cowpuc

The 20" x 4 inch wide tires on these Ebikes are rated at 20 pounds but I run em hard at 30 pounds cause our riding is on asphalt.. Running them that way gives them about a 2 inch ride patch and far less resistance when rolling. My next move as the center of these "nobbies" wear off will be to street tires. I do totally agree with you on the whole puncture resistance though BUT,,, watching for nails on the bicycle paths also works pretty good too LOL..

If you use those slow speed left lane drivers as pylons on a race track its actually difficult to get upset with them LOL..

Another option to those mentioned by Freebird that has worked really well for me has been to remove the OEM starter and clean the dust out of it real well, paying very close attention to the build up between the armature and communtator segments.. Kept clean my OEM 2 brush starters have served me well and worked as new when kept clean. If it were mine I would also double check stator output at the battery when warmed up as a tired stator can cause hard starting when warm too. So can carb issues, dirty plugs and so on and so forth... Maybe a quick youtube video of what its doing would help us help you diagnose whats going on..

My new aftermarket Caltric stator came with a not so perfect rubber grommet around the wires exiting the stator cavity. While did use the normal ATV gasket sealant on its contact areas along the cases I sealed its exterior areas real well with my favorite sealant = E6000 as this product has proven itself VERY worthy for MANY applications.. Simply cleaning the area real well with brake/carb cleaner the cover the area, including around the wires, and then coating with E6000 resulted in, once again, an oil drip free stator area... Worked for me,, maybe give it try? Here's the stuff:

My gut tells me it sounds like a cooked stator issue. What can happen, at least has happened to me on several occasions, is the laminate on the stator coils get fried and loose their resistance to current flow across the windings ending the ability for the stator to do its job effieciently.. It is not uncommon,, again IMHO, for this to become more relevant as the stator warms up as the engine runs. My 1st Gens all had the OEM volt meter built into the dash and they were always appreciated as I could monitor my stators condition at all times while traveling cross country.. At idle the volt gauge is suppose to read battery voltage only (sayyy,, 12vdc) but just off idle I always like to see 14.5 vdc appear suddenly and solidly. This testing can also be done quite easily by watching your headlight change when throttling up which is how many of us really really old timers did for years before we could afford a $5 meter from Harbor freight. With a little bit of trial and error over a period of years I am now amazed at how accurately I was able to predict a total loss of our stator on Tweeks recently.. When she got warmed up real good I started noticing voltage drop and told Tip that I was going to have to replace the used stator that @Squidley had installed a few miles back, probably had about 3000 miles left in it . Sure enough,, exactly 3000 miles later it failed.. @pcnorb, if I were in your shoes and having the gut feeling that the RSV's do not have a built in volt meter,, I would grab a cheap volt meter (something that didnt matter if it splatted on the road), attach its leads to the battery posts semi-permenantly and take the bike for a ride while monitoring the voltages being produced.. If you have good numbers when cold and bad numbers when warm I would be looking forward to installing a stator. You can also ohm out the stator and check each leg of its 3 phase windings to ground too but if you do this I advise you do so with the engine fully warmed up..

Roger that says the Kettle to the Pot!

Here are my thoughts as to the why J.. The shift drum has channels machined into it that the driven end of the shiftorks lay in. The "forked" end of the shift fork lays in a journal machined into each corresponding/mating gear and when the drum is rotated by that mechanism that hooks on to the pins we are discussing resulting in lateral pressure from the rotation of the drum created by your toe when you shift it results in the forks moving side to side and the gears to move side to side and mating up with gears of a variety of ratios. I have a hunch that if you were to put a dial indicator on the end of the shift drum and run the tranny thru the gears you would discover a certain amount of end play of the drum as the drum/fork pressure increases with the force needed to get the gears to ramp up (talking in another direction as Marcarl would say = gears to match up LOL). When the mechanism that is engaging the pins is in the process of rotating the drum that end play has to go somewhere and possibly the mechanism has enough of "bite" on the pin that the pins resistance to move in its housing is over come and the pin slides in its case and finds itself pushing on those easily bent tabs and, over time, that pressure can be great enough to actually bend a tab open and the pin falls out. A couple things that may help to avoid this from happening would/could be: 1. Making sure the engine oil is changed when it looses viscosity and you feel the tranny getting "notchy" as I mentioned in one of my other posts. When riding in extreme temps I have noticed the need to swap in new oil as early as 1500 miles. 2. Making sure your clutch system is up to par with no tiny little air bubbles collecting at the bango bolt at the master resulting in loss of disengagment space between the plates resulting in more pressure needed to move the shift forks side to side. On a side note here, I am almost 100% sure that Mom Yam actually did an upgrade to that plate with the Tabs on it and have long since developed a much more suitable means of capturing the pins. I have never ever had the issue and thusly have never ordered a new plate but I would be shocked to find out that the new plate, if ordered, would come non-updated. I am sure when an actual VR guru comes along and reads this they will verify one way or the other and/or correct all the 3 or 5 different directions I just took you in LOL

And J telling the same story from 3 or 4 different directions and rambling on and on would have been a pretty good indicator that, as a newer member, he was already starting to pick up some bad habits that some of our clubs life long members have honed to perfection and we certainly would not want that to happen LOL. See what mean LOL

In memory and sincere gratitude for those who shed their blood and paid the ultimate price so we could live in freedom = THANK YOU!!! Puc

Fools wife eats the dogs treats and his dog LOVES the fish for treats.. LOL

You know,,, relooking at the pics you posted @JFootman I think I misread what I initially thought I saw.. I initially thought the tab that holds the pin in was sheared off but looking a little closer I can see that it is just bent upright (this allowed the pin to slide out???).. I also noticed that Partzilla has those parts in stock and cheap.. Here is the fishe I am looking at:https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcycle/1983/xvz12tk/shift-cam-fork and looking at part numbers 14, 7 and 8. Notice the pins (14 and 7) are different pt numbers so probably different size pins. Tell you what my friend, if I were on the road and stuck camping in a Hardware store parking lot while I had my bike tore apart I would remove that plate that secures the pins, go inside the hardware store and purchase a drill bit that measures the diameter of the pins, borrow a bench grinder from the hardware store backroom and cut off the shaft of the bit to match the length of pin I needed and make myself a new missing pin.. I would then knock that bent tab back down into place, put it back together using atv sealant for a gasket and enjoy my trip.. Matter of fact, and seriously,,, I would do the same thing even if I was home only I would make a new gasket for the cover LOL. That would DEFINITELY keep me enjoying my riding adventures until I could get up to Michigan to pick up my free parts bike LOL....

Concerning the missing pieces and parts,,, thats a really good question IMHO. After getting it all apart and looking closely for the missing pin and sheared off pin ear and still finding it missing I would look carefully in the oil you drained from it on its initial oil change. Still not locatable, one option would be pulling the exhaust and removing the oil pan and seeing if those parts are in there. On the same token though, that drum/mechanism is located at the very bottom of the cases where it would be very difficult for the parts to end up in the moving parts above their location. I would never ever do this with a customers bike back in my dealership days but on one of my OWN $500 MK1's with a missing 2nd gear that simply is not worth the engine tear down my gut would be screaming just ride it... Now if we were talking about a nut that fell into the combustion chamber or a valve shim I had inadvertently dropped down into the cases while doing a valve job my gut would be screaming ohh poop.. IMHO, about the only place those parts could reasonably end up would be in the sump and I just dont see how parts that large could get sucked thru the screen on the sump to be sucked up into the oil pump/oil pressure system. The MK1's (and I have another gut feeling the MK2's, early V-Max's and 2nd Gens have this too) do not have an oil pressure sending unit. Instead they have a float valve sending unit that lets you know if the oil level in the sump area is getting low.. I suppose it is possible for one of those parts to get lodged in that float and cause some mysterious readings on your oil level reading on your dashboard. One of my bikes had a faulty (probably filled with sludge) oil level sending unit which, of course read out on the dash with the typical red flashing light that I actually liked cause it matched the red flashing light from my faulty fuel gauge sending unit and was like that for over 100k miles. The oil light never bothered me at all and caused no harm but the gas light was probablamatic and I ended up fixing that after Tip (my wife) squawked a few times over having to push Tweeks (our bike) because my calculations were wrong on how much fuel we had and all forward motion stopped when we ran out of gas LOL.. Check the clutch case cover too real well... Puc

OUTSTANDING J = YOU ARE ONTO IT!!! GOOD JOB!! I was going to ask where you were located earlier in the game but failed to do so but with this most excellent finding you have I had to peek at your profile page... BEAUTIFUL FAMILY you have there my friend.. I am a family man myself,, 4 kids (who have all survived thousands of mile on the back of a beast just like you are working on) and a lovely wife of 41 years (also with thousands of MK1 miles under her belt).. Get this,, I also have a son named Jason with the last name initial "B",,, farrrr out and groovy eay? I also noticed you live in Indiana (main reason I checked your profile = see where you are located)? I am in Muskegon MI 49445 if you want to check distance after reading this offer. I have x3 retired MK1 parts bikes sitting under covers in my back yard of which I know for certain have decent parts in them to fix the tranny issue in your scoot.. You are more than welcome to shoot up here and take one home with you if you would like. No fee,, no strings attached (except for black black no trade backs LOL).. By the way,,, Genius? LOL... Gearhead is more likely... Thinking about it though,,, being a life long backyard gearhead has proven to be a blessing and a curse,,,, I wonder if real geniuses experience that same blessing/curse thing,, hmmmm.. Thanks for the compliment though!! Puc

A MAJOR congrats to both you and your bride Corporal Newkirk!! THAT is AWESOME!! Puc n Tip

Back in the old days before my heart gave out, cancer kicked my butt and I was young/agile enough to actually spend hours on the road out CTFW I did a TON of snowmobile business during the "off season" for bikes. I bought/sold numerous sled trailers of which about 75% were aluminum. Personally,, and this is just another IMHO's Unc, if you can afford the upfront charges of going aluminum I would implore you to do so. The anti rust side of Aluminum far outweighs the loss of the ease of welding on/fixing steel trailers all though, a good Mig welder with steel makes them amazing for creating all kinds of fun things with steel. I am not sure what is out there as far as aluminum utility trailers and fastening points but most of the sled trailers I dealt with had flip up tie down spots as well as cross bars for hooking skis to. I would imagine that any good aluminum utility trailer would have something similar. I also like the 6' 4" wide thought brother. You will find the additional width to be absolutely superlative IMHO.. As far as slippery goes, yes - that is a concern.. On our sled trailers it was fairly common to use old snowmobile tracks attached to the floor to stand on and to run the sleds up on = very durable and carbide stud friendly if the machines had studs in the tracks. I am sure something like that, even a spray on bed liner, would be easily doable... Yep, I would go with Aluminum 100%... Puc

Another awesome report by my brother on the West Coast!!!! THANK YOU @VentureFar!!!

LOL,, wouldnt it be great if life was so simple lol... Might keep in mind too that some oils are darker when new than others too.. Also that those sit2e windows do stain up fairly easily.. I have used Walmart supertech and Dollar Store non-energy cons Dino oils for hundreds of thousands of miles and done so successfully.. Possible one of the reasons why is I change my oils when the oil darkens or tranny gets sticky.. The stickiness though is not an issue like you are experiencing though,, its more of an issue of going from buttery smooth to a little stiffer on the toe.. Both of those oils I have used are dark in nature when brand new but, like all oils, are easily to see they are dirty dark when dark if one knows what they looked like when installed.. Another place I suppose its possible that you are picking up dirty oil from may be a really badly burned stator that has not failed yet.. I only mention that because these MK1's also came OEM with pretty nasty stator engineering.. If your bike has not had the stator updated in it since new and you get this tranny sorted out, the next thing will be the stator replacement LOL.. And then plastic water pump replacement,, and then Progressive Fork Springs,, and then lubing the splines and drive pins, and then CTFW for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and so on and so forth

Several things come to mind, I would mic up the clutch plates, check the basket for any sign of saw toothing, check the pressure plate springs for spec.. Then, if the shift drum mechanism inspection and correction proves out to be the cause of your tranny issues I would rebuild the clutch entirely if it appears OEM.. These 1st Gens came from Yamaha at right on the edge of being adequate right from the factory.. If it were mine I would at a minimum have updated pressure plate springs in her before I put the cover back on the clutch and buttoned her up.. Another point to ponder in all this,,, remember that these bikes are oil bath clutch systems.. When trying to start up cold and in gear with the clutch pulled in, the oil between the clutch plates is still thick and will cause some clutch drag resistance on the starter as it trys to move the bike forward by transfering power to the rear wheel. Doing a start up in gear with the clutch pulled in while the bike is hot is one thing,, trying that same procedure on a cold motor with thick oil is a whole nuther matter... Look forward to those pics!! Puc Oh,, almost forgot,,, dont just look at pins,, check ALL the components associated with the shift drum rotation mechanism while there.. I have actually discovered a loose screw on the mount plate or a broken spring on a cam follower to produce the same issues you are experiencing.. Look er over real good!

Did you drain the old oil out of the forward bevel gear housing when you changed oil J? If not, and depending on how dirty the previous oil was, it is possible for that dirty oil to darken the fresh oil some.

Darn right,, she is a beauty!! Definitely worth digging into, sorting it out and sucking all the life left in her out J!! I see some awesome miles of fun sitting right there. From what I can see of the brake rotors, grip wear (I LOVE those original grips!!) and foot peg wear she sure looks like a gorgeous low mile bike to me... Worth fighting for for sure!! Thanks for the vid!!

I would gladly spend the big bucks on Elite 4's front and back if I did not do my own tire swaps but because I prefer to do my own swaps and really like the option of not having to depend on a bike shop if I have a flat while out CTFW, after trying pretty much most of the lower dollar tires out there, I will stick with Shink Tourmasters front and rear. Personally I would have no problem running the 777 mixed in with a Tourmaster either. On the other hand though, if a car tire would fit on the back I would definitely grab a never flat CT like Bill runs on his Wing.

IMHO,, and keep in mind this is coming from the mind of a definite non-guru, it comes down to making the choice of pulling the forward bevel gear cover to check the inner clamp/primary shift shaft and linkage or removing the clutch cover and taking a peek at the end of the exposed shift drum and shifting mechanism that lays under the clutch basket. If facing the same choices I would probably opt for pulling the clutch cover as, like I said, my gut tells me thats where the problem is.. Either way you will need a gasket at a minimum.. The clutch comes apart fairly easily to expose the shift drum end with the hardest part, again IMHO, being removal of the large nut that holds the basket on the clutch shaft. JF,, you mention thinking of offing the bike,,,, let me ask you this,,, have you ever posted anything on youtube and/or can you post up some pics on the site here? It would be really interesting to see the bike up close to see if we could determine just how accurate the 65k mile claim is.. If the bike really is under 100k miles, even with a blown 2nd gear I can attest to the down right ruggedness of these scoots and also to their complete potential for chasing out 250 to 300k miles - been there x6!! The only thing to remember though is these are old bikes and those kind of miles do/will require some wrenching along the way. That being said though, I will also add that ALL of my wrenching to accumulate 1 million miles plus riding out 5 of them to retirement (still riding the 6th one) I have never opened up an engine or tranny on one - not even for valve adjustments.. All of my wrenching has been exterior of the engine cases and/or top end. I just bought them CHEAP with no 2nd gear like you did and short shifted them after losing second gear to get the remaining 200k plus miles out of them. On the other hand though, I learned long ago when I was very young that I was not the "pay someone else to fix it" kind of person and not everyone is like that.. Most people prefer to not get dirty and will trust a quick tow into a bike shop and a highly skilled, highly trained genuine mechanic to do their work for them - I know, that is actually normal. NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!! Just depends on what your after in life I guess...

and here is a short video that I was able to locate on youtube that partially describes what my gut is telling your issue is leading to.. Keep in mind when viewing that the shift drum the person is holding in his hand does not have to be removed to repair the issue of pin failure or cam follower spring failure or pin engagement arm failure of which I am thinking is where your issue lies.. The clutch pack will have to come out though.. Lets see if this helps at all.

You are welcome,, glad to help and share my pea brain advice LOL... JF, sounds to me like we are not talking clutch issues, although an insuffecient clutch actuation caused by air in the hydraulics could add to the reasons why you are where you are.. There are now three distinct possibilities for causation of your tranny issues IMHO. One is linkage/shift shaft clamp related as mentioned by @Marcarl.. If you look at this video that I posted for another club member a while back having similar issues you can see the outer linkage and clamp on the forward shaft.. Picture in your mind another similar linkage that runs from the back side of the exposed shaft to the actual shift shaft that runs thru the engine cases and serves the actual shift drum under the clutch pack.. That linkage is hidden under the forward bevel gear cover.. So here is what could be going on in there.. First check and make sure the 10mm bolt that secures the exposed clamp is tight. The thought is that possibly you have a clamp sliding over the splines on the shift shaft thusly not allowing the shift drum full engagement.. Obviously, this same thought applies to the linkage and clamps on the interior/under the forward bevel cover.. I hate to say this but I have a gut feeling this is not where the problem is but it is easier to check than going on to the shift drum.. Here is that vid,, I know it goes by quick and is probably hard to follow but this may help: