gears not engaging

[silas]

I have been having some trouble with my XS400 recently.

anyone who lives in the Northeast States will know we had an amazing Saturday (over 60 degrees here, unheard of in January), so it was a good time to go out and get the motorcycle running after some inactivity. I had just charged the battery up, so I popped that back in and pulled it out

the starter button didn't work, but it tends not to when it's cold, so I gave it a kick. the first thing I noticed was that the kick starter just didn't have the normal resistance, and it didn't turn the engine over. I will say that sometimes it takes a second to come back up to the top, but this thing was essentially limp

I also found that in first gear the motorcycle moves around even when the clutch is out. this is definitely not normal.

someone saw me trying to run and jump, and helped me fiddle with it, and eventually we were actually able to get it running. I took it for a spin, and it ran fairly well, but when I tried to really accelerate quickly, the RPMs shot up, but minimal power was transferred to the wheels. I could barely get it up to 50 mph

I tried to run it the next day with no luck.

I'm not sure if this is related, but before I had this problem, I noticed a problem developing: when I was sitting at a traffic light in first gear with the clutch in, I would feel the clutch slowly lose resistance, and then eventually the motorcycle would either start creeping forwards or the engine would stall.

if anyone has any thoughts about this, it would be greatly appreciated!

right now I'm living in Brooklyn, NY, but I may have to bring it back up to Portland, ME where my dad has the tools to work on it.

other background info:

my old man and I picked this motorcycle up a number of years ago. I think the guy who owned it stored it for a while and tried to start it up with the old gas, clogging up the carburetor. we attached a fuel filter and cleaned the carburetor out a number of times until it started running pretty well. it still would sometimes not fire with both cylinders, but eventually it usually gets running pretty smoothly

thanks!

 

[henkie22222]

This story has slipping clutch written all over.
try to adjust/set your clutch, or your plates are not under good condition anymore

 

[drewpy]

yep slippy clutch

 

[lhaolpa]

Maybe the motor has synthetic oil or "energy saving"oil.This will make the clutch slip among other things which can affect the clutch. By the way,is your last name Marner,and do you sit around counting your money?just kidding,[Silas Marner] lha

 

[silas]

thanks all for helping identify the problem. I'm not particularly experienced in motorcycle maintenance. is this something I can fix? any suggestions on the repair aspect?

lhaolpa, yep that's exactly right. lucky for me I have online banking so I just have to tap refresh

but seriously my Aunt insists I was named after Silas Marner, says my mom was reading the book. my parents don't remember / deny it, who knows. at least my dad didn't get the final say - he wanted to call me Chauncey. imagine that in grade school

 

[lhaolpa]

Nowadays,students don't know who Ol' Silas was.They don't teach the classics anymore,unfortunately. lha

 

[OliverB]

If you don't already have the service manual I would download it from the link here and check out clutch adjustment. Not a difficult thing to do - easy and quick. You will also need to follow that up with a check to the clutch lever adjustment.

After you do the above, if the clutch still misbehaves, you will have to check into other things as suggested. If you don't know what oil is in the crankcase, drain it and replace it. My choice is any name brand 15W40 diesel oil. This is a great oil for our older engines. Then, on to clutch repair if the clutch still slips. BTW, if the wrong type oil was previously used and that is causing clutch slippage, it will take a little time to work that out of the plates.

 

[lhaolpa]

Oliver's right and others have mentioned this before as well.When you drain the oil,get a ziptie and tie the clutch lever shut,as this will allow the clutch to drain better.Then allow the oil to drain out overnight to drain thoroughly.The 15w40 oil is designed for the stress of diesel motors,and has more zzdp,an additive made of zinc and phosphorous which attaches and embeds in the bearings,providing a buffer between metals.It won't adhere to the cork which makes up the friction plates of the clutch.It also gives low temp starting capabilities as well,though in extreme cold,you may have to allow a bit more time for warm up. Walmart sells a store brand,which is either Mobil One or Quaker State/Penzoil,depending on which part of the country you live in,which is good oil either way,and they also have Rottela and Delo which are good as well. lha

 

[xschris]

Walmart has this as well it is the right weight and is made for bikes with wet clutches and the price is like $3.50 a quart

 

[lhaolpa]

The oil you pictured is good,but Yamaha specs 20w40,not 50,and unless you live in a hot environment,it's too thick on startup and for cruising.for short runs or around town,it would be alright,and probably wouldn't hurt anyway,just a little thick for a motor that's tight. lha

 

[OliverB]

What a lot of folks don't know and understand is that the 15W40 oils usually referred to as "diesel oils" were formulated for diesel engines and HARD WORKING GAS ENGINES. That statement used to be on every container. Haven't looked recently so I don't know if it is still there. Not talking about the oils formulated for modern high efficiency diesel engines but those designed for older diesels. A lot of small engine manufacturers around the world still specify 15W40 oil for their engines. I had four motor scooters from three diff manufacturers in the past few years, from 50-275 cc, that all specified this oil.

 

[xschris]

These motors are far from "tight". The top end has no bearings and only plane plain ones in the lower end. Yamaha stopped make the 20w-40 a few years ago and I have seen the factory shop manual say 20w-50 unless you run with temps below 40f than use 10w-30 I don't know. I have been using 20w-50 for years in these old bikes. I would think the newer ones would be more sensitive to oil weight. I had a 80 cb750 that called for 10w-40 but that is a much different engine.

 

[xs400neophite]

yeah I tend to think temperture also played a part on slippy clutch?