Transmission work question

[tenni128]

As I posted elsewhere, I have finally gotten ahold of my good friends '69 R69US. The mileage reads a little over 30,500, but who knows. Anyway, I'm not going to be able to start putting the bike together until spring, and wanted to have the transmission gone through, repaired, and signed off with a clean bill of health. Any advice (or takers that need side work) on who I should contact to have this done? I know there are several shops that could, but any recommendations from someone who's racked up some miles with good results would be helpful. Also of some importance is location. I'm in San Diego and would like to find something on the left coast if at all possible...
Thanks in advance.
-Brian

[Duane Ausherman]

Don't limit yourself to a "short distance" as once you pack it up, it can go anywhere for work.

[tenni128]

Fair enough. So, if I were to send this trans "anywhere", where should it go? I would like to make it go away by early December, and have it done when i get home in May. The motor I can figure out. Something about slingers...anyway, thanks for the thoughts. I'm absolutely concerned with making this a rider, not a trailer queen, but if I'm having it done at all I want it to last another 30k miles.

[Major Softie]

IF it really only has 30k, on it (I know, we can't really know for sure), then another 30k is extremely likely with no work whatsoever. If the bike is driveable right now, put new lube in it and take it for a nice ride. If it shifts fine now ("fine" for these transmissions means a little clunky), then I wouldn't touch it. If you can't give it a real test right now, I can see why you might want to make it right while the bike is torn apart, but you still might be wasting money and time.

[Kurt in S.A.]

I wouldn't think you could go wrong at Irv Seaver's in Orange, or at least asking them for a recommendation. Otherwise, my /2 stuff would go to Vech at Bench Mark Works.

Kurt in S.A.

[Duane Ausherman]

To only have 30 k miles at that age tells me that it sat around for a long time. As we all know, that is bad. Concerning the transmission, many parts were sitting out of the oil for extended periods. Especially if the bike sat in a place with changing temperatures, then it would breath ambient air in and out the breather vent, or somewhere. Unless it sat in the desert, it got humidity in it too. That means rust. Rust isn't a good thing for bearings.

This rust won't show up in riding for some time. If you can afford it, then feel free to spend the money to have it opened up and gone through. Were I to go that route, I would ride it first enough to know that it is performing well. I would drain the oil while hot and carefully check it for sludge and metal on the magnetic plug. A complete evaluation of function may show some error that the rebuilder might need to know.

You may not be qualified by experience to know the huge variation in the /2 transmissions. Find a local who has plenty of this experience.......... if possible. Since it is all apart, this is fairly useless advice at this point. The transmission can be bench tested, but few know how.

You should be able to get someone to open it up and tell you what was found. I would suggest replacing the bearings, inspecting for shifter wear and respacing the shaft endplay as a minimum.

I would probably not go into the lower end of the engine for slinger work at this point. Depending upon your expectations, you may not need to do it at all.

At this point, my advice is to keep your money in YOUR pocket. Read and learn about what you own.

I have no recommendations as far as the shop is concerned. I would trust very few with my transmission.

[tenni128]

Very useful advice, thank you. I have no intention of going into the motor itself until I get it running again. I suppose I should have provided some history. The bike was found in the basement of a house my friend purchased in 1978. Mileage was very close to what it is now as, according to him, 'they took it apart' not too long after that. It has sat, under a blanket, in his garage ever since between years spent in Santa Monica, Yucca Valley and finally northern Nevada circa 2003. That's when I met him, saw the bike, and started after him to get it going. Finally, last year he caved, and gave it to me pending the loan of my R90/6 so he'd have one to ride. Though the terms were largely symbolic, as he really just gave it to me, it frees up some space and keeps the /6 on the road while I'm gone for the next half year or so. WRT the trans. I have the /6, and ride Guzzis mainly, so it's not the agricultural feel that bothers me. In fact, working the drive shaft and shifting through the gears it feels functional. It's the kickstarter that seems troublesome. It works, but sometimes binds up, and doesn't really retract on it's own. My thinking was that it might be worth having it gone through by someone who knows how to look at them while I was gone. I am certainly capable of doing the work myself as it comes up, but someone who's built a few /2 boxes would know what's what better and faster than I would. That said, I don't want to drop it off at the first place with a "we service all makes" sign, either. I'll do some more digging, then.

[Duane Ausherman]

You have a couple of classic symptoms of the /2 transmission. My website explains them both. Do you know of it? w6rec.com

[tenni128]

Thanks for the link, Duane. So, according to your experience, the failure of the kicker to return could be fixed by shortening that small spring by a half coil or so. That also means, conceivably, that nothing major is wrong there and I can afford to leave it be. It could loosen with use and a case full of fresh yak fat. The other symptom I have is that it sometimes feels 'jammed' when pushing the kicker through it's stroke. This seems to be remedied by rotating the output shaft a bit (as if rocking the bike fore and aft a bit). I didn't read anything specific to that. Does that raise any danger flags? Also, do you recommend I verify the alignment of the trans and motor as per your method just to be safe?
My main concern is that I could break something expensive and unobtainable by not looking for something easy before I ride this thing.

[George Ryals]

When the kicker is at the top of its stroke, the qudrant gear on the kicker is completely disengaged from the idler gear in the kick start gear train. As the stroke starts on the kicker lever the teeth on the quadrant can butt against the top of the teeth of the idler gear. When you rock the bike for and aft the idler gear is moved and the gears mesh. You should always "feel" the lever into engagement and advance a few degrees before stroking it through to crank the engine.