So riding home today, 4th or 5th gear I hear that lovely sound of metal on metal tapping after she kicked out of gear into a false neutral, after some trying I managed to get her back into 1st but she really does not like going above 4th without extra leverage on the shift leaver By the sound of steel on steel clunking while rocking her back and forth in the drive way I think I've done some damage to one of the gear forks. Any body have any idea on how hard they are to get at to have a look?
It's an engine out and split job. Where are you in NZ ? I have spare gearbox parts and am inland from ChCh.
It's the only way. You might have just done a bearing that has collapsed and putting the shift forks out of alignment.
This is true, is there anything easy to get at from the sides worth checking before i order a 44 gal drum of brake clean that I'm likely to need?
Nope, the cases are split horizontally, its an engine out and apart job. Including the cylinder head and barrels, because there are bolts holding the two crank halves together on the underside of the barrels. This is unlike bikes where the cylinders are part of the top crankcase half, where you can flip the motor and just remove the sump/side cases and bottom half to access the gearbox. No such luck with the FZR. You will need a flywheel puller as well. They are available on ebay
Something I have learnt after numerous screwups trying to fix things fast... if a jobs' worth doing, it's worth doing right. A donor engine is always a risk, even if you know the history of the bike and saw it running / rode it before removing it.
Take off the starter cover and the sump and have a look at the push rod mechanism just behind the cogs. I've had it slip off on one of my engines needing a spring to be put back into position in order to correctly engage the shaft when changing gears. Try that first, and as Grey said drop the oil and look for shiny metal bits. If the metallic sound is changing with the bike revs... that could be a different issue to what you're thinking.
Well dropped the oil, couldent see anything and nothing big enough to get caught in my funnel filter. Though there is a distinct smell of fuel to the oil! So i think my rings may be poked
Isnt fuel leaking into the cylinders one of your original problems? And fuel doesnt make a good lube system for the gearbox
Well, I managed to score a cheap 2nd hand motor of unknown quality. Going to see how it runs and use that while I tear down the original motor.
Welllll. After a lot of swearing, few broken bolts and head scraching, I finally have the junkyard motor in and running. Seems to go pretty well once warm, so just need to clean her up, change the oil and fit one of the radiator hoses around the right way and see how she runs for a few months. Still going to tear the old motor down and recondition it, but wont be as pressed for time
