Score One for the Harley Tribe

[bramfrank]

If you think it's a clutch problem, I dont believe the engine needs to come out to check the basket and such . . . . I have yet to open mine up and my manual is in the garage (I'm not).

The bike may not be worth all that much, but good engines show up regularly - and if it turns out to be serious, a transplant might give you another 100K miles since the engine and the bearings are the only things that wear beyond the maintenance items..

Ebay presently has the following:

- an engine from an '05 on eBay asking $850 shipped. It's in Nebraska

- another, on the east coast os from an '03 asking an insane $1300 (but open to offers).

- yet another in Virginia from an '04 asking $1K.

- an '0-4 in Ohio at $1100 shipped.

- there's an '03 'warranted' for $1100 shipped from Florida as well.

And there's a clutch basket from an '05 (in Kali) asking $149 if that's what your problem turns out to be..

 

[Tree Doc]

It's sad to see but she's home with me now as she awaits her trip home to Papa in the East Bay on Friday. She doesn't appear terribly happy being on the trailer, either. Don't worry Hans, she'll be covered with an authentic OEM Yamaha FJR cover that's never been used when I put her to bed tonight.

On another note, I think I may have figured out what is wrong with her. She's just lacking this! :rofl:

 

[SkooterG]

What? You don't have it fixed for him yet?

Ya slacker!

:lol:

 

[ScottyUSN]

Hope it turns out to be something less drastic then the initial report.

 

It's awesome to see the forum members stepping up to assist.

Good on ya Tree Doc!

 

[Tree Doc]

I'd love to tear into this thing. I think it would be fun!

I couldn't guarantee that it would get put back together without having some pieces left over! :lol:

 

[allrider]

What were the symptoms when she broke down? What did it do? We may be able to get an idea from your description.

 

[madmike2]

Hans is not particularly mechanical....so his descriptions and conclusions leave a bit to be desired.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't fatal, meremly in ned of some surgery. Regardless, the engine's bottom case must be removed and the transmission inspected. Hopefully the bike will go to a qualified mechanic who will begin diagnosis from the rear wheel forward before assuming anything.

Until then....we wait!

 

[phroenips]

Don't worry Hans, she'll be covered with an authentic OEM Yamaha FJR cover that's never been used when I put her to bed tonight.

If it's gonna stay on the trailer, that should be a Harley Davidson cover....

 

[James Burleigh]

It's sad to see but she's home with me now as she awaits her trip home to Papa in the East Bay on Friday. She doesn't appear terribly happy being on the trailer, either. Don't worry Hans, she'll be covered with an authentic OEM Yamaha FJR cover that's never been used when I put her to bed tonight.

My baby! :sadsmiley02:

But she couldn't be in better hands. Tree Doc is my new best friend. :friends:

And my neighbor who fixes Harleys said for gas money he'd help me get it from my house to Berkeley Yamaha. And when I asked if he had a loaner, he texted back "No problem." I may just have to stop cracking jokes about Harelys after this is all over. :no:

And MM, not mechanical? Didn't I just replace two headlights, a left turn bulb, and a tail light bulb? ilot:

Okay, here's what happened: I was blasting down Highway 101 just south of Paso Robles doing the slalom with the slow-moving cars (aren't they all ) when I shifted and the bike did something weird. My initial sensation was that I must have caught some air or otherwise lost traction. Then a couple miles down the road it happened again, and this time I thought I must have hit the rev limiter.

So I was still thinking it was me and that I just need to cool it, but then it would all of a sudden kind of cut out, not the power, but the power to the wheel, where the bike would just slow down. And I thought I heard a strange noise. But I had ear plugs in so I wasn't sure. I pulled off the freeway.

The bike seemed to be holding RPMs and shifting fine as I got off the freeway. I pulled into a gas station. I took off my helmet and took out my ear plugs and checked the oil in the glass. Full. It's probably nothing, I thought--I really wanted to just get to Santa Barbara.

But then on the freeway again I definitely heard some kind of noise coming from down under. It was a kind of mechanical buzzing, almost like an electrical noise (but of course not electrical). I thought "That's probably not good," and I pulled

off again right away in Atascadero, where I cruised the main drag hoping to stumble onto a Yamaha dealer. No such luck.

F**k it, I thought, I'm not throwing in the towel yet! I'll just husband it down to Santa Barbara at reasonable speed and stop hammering the transmission. I pulled onto the freeway for the last time because now I had no acceleration: It was all I could do to stay ahead of the car coming up behind me. And I recall that the shifter seemed to kick back up outta gear. So I threw in the towel and just got right off, then pulled back across the freeway and into the Harley dealer.

But I will say that the engine was idling beautifully, and kicked right over when we later loaded it onto the truck. And the throttle revved beautifully too. The Yamaha dealer in SLO did remove and inspect certain side plates before concluding they needed to remove the engine and look at the tranny.

I will let you know what this turns out to be.

 

[FJRay]

I'm betting it's in the clutch. Don't let anybody pull the engine until the clutch is completely ruled out.

 

[James Burleigh]

I'm betting it's in the clutch. Don't let anybody pull the engine until the clutch is completely ruled out.

I was never happy with the clutch replacement I got a year ago. In fact, just before my problems started on the trip I was feeling like I wasn't getting good throttle-to-RPM correlation, so I experimented with rolling on the throttle aggressively in 4th and 5th and was not pleased with the response. To get really good acceleration, I had to always drop two gears.

 

[kaitsdad]

I'm betting it's in the clutch. Don't let anybody pull the engine until the clutch is completely ruled out.

I was never happy with the clutch replacement I got a year ago. In fact, just before my problems started on the trip I was feeling like I wasn't getting good throttle-to-RPM correlation, so I experimented with rolling on the throttle aggressively in 4th and 5th and was not pleased with the response. To get really good acceleration, I had to always drop two gears.

I'm with Ray - really does sound like the clutch. Hope that's it.

Let us know, Hans. If you need a engine, I just might have an 05 engine sitting around here someplace....

 

[CAJW]

Hans,

You don't think it was caused by the shock do you? Mojo thread I second the Roseville Yamaha nomination for the post-mortem. Their Service Manager, Zac, will give you a fair assessment of what is up with it and the cost effectiveness of a repair or present you with a burial plan complete with plot. Good luck, hope it isn't as serious as it sounds!

JW

 

[James Burleigh]

Hans,

You don't think it was caused by the shock do you? Mojo thread I second the Roseville Yamaha nomination for the post-mortem. Their Service Manager, Zac, will give you a fair assessment of what is up with it and the cost effectiveness of a repair or present you with a burial plan complete with plot. Good luck, hope it isn't as serious as it sounds!

JW

Thanks, John. It's partly a logistical question--Berkeley Yamaha is closer.

I haven't forgotten our "We're Still Alive" ride. Just have been up to my ears on weekends doing lesson planning for a class I stupidly took on.

Hans

 

[TomInPA]

Hey Hans, I have a Garage queen you could use for the Wheaton touron Nor-Cal special.

It would be real easy to pick up on your way over to Roseville.

 

[exskibum]

Jeeze, Hans -- with Tom's offer, I don't know how you could take it back to the place that did the clutch (which is what it sounds like to me, too). Take it to Zac at Roseville Yamaha.

It MAY be the tranny, but with the amount of damage you'd have to have done to a constant mesh tranny to have those symptoms, it's hard to imagine it continuing sporadically after its first disconnection of power from the rear wheel. If you grenade a tranny, it pretty much gives up right then and there -- for good. If it was just popping outta gear, that's another story, but that's not what you described. Sounds like the clutch, and your unhappiness with what you got back after the clutch replacement probably makes that more likely. That Ray is calling the same thing makes it even more likely.

Good luck!

 

[SkooterG]

Hans - don't be foolish. For such an important diagnosis and repair, take it to a KNOWN good dealer. No excuses.

 

[James Burleigh]

Roseville, eh?

Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and throw it out there: Anyone available to help me get the bike from home (Concord) to Roseville? It'd be very expensive to hire a professional hauler, and my neighbor won't haul it to Roseville just for gas money.

 

[Beamer Reamer]

"Yep," I said. "Score one for the Harley tribe."

The score has got to be something like 314159265358 to 1 now. Glad they were helpful.

 

[James Burleigh]

"Yep," I said. "Score one for the Harley tribe."

The score has got to be something like 314159265358 to 1 now. Glad they were helpful.

:rofl: