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00 vfr800 1st and 2nd gear gone


beezo500

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Alright VFRD world, I am new to the scene here but looking forward to being in the VFR family soon. With that said, I have been shopping around on all of the sites (CL, CT, local ads) and I've found a 2000 that has an interesting issue. I know, look around to see if the answer is already out there on the VFRD site, and I have done some research here and found a lot of answers and advice on rebuilding the tranny. I have the skills to break apart the motor/tranny and do any of the work that is needed, but I just wanted to throw out the scenario and see what kind of input I can get from everybody here. So here is a copy of the wording from the ad:

"Bike does not currently Drive needs to have transmission work done. A bearing on the main shaft of the trans has failed. You can still put the motorcycle into all the gears but it will pop out of 1st and 2nd gear. I have all the parts to fix the bike they go with the bike. New gaskets, clutch kit, main shaft and secondary shaft"

I spoke to the seller and he is a gear-head and seems very straight-forward. His shop is full of other cars and moto's and keeps a tidy place but just doesn't have time for the VFR project. He states that the bike runs great and will take off in third (if your real easy with it) and runs great at highway speeds. Obviously, that wont work and I will eventually need 1st and 2nd so given the fact that he is letting this thing go for nearly nothing and I don't have any real reservations of buying a project (after-all, that's really what I'm looking for as I love garage time), I feel like I really need to pick this thing up!

He also says that the issue started when he spun the thing up to redline in first and says that it "blew out the main shaft trany bearing". Again, motor runs and sounds very healthy, so I don't think there is anything wrong with the mill. Any thoughts or input are appreciated and I look forward to input from the gallery!

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When a motorcycle starts "popping out of gear" it means someone has been "speed-shifting" the transmission and as a result of this treatment the "dogs" are all rounded off.  So yeah, you would really want to completely replace the transmission shafts (with all the gears and shift forks and all).

 

The really scary thing about this condition of the transmission is that it strongly suggests a history of abusive treatment.

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At 56K miles if you get it I'd say just swap in a used engine/trans assembly, under $500 shipped off ebay.  That said it's probably not worth messing with at the price unless you have a lot of spare time.

You do say he's letting it go cheap so maybe cheaper than advertised.  That'd change things a bit.

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What's really kind of odd is that the bike jumps out of gear in 1st. Jumping out of gear in 2nd is really common with abused bikes because

the dogs get rounded over from hard shifts that are poorly done. But I'm not sure why that would affect 1st gear. Personally I would be leery

of the bike unless you're getting one heck of a good deal, I'm thinking around $500-$750 since he is supplying the parts. And if a "bearing on

the main shaft has failed" then the transmission really shouldn't work at all since the main shaft spins all the time.

 

I agree that it suggests a history of hard shifts, high rpm operation. Maybe using the rev limiter as a shift signal.

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I think it depends on the price tag and you want to do a teardown just for fun. >>>>To each his own and personally that is not something I would jump into. 

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If its cheap & the bike is in otherwise good condition, then go for it. He claims all spares required are provided & if as he says the main output bearing has collapsed, which is hard to do on these bikes as its well oversize to cope with 175hp & the abuse the racing RC45's were expected to endure. So that would imply chain has been over tightened for far to long. So it could be a simple replace the bearings & everything lines up nicely or you may have to replace the shift forks.  or as suggested drop in a spare engine.

 

have fun :)

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I never 'abused' my '99 but after 93k miles it would barely stay in 2nd. And, I agree you're not going to be sure what it needs until you break it apart. Swapping in a $300 low mileage used motor is so much easier than going through a tranny rebuild unless you have the time, I've put 25K on the $300 wrecker mill.

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I’m with FJ, Mohawk and vfrcapn on this. 

 

1st gear issues are generally due to over tight chain damage. Feels great when shifting but really screws up the tyranny. Mostly it’s benign until you go over a hump at speed and the rear shock compresses hard - putting all the pressure on the tranny. 

 

If you want to play in the garage buy it discounted by the price of a new engine. Take off a little more for your time/effort. 

 

Trouble is by this point the seller can make twice as much breaking it for parts...

 

Make a cheeky offer and see if he bites. 

 

Stray

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Well everybody, thanks for the advice on this one! I went for it and got it for next to nothing. Made a cheeky offer and the guy bit! I have a salvage yard close by that has a great rating and they are willing to sell me a 30-day warranted mill for $200.00! I would be crazy not to go that direction, so I will heed the advice on that one also.

 

Thanks everybody and I'm a veefer now!

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Serious score.  If that bike had been closer to me I'd have tried to get it for $500-$700.

With the motor on the bench I suggest a new thermostat, clean and backflush the injectors, check the valves of course, maybe some rubber bits if anything looks weathered.

I just did an inexpensive upgrade to a knockoff version of the MOSFET voltage regulator also.  Everything looked good on my bike but I'm not a fan of the load-based voltage regulators.  I also swapped in LED headlights, which I like but that's pretty far from the oily bits of the bike.  

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On 4/1/2019 at 2:55 PM, beezo500 said:

Well everybody, thanks for the advice on this one! I went for it and got it for next to nothing. Made a cheeky offer and the guy bit! I have a salvage yard close by that has a great rating and they are willing to sell me a 30-day warranted mill for $200.00! I would be crazy not to go that direction, so I will heed the advice on that one also.

 

Thanks everybody and I'm a veefer now!

Take photos of your new journey and post em up here...... (I admit, just tearing down the old engine for entertainment would be fun. ) 

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12 hours ago, mello dude said:

Take photos of your new journey and post em up here...... (I admit, just tearing down the old engine for entertainment would be fun.

I've done it, it was.

That was going to be my suggestion for sure! 

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So the bike is in the garage and been poked and prodded every night after work. I have to say that this thing is in incredible shape and crazy that I am about to drop the engine out (tonight or tomorrow) and so far, not a single stuck bolt, broken wire, snapped clip or oily leak ANYWHERE. Its unreal but this bike is really clean (except for road dust) and it has been an absolute pleasure to disassemble and work on. Everything has been tidy and easy to break loose. It runs strong and the engine sounds great (As you all are aware of) but the trans issue is the heart of the problem. No going back now over the coming months, I will be posting updates of the "Entertaining engine tear down" for everybody to enjoy. I really look forward to this project and hope that it turns out like some of the bike on the discussion. 

Local guy that owns a boneyard simply gave me a short-block that hasn't been split. All the ebay-able stuff was stripped and he was going to just throw out the mill since "those damn VFR engines never sell because they never break!" The more I am reaching out to guys in the "Know" the more I am learning that this is a great community of people that are very passionate about their bikes and its like a little brotherhood, once your in, your in!

Updates and pics to follow soon!

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Sweet! Good luck!

I've only gone as far as removing the frame from the bike to repair the front fairing stay tab. Ironically much easier than removing the engine.

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