[GoNOW]

My 1989 t-dub (known as Papa Smurf), seems to have chewed up 5th gear. 1-4th is just fine, but in 5th gear, there is a crunching sound and feel, sort of like if I am lugging the engine badly in an high gear.



No impacts or anything else. I just shifted from 4th to 5th and noticed a new noise it didn't make before.



Does this sound like a gear with missing teeth, or a bad bearing?



I am going to drop the oil tomorrow and look for metal bits.



This is my daily driver (avg 70 miles a day), and my funds are limited.

I am debating changing my gearing from 15/50 to 15/45 and use 4th as my 5th.

 

[rm_hm]

Possible problems from past threads. Not a lot of info in here on gears going out



bent selector fork or worn dogs on the 5th gear pinion





clutch plates





loose or dry chain. It may be chain snatch and whine at certain speeds.





Many report "There is a"whine" like an old truck rear end under load in 5th gear." but it's just normal.





If you have a gear tearing itself apart in there, chances are it will spread to 1 thru 4th if you keep running it.









Good luck

 

[GoNOW]

It goes into and out of 5th just fine, so I am not sure it's a shifter fork or dog problem.



I just rebuilt the clutch, and it has a new chain and sprockets.



I was riding it up a nice twisty road, in 4th for a few miles, and when I got to a flat spot, I shifted to 5th and noticed the new noise and feel.

It sort of sounds like the normal 5th gear whine, only 10 times worse.



I have not heard of any weak spots in the TW transmission, but I figured I would pick the collective brain of the forum here before I split the case.



This bike tends to cause and fix problems on it's own. For a good week, the kick starter would not come back up, but that fixed itself yesterday. I am really hoping 5th will just be fine in a week.

 

[qwerty]

Maybe whatever fouled the kicker has moved on to the transmission?

 

[ronnydog]

My 1989 t-dub (known as Papa Smurf), seems to have chewed up 5th gear. 1-4th is just fine, but in 5th gear, there is a crunching sound and feel, sort of like if I am lugging the engine badly in an high gear.



No impacts or anything else. I just shifted from 4th to 5th and noticed a new noise it didn't make before.



Does this sound like a gear with missing teeth, or a bad bearing?



I am going to drop the oil tomorrow and look for metal bits.



This is my daily driver (avg 70 miles a day), and my funds are limited.

I am debating changing my gearing from 15/50 to 15/45 and use 4th as my 5th.

The tranys are very tough and if you need parts I have a few of them.



Ronnydog

 

[GoNOW]

Yep. 5th gear is toast. Every other gear looks great and all bearings are perfect. The kick starter problem was because the shredding gears had toss metal bits into gap where the kick starter shaft fits into the case. Both the shaft and the case are eaten up, but it's only the kick starter, so I don't see anything a good cleaning will not fix.





There is a TT225 transmission gearset on ebay right now. Assuming I stick with the tw200 the output shaft, think it will fit and give me 6 speeds?

 

[elime]

How many miles on you TW when this happened?

 

[GoNOW]

At least 21k. Speedo cable was "missing" when I got it, so I suspect it's much more.

 

[elime]

Any idea what caused it?

 

[GoNOW]

I have no idea. But I have been seeing more metal bits in the oil screens for some time. I am guessing a tooth broke off some time ago and it's been eating itself up ever since.

 

[qwerty]

Our Japanese members report remachining the TW countershaft to accept the TT-R 6-speed. The shaft will not work as is. There will also likely be some parts swapping headaches with the clutch, depending on year of each bike and the clutch you choose to use.

 

[GoNOW]

A big thanks to ronnydog for supplying the gears required. Papa Smurf is back on the road, and with all new gaskets, it does not leak oil any more.

 

[qwerty]

Just goes to show you can't keep a good Smurf down.

 

[GoNOW]