked with a couple people including Toby at Moto-Xperts. Nobody has really heard of just this gear loosing teeth.

Contact Chad502ex from DRG performance. He can probably help you.

If anything I would have to say banging gears without using the clutch had to take a toll on this issue. I have shifted once without the clutch and its deffinately not as smooth and nice sounding as when you use the clutch.

I never use the clutch to up or down shift. My quad has countless hours of racing on it. I don't think that has anything to do with it. Even it the owners manual it doesn't say anything about useing the clutch to shift. I know the 06 and up have transmission problems.

[Dave400ex]

If there is no other damage then there is really no way to tell what happened. I guess be happy that is all that did happen! I suggest getting the tranny mod while it is apart!

[Scro]

Originally posted by TRX450R_Racer
I never use the clutch to up or down shift. My quad has countless hours of racing on it. I don't think that has anything to do with it. Even it the owners manual it doesn't say anything about useing the clutch to shift. I know the 06 and up have transmission problems.

Yea, that's what I was thinking. I do usually let off the gas though. Maybe it was just a freak occurrence.

Dave, I would if we weren't leaving for Hatfield Wed. of next week. I talked to Toby about it today. Defiantely something I want to do in the future.

[HondaRaceReady]

I never use the clutch to up or down shift. My quad has countless hours of racing on it. I don't think that has anything to do with it. Even it the owners manual it doesn't say anything about useing the clutch to shift. I know the 06 and up have transmission problems.
I'm pretty sure honda worked out all of the problems with the transmission by 07. The 06's are the only ones where the gears mesh wrong.

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by HondaRaceReady
I'm pretty sure honda worked out all of the problems with the transmission by 07. The 06's are the only ones where the gears mesh wrong.

How are you sure of this?

The 06 and newer are notorious for transmission issues.

I too shift all the time up and down without the clutch. Only time I really go near the clutch is 1st gear stuff and when I first take off.

[pro-rider46]

i dont use the clutch always either and i dont have any problem. My friend who thinks he has the world known, thinks im a retard because of this. and HERE is proof!

[Scro]

Well I did some investigating. I read somewhere that the gears tend to "flake" off some of the teeth, when they get extremely hot. Not really loosing the teeth completely, just bits and pieces here and there. This is exactly what mine looked like.

About 2 months ago, some of you may remember my motor was swapping oil back and forth between the trans and motor. The trans would be almost empty after a race, and the motor would be overfilled. I'm thinking that this weakened the first gear. Most of the races I go to are first/second gear speed, so it makes since that first gear would have been the one to heat up and begin to flake first. It kind of makes me worried about structural weakening of the rest of the gears:(

At any rate, I replaced first gear and one other gear that looked like it took a hit from the debris. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have it running.

[pro-rider46]

i would get it ISF'd before i put it together. and send the whole tranny to get isf'd and inspected.

[Scro]

That was my plan. But we are leaving for Hatfield-McCoy on Wednesday, so I'm pressed for time. No big deal - splitting the cases is not as big a deal as I thought it would be. I guess it's good to be familiar with how your motor is put together anyway.

[pro-rider46]

Originally posted by Scro
That was my plan. But we are leaving for Hatfield-McCoy on Wednesday, so I'm pressed for time. No big deal - splitting the cases is not as big a deal as I thought it would be. I guess it's good to be familiar with how your motor is put together anyway.

ha, ok. have fun there.

[Scro]

Originally posted by pro-rider46
ha, ok. have fun there.

Hell, you could have just used a sledge hammer to knock the rest of the cases away from your motor and not hurt anything.:p

[pro-rider46]

Originally posted by Scro
Hell, you could have just used a sledge hammer to knock the rest of the cases away from your motor and not hurt anything.:p

haha yeah, i should have replaced the crank when i did my motor. and believe it or not, the crank bearings are still okay, even with 300+ hours on them. lol. but the rod bearing went and that was my problem. now im looking for a bottom end, and have DRG build it from the ground up.