well my journey continues! worked out my previous problems and now this.......too keep it short i changed over from a 21t-23t c/s to help me out on the short highway jaunts,after about 12ml the bike just revved and i had no gear!(in 4th) pulled over and thought maybe i fouled a plug and lost a cyclinder but alls well there,started again and pulls out fine in 1st..then to 2nd.. then to 3rd..then into 4th....okay everything seems fine then about at 55mph and 3000 on the tach i lay into it and wham! big slip,lay off the thrott and alls well,so i keep cruising too get her home and try to lay into it again and bam! jumps outa gear... what the fudge is happening? have the manual but before i do alot of s@#t needlessly figured i'd get some input before wrenching...could the 2t jump be causeing this? i do'nt know

 

you now have more load on the clutch (not so much at highway speed)more at take off,try adjusting the clutch as per the factory service manual,check the cable make sure everything is free, the higher the gear you are in the more load there is on the clutch

 

update: did the adjustment on the clutch per manual,took bike down too a lil 1ml stretch close to home,started out from a stop and wound out 1st too 4000 rpm then too 2nd 4000 rpm ditto too 3rd ditto too 4th,while in 4th i crack her open and slip,high rev,back easy and alls well,so now i run outa room and repeat the procedure again and while in 4th i lay in some more and it totaly jumps outa gear? repeat again but this time i try to hold shift lever up with foot as i get aggresive on the thrott in 4th and i do feel resitance wanting too through it outa gear......mind you if i just cruise and not jump on the thrott it runs fine.....does this sound like a shifting fork,or whatever is supposed to keep it in gear?

 

is jumping out of gear or is the clutch slipping? or both?

 

both,if you mildly advance thrott then slip,if you jump on it then outa gear,only in 4th? mind you i never had any clutch issues prior to installing the 23t c/s(scratching head) also it does'nt show any signs of slip from 3rd too 4th only at above 3000rpm in 4th,i guess i could drop back too the 21t and see if it gos away,been at 4000rpm with that at 60mph and no problem hence the reason i did the jump,engine sounded like it wanted to implode...i just can'nt see what the 2t jump would alter to cause that,like you said i can see it happening pulling out or if i lugged the motor down but this is not the case,all gears from 1st-3rd no issues cripes even into 4th ok,its only in 4th and at or above 3000 rpm, like i said earlier i drove all the way home on a interstate after the problem occured in 4th and as long as i did'nt crack her too hard i could cruise at 55-60 fine...just hate too rip it all down just too go back too the 21t and go see if it gos away..but i might have too...

 

Sounds to me like you got two problems:

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.

 

thanks,advice taken,what i plan to do is go back to the 21t and live with it for the summer and also see if the symptoms go away,if not then i'll tear it down,if it behaves i'll baby her till the season is over and then do the tear down,i'm doing the switch back today so i'll report the results later....again thanks

 

A good solution. In response to my bitching about the $480 cost of the rear brake rotor (mine's boogered) on my BMW K1200RS, a fellow posed this rhetorical question:

"Reckon how many sets of pads you can get for $480?"

So we're both in the position of hoping for a bit of good luck. Do let us know how it turns out.

 

ok you might want to try a barnett clutch,as you can run them wet or dry it also gives a better bite.when using a bigger sprocket.could also be your clutch is worn or burnt and needs replacement

 

well i did the switch back too the 21t and its the same..slip in fourth only.would'nt it slip in all gears if the clutch was going? any way i took the primary cover off and released the spring plate and all the clutch plates still look new! no burnt smell and the primary fluid is clean,i'm going too let someone else with a lil more knowledge look at the clutch disc to confirm..if they say it looks okay then on to the next step of pulling the tranny.