Hay Blue
I agree with you totally about the bike (zx14) being such a great machine, I love the bike and if I had a choice to get another through legal course, I would not hesitate in doing so. It's the one bike that does "fit" me and my needs very well. I have had three other Kaws' 2 zrx1200r and 1 zx9r in the past with no great issues either.
I guess your luck has to turn on you sometimes, that's all. I had to have that "special" bike unfortunately.

* Last updated by: extrapilot on 12/17/2009 @ 3:03 PM *

Where would the debris fly into that shift star, settle into the drum's roller bearing and try to roll over the chunk trying to wedge under the cage. So, yeah, kind of makes sense the shifting would hang up some.

No.......... Look at my photo and see the large rivet head,( circled in yellow) that holds that arm to the star, the arm must move to and from the star cam. Metal got caught under the the head of the rivet and did not allow the arm to reset all the way to the star to catch another lug and therefore could not turn the drum enough to get another gear. It works much like a ratcheting mechanism.

Make sense now?

* Last updated by: extrapilot on 12/17/2009 @ 3:01 PM *

Just a bump in the road Extra-you'll be sailin fine soon!

Well no, extra, because you said there was no metal being picked up by a magnet. I see nothing shaved off the yellow circle you made in the photo. If that shift arm moved out into the outer basket, you'd hear some hard banging if not bend the arm and cause a lot of aluminum to build on that arm you have circled. It's clean.

The heat color at that shaft might be on purpose via manufacturing some temper in it. I'm not sure, seeing I cannot see the arm in the FSM. My scenario is that the aluminum was being banged off, lodged in the drum roller, not the star roller say. Because that roller can drag over the star if it was locked. But the drum's bearing, I can see a chunk under a ball and drag that some.

And without physically holding the parts and particles to view, I can only assume how that could hang in gear, but to show nothing of aluminum transfer to the circled part... I can't see what you are pointing at then. Show me the aluminum transfer on the bottom of that circled part. I think the clutch turns clock wise, so that would have to peel the back of the clutch outer material onto the bottom of that thrust. Make sense?

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RE-Read the post to where the metal (aluminum is coming from on my UPDATED post) the basket is spraying toward the direction of the yellow area I circled, never said it was making contact there. The springs in the basket are loose causing aluminum to spray at that point.

Remember HUB-that pic is off the Shift Star Site-not Extra's bike.And that heat discoloration-Normal-factory deal-mine has it as well.

pilot: ... I was seeing the glittery metal in the oil from new.

Roger, re-read. I was trying to imagine how much was wearing from the get go. What do the piston skirts look like; what do the cam towers look like; what do the oil pump blades look like? If they are clean enough, the springs hammering on the basket would be like someone placing their tool box on the swing arm and that tool flopping around inside will turn to powder or etch the box with a hole in it. That kind of powder hammering was going on with the springs against the basket if that part was the cause.

I threw my trans in gear, stepped on the back brake, whilst I loaded the fork of the basket. I did this through the filler cap hole. I thought I was going to bust a fork tab off while the screwdriver slipped and sheered a sliver off the fork tang, ear, whatever you call it. The bike being in gear, stops the big gear from moving; with the brake on as well. This will stop any crank movement. I pulled in the clutch lever so just the outer basket would float. NADA! Mine is nice and tight.

I could see how you have a too loose a chain and the shifting would suffer. I could see that same principal, where the lag time of the clutch basket being that loose would have the same kind of effect.

... -that pic is off the Shift Star Site-not Extra's bike.

Blue, I did not need to re-read that part. I sort of described the stock roller (pg. 9-39) would not be the linkage problem, but the roller bearing that holds the drum in the case. Those aluminum flakes may not stop the drum from rolling, being the material is soft enough to be crushed.

The teeth on that clutch outer can whip some air all over in that area. The springs ride about that close to the circled part. Between the windmill effect of the gear, the close quarters of the aluminum spit, some chunks may find there way in the bearing if that peppered aluminum is all over inside the engine, whatda think? Basket delay or drum hang? Wait! Why am I asking you? WOT say ye extra mile?

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Apparently HUB you slipped and forgot I'm a dumb yokel who don't know shit about my motorcycle! God knows that shift star kit on there looks like friggin Greek to me!Let alone....install one!

* Last updated by: blue07 on 12/18/2009 @ 4:59 PM *

Powder would be an accurate explanation of the glittery stuff in the oil. You have to empty the drain bucket just enough to leave a small film on the bottom and go outside with good day light to see it. It was there for sure, and I collected a sample in a glass jar, let it settle and you can see it. The stuff is quit weird, but no enough of it was large enough to do any real damage to the internal parts, bearings, skirts, oil pump looked good and the cam journals/housings all look real good to my surprise. I guess the stuff is soft enough to not do real damage to the engine parts. On the other hand, bearing material would of ripped the shit out of everything, the engine would not lasted but a few hundred miles from new.

I guess the stuff is soft enough to not do real damage to the engine parts.

I think in this instance, "Size Matters."

Between both bikes here with downed engines (you and heathun), the material is not large enough to cause damage. Sort of small enough to pass through the parts being they are not .003" thick, and say a clearance gap of .0025" bearing insert clearance... For argument sake... You can see it would take a pretty big piece of material to get lodged into the float of that clearance.

And the bearing insert being the softest metal is designed to let a big chunk depress into the surface then fly out. If rods are popping at random, I have no clue why first gen bikes blow and others log on the hard miles without a glitch of a problem.

* Last updated by: Hub on 12/18/2009 @ 6:53 PM *

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