4th gear slippage
1) the clutch is slipping. Your new, steeper spocket combination only served to tease out the marginal condition of your clutch -- or its adjustment. Adjusting the clutch is set out in detail in any manual (FSM, Clymer) that deals with XL's. But assuming you know the adjustment procedure, it sounds to me like there's a new clutch in your future.
2) Jumping out of gear is most likely caused by worn dogs on the gears themselves, or (less likley) incorrect assembly of the transmission, with worn bearings or shafts bringing up a distant third.
In the mean time, don't slip the clutch and don't let it jump out of gear. Both will get substantially worse if you let 'em do it.
Lastly, you might consider the wisdom of 'jumping on' an aging sporty. I tend to give mine a loving coax from time to time, and it hasn't seen 4,000 rpm since the Carter administration.
1) the clutch is slipping. Your new, steeper spocket combination only served to tease out the marginal condition of your clutch -- or its adjustment. Adjusting the clutch is set out in detail in any manual (FSM, Clymer) that deals with XL's. But assuming you know the adjustment procedure, it sounds to me like there's a new clutch in your future.
2) Jumping out of gear is most likely caused by worn dogs on the gears themselves, or (less likley) incorrect assembly of the transmission, with worn bearings or shafts bringing up a distant third.
In the mean time, don't slip the clutch and don't let it jump out of gear. Both will get substantially worse if you let 'em do it.
Lastly, you might consider the wisdom of 'jumping on' an aging sporty. I tend to give mine a loving coax from time to time, and it hasn't seen 4,000 rpm since the Carter administration.
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