| Author | Message | ||
     Rydin_d_cyclone |
Yes it's true. I guess my clunky boot made contact with the rather small shifter and my bike popped into 1st without clutch engaged. Trust me, I've beaten myself up over this to new and previously never experienced levels of pain and humilliation. Afterwords, the bike drove home and went through all gears without issues, but when I got home and drove into my garage on a slight incline, system stressed, I noticed something slipping and chugging. Immediately I imagined a very poorly and inexpensively cast 1st gear with a couple of teeth missing. Afterwords, after much wishful thinking and beating, I thought it might have something to do with the clutch basket or belt ... any reflections? BE COOL PLEASE, I've kicked myself too many times since. Thanks to all the brothers and sisters who've responded in the past. peace, rydin | ||
| Reepicheep |
I had that transmission apart on my M2, and its a really beefy system. I would be surprised if you could do that much damage with one accidental clutchless shift. See if it's your imagination. Do you still have the original primary chain tensioner? You might have loaded up the primary chain enough to crack the back plate... The new part is much better. | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
Hey Reep, Thanks for the reply. I was unaware that there's a tensioner in the '00 M2. I have noticed that the belt is making a squeeky rubber noise when I move the bike to and fro around the garage. The noise seems to be coming from the area around the trans pulley. Then there's the chugging sound when I go up a slight incline. Is the bike safe to drive? Whattya think? peace!!!!!!! | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
ok i just got that you're referring to the primary tensioner. i remember those being the white plastic things inside the primary case when i owned v twins of a different make (of U.S. origin). is this correct? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Exactly, it comes off with the primary cover (you will need a new primary gasket if yours is still stock, the new metal one can be reused). Do a search on "broken primary chain tensioner" for all the details and complete pictures. The new part solves the problem. A little bit of belt squeak is normal... if it sounds crunchy you have other issues... but I doubt that is an issue for you. I love my 9sx, but I will always have a place in my heart for my 00 M2. Cracked tensioners are ridable, though they will machine a nice groove in the inside of your primary cover... and if the plate breaks completely you then have a big chunk of metal in there floating around looking for mischief... Lots of great info in the knowledge vault. | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
Hey Reepster, You've given me extreme hope! I'll take a look at the tensioner over this weekend. Do you think I can ride a bit first? Will said damage be readily apparent? Thanks, R. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Rydin_d_cyclone You might also want to check your transmission pulley. They can spin the teeth right off. Dough that the drop into gear did it, but could have been the final straw. Joe | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
Thanks Joey K. I'm really a bit upset that now I have to wrench on this bike rather than riding it. Since I'm a reluctant mechanic and money's a bit tight right now, it might have to sit a while. Just bought a new gel battery too. Crap!!!!Is the chain tensioner plate visible through the inspection cover? I'd like to check for damage as Reep stated, but without removing the primary cover. I think I'd better start asking around for a repair manual. Do clymer or haynes make one? peace, Rydin. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Factory manual is your only option, but its a great manual. Except for the set belt tension section  If its cracked, you can ride it a bit, and it will just cut a triple chain shaped groove in the inside of your cover. Not good, but not immediate death. If it's broken, and a chunk comes off, then it could get somewhere that would lead to immediate death. To check it, you have to pull the cover, meaning you will need new fluid, and a new gasket (unless someone was already in there and put in the metal one). You could try and reuse the paper gasket with some hylomar / yamabond, or just doing the "form a gasket" stuff. Careful if it leaks though, it will oil down your rear tire. Been there, done the dounut. | ||
| Mikej |
If you have a small mirror and are handy with a flashlight you can see the primary tensioner plate assembly through the clutch inspection cover - sort of. You may or may not be able to tell if it is broken, the answer will be either yes or maybe as the crack may be on the far side of the plate. It's a simple enough task to remove the primary cover though and is probably good preventative maintenance to just go ahead and update the primary tensioner to the newer thicker one, plus this will count as a fluid change for the tranny as well. The hardest part could easily be removing the inspection cover. With a good fitting driver try to loosen one screw at a time, then snug it back down before going to the next screw. Once you've freed and re-snugged each screw then you should be good to just remove them and take a peek inside. Ask around and see if someone in your area has a manual you can look at until you can get one of your own. I can well understand being in a financial bind, but can at the same time state the generosity of fellow BadWebbers is amazingly commonplace around here. Start with the simple things, things you should be upgrading anyway. Then one by one you'll work your way to where ever the issue is. You don't want to be heading up over the Grapevine or up Angeles Crest and have something break. Hope this helps some. | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
Wow, you guys are the best! Thanks Reepster, Joey K (karma), and mikey J, (those would be your "good fella" names) for all of your sage and sound advice. I'm gonna pull the inspection cover tomorrow and take a peek. I really love this bike and need to make friends again with my toolbox and learn to wrench these bikes like you experts! Are any of you in the L.A. area? I tried to upload a pic but it was too big ... story of my life I guess. Peace, Rydin. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Lots of M2 fans lurking around here... Look at your front exhaust hanger as well... the one that supports the system close to where the pipe joins the exhaust can. Does it look like a big beefy upside down Y? If not, that should be on your short list of things to do as well... Let us know how it goes! | ||
| Mikej |
There's a freeware/shareware program found at xat.com which is really good and fairly easy to learn to a functional level for shrinking photos down to a web friendly size. I think I compress mine down do 70% and size down to 700 wide. Also there is photobucket.com where you should be able to get a free account, upload your pics, and then copy and paste in the url of the uploaded and automatically downsized photo. Paste the url into this site's imagelink command sequence. This pic started at over 800k in size and over 2,800 pixel wide, and with the xat program was reduced to 700 pixels wide and under 40k in memory size:  This is my own 2000 M2, occasionally for sale  , always fun to ride, and occasionally needing a little minor work. I sort of equate the ownership of a Buell to the ownership of a late 60's Chevy or any British sportscar, needing the regular attention of a weekend mechanic to tinker and mess with the usual small stuff. But with that said I'd have no problem hopping on the M2 and riding it anywhere with little concern about reliability. Future things to keep an eye on but require more disassembly to check are the stator wires and the shifter detent plate retaining clip, but I put those in the category of don't worry about them until either you are already in that deep or until you have an issue. And when you get ready to drain the fluids in the primary/tranny, I just use a siphon hose to get most of the lube out since that's easier for me than removing the drain plug. | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
Hep Reep and Mike! Mine has the racing header (I think), the aftermarket intake pod, a cylindrical and finned oil cooler, oil collector with mesh breather, and under the seat, carbon fiber fender eliminator kit... the previous owner put a lot of money and attention into this. I'll try to upload another pic. Keep the advice coming! If the bike is on the sidestand and I open the insp cover, will primary fluids leak out? | ||
| Mikej |
If they do then you can assume you have a bad main seal, another sometimes issue. But if all is normal the fluid only goes up to the bottom of the clutch spring plate (I think that's what the part is called) when the bike is sitting level, so lots of room to lean the bike over without pouring any fluids out. Remove the inspection cover, not the primary cover. The little two-screw cover is for checking your primary chain adjustment. | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
HERE'S AN UPDATE: I removed the insp cover and poked at the chain with my finger ... lots of play! In fact, with the bike on its sidestand I can push it from its resting position in the center of the hole, all the way up to the top of the hole with the bottom of the chain just slightly exposed. Man it sounds as though you guys are spot on concerning that tensioner. Does anyone have a scan of the pages from the manual to PM me? Are there any working downloads of the same info? I've got a bad case of the "self-doubts" and am a bit paranoid that I might hurt my baby. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance, Rydin near L.A. | ||
| Rydin_d_cyclone |
BTW, MikeJ, NICE M2!!! I reeally dig that luggage rack on the back! Any info on it? Peace, Rydin | ||
| Reepicheep |
I gave my M2 manual to the guy that bought my bike from the dealer (I traded it in, they sold it on ebay, I hunted the guy down). You are right, its pretty important to have the manual... you also need a replacement primary gasket. I have one hanging in my garage, pity you are not closer... The metal one costs a lot more, and is worth it for a lot of different reasons. | ||
| Mikej |
The rack is a Ventura rack, currently sitting on the garage floor. Picked up a bagger recently so I decided to de-barge the M2 a bit, got no idea what if anything else I'm going to do to it over the winter (if I keep it that long). (Reep, I hear some ebay sellers make great garage rugs, true?????) As far as swapping out the tensioner goes it's relatively low on the dificulty scale. Hardest parts are keeping the primary gasket in place as you reinstall the cover and ensuring you don't damage the o-ring on the shifter shaft. Getting the clutch cable housing off can be a little bit of a puzzle as well. Pay attention, take a few digital pics along the way to help remember how things looked before attacking it, use the proverbial milk crate, and it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Proverbial milk crate: used to sit upon and ponder things a bit before making errors or while trying to figure out a puzzling issue or aspect of the project. I've got an old milk can out in the garage and just saved a couple of bar stools from a curbside demise to use as an upgrade (and a higher perspective) from the milk crate. The milk crate is currently holding a chainfall hoist, which surprisingly has been used at time to work on Buells by others to perform other work on their Buells. Along with the service manual it is also good to have a copy of the parts book. The service manual instructs you what to do, and the parts book has exploded diagrams and sometimes out of date part numbers showing how things go together. I wish they were in one book, but someone in Tech Pubs figured out how to make an extra buck by splitting them up, but that's okay because they are both good to have. Check the RAN page, rider's assistence network,on the site here and see if there is anyone close to you with a tube frame Buell. Almost any of the tube frame Buells will be about the same for changing out the primary tensioner. These bikes are fairly basic to work on once you figure them out. Some issues are perplexing to figure out but that's just the way it is. Not a big deal, tools and patience are your friend. And if you're good with web search tools there is a .pdf copy of an S1 service manual floating around, though not specifically for your bike there is enough similarity to help you see how things go together. And apparently I've eaten a bit too mych left over Holloween candy so I'm going to go find something non-candy to eat now. | ||
| Djkaplan |
There is a downloadable service manual for an S1 that's right here on the BadWeb! http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/Manuals/S1_1 996-1997_Service/intro.pdf This place is great! | ||
| Djkaplan |
Here's the chapter you probably want to see... http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/Manuals/S1_1 996-1997_Service/BU6a.pdf | ||
| Reepicheep |
Forgot about that one! Thanks DJ! I recommend everyone buy the real factory manual and don't want to tell people to go find a bootleg CD somewhere. That S1 manual will be a little "wrong" for an M2, but will probably get you there fine for this job. I had forgotten we had a "sort of legit" copy here... | ||
| Djkaplan |
I believe there is stuff in there that needs to be updated... I haven't read the whole thing, but the torque specs for the crank nut are probably not correct per the revised spec. |
