Another 2nd Gear Question(s)

[5bikes]

1984 Venture with 15K miles

1. If 2nd gear is not abused (full throttle shifts, shifting without the clutch, or overloading) will it last longer than the 50k miles many are experiencing before it goes out?

2. What recommendations would you have to extend it's life?

3. Would you fix it now before it goes out?

4. Are some getting 100k before it goes out?

 

Best bike I've owned in 40+ years!

[Yammer Dan]

I have two 83's with over 60k that have 2nd gear. I have a 84 that it went out in the 70's. I don't know if taking it easy would extend the life of it or not. You would think hard riding would cause it to go sooner but I don't know. I'm sure there are a lot of opinions out there on this but I would plan on fixing it one of these days.

[talonsx2]

I bought my 84 venture in 1991 or 92 not sure??, with 34000 on the odometer and it now has a little more than 65000 on it. But I had the bike for about four months before mine went out:95:. I have been driving it this way since:Im not listening to. I am planning a tear down this winter:yikes:.

 

Stay safe and keep the rubber on the road..

 

Michael

[scotty]

Mine went at 95,000 Km (60,000miles). In my opinion the root cause is wear in the washer at the end of the drive axel. The only time it moves is when the shaft turns in the cam of the drive gear. If loads are reduced in both acceleration and deceleration the wear should be minimized. But where is the fun in that?

Scotty

[shighley]

Hey 5bikes; I just did my '84TK 2nd gear replacement a few weeks ago. The bike had 121K on the clock. I had been riding it with 2nd slipping out for about 20K miles. Bike hasn't been abused. I would recommend fixing her ASAP. During the teardown I discovered a few things that I believe would not have happened if the repair was done at the first symptom. Two of the shift forks were bent and both of the fork shafts were bent. Also, the driveshaft had moved away from the bevel gear and end had choked off/restricted the oil supply to the 1st driven gear and the copper bearing galled to the shaft. The oil supply comes through the shaft. As a guess, the delay in repair cost me a couple hundred dollars in parts. My .02 worth. Dive in and let us know how it goes. . . Ride safe, Steve

[Dano]

If you go ahead and tear it down and replace the thrust washer and the split clip (the part that actually wears down) now, you won't ever have a problem. But, at the same time, I would replace all the orings and oil seals in there, as most of these cannot be replaced with the engine in the bike and the bottom 1/2 of the case on. Might as well replace the valve cover gaskets and the cover bolt rubbers, too, as you will need to sometime. Makes for a good winter project.

[5bikes]

We don't have much of a winter. 30's at night, 50's late afternoon, it can snow (once a year), gone by noon. Friends & I ride most of the winter. Poor us!

But then I suppose I could ride of of my other 4 bikes until I get it back together....