Shift spring breakage

cliffo

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Moderator note - We've had a few reports of this. Nowhere near enough to be alarmed, but IF lubing the shifter doesn't fix a problem with shifting, then this is something to be aware of. Therefore, this is being made into a sticky in the Power Sub-forum.
Before thinking or posting that you think you might have a broken spring, make sure to follow the other sticky here ---> http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=15230.0
Thx
CW

Not sure if this is the right place to post this? But I am gonna tell my story just the same to try and help any others that might be having the same issues..

A couple of months ago my 2012 Tenere with then 43000 ish miles on it began to have some shifting issues. When down shifting from third to second and first the shifter would move but the gears wouldn't change... Did some research on the web and always got brought back to this site. Everybody says lube the pivot bolt for the shifter and all would be well in the world. Did that and it didn't help any. So I thought, change the clutch fluid. Did that and it didn't help very much. Another post said change wiggle the shifter with my foot before shifting and all would be right n the world.. That worked for a while then the poor thing started giving me some issues up shifting also. so I then changed out the clutch plates yesterday and put in a Barnett set of clutches. Beautiful things those are..... Clutch worked just fine but now there is a whole big bunch of play in the shifter. Just by chance found another post and the rider was talking about how he was on a ride and was having issues shifting. I think he might have been riding to or in Alaska, anyways... He took bike into a shop and the mechanic listened to what the rider had to say and said he knew what the problem was. The mechanic pulled the clutch basket off and removed the shifting rod and there is a torque spring on it. The mechanic was squeezing the spring to show the rider how it had lost its springiness and the spring broke, $5 dollar part. So.... I told my buddy that was helping me about the story. We remove the clutch basket and what do you know.... The shift detent thingy is swinging freely in the wind. We pull the shift rod out and the torque spring has lost its springiness and what happens next...... The spring breaks... Moral of this short story is.... If your having shifting issues, yes you might need to lube the pivot bolt for the shifter. But if you have slop at the shifter, like there is nothing holding it in place. Pull the clutch basket and the shift rod and check the $5 spring. If it breaks while in the bike, it is pretty much a straight shot for the broken piece to fall into the motor and play all kinds of hell with the motor and transmission. So now I am waiting for a $5 spring to arrive Friday so I can put her back together. No I did not ride her hard and yes I change my oil every 3-4 thousand miles and only use 20-50 oil and the bike has almost 46000 miles now.

Hope this helps somebody out there some where!!!!

::021::
 

OldRider

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Re: Shifting issues

This spring is the same spring/part number Yamaha has used on a lot of their motorcycles. There have been several reports of it breaking on the S10. For cheap insurance, I bought a spare and put it under the seat, just in case.
 

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cliffo

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Re: Shifting issues

The grenade spring. Cause if that bastards breaks while in a running motor, that's what its gonna do to your motor..???
 

snakebitten

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Gotta be rare for any ADV ole-timer to not know the term doohickey. (Or Eagle mike!)

But please, don't associate my TBDBITW with doohicky. LOL
That's just dead wrong!
 

tomatocity

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snakebitten said:
Gotta be rare for any ADV ole-timer to not know the term doohickey. (Or Eagle mike!)

But please, don't associate my TBDBITW with doohicky. LOL
That's just dead wrong!
Google says... The Biggest Dirt Bike In The World
 

scooter01

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To clarify and maybe help others. Can the shift shaft be removed from the engine to replace the shift return spring without removing the clutch basket ? I ask this in case of a roadside repair if I carry a spare return spring.
 

cliffo

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scooter01 said:
To clarify and maybe help others. Can the shift shaft be removed from the engine to replace the shift return spring without removing the clutch basket ? I ask this in case of a roadside repair if I carry a spare return spring.
No, you have to remove the clutch basket in order to get to the shift shaft rod. You will also have to disconnect the top shifter pivot thingy from the shift shaft on the clutch lever side of the bike. There is a C clip that hold the shaft in place behind that pivot thingy. With the basket out and the C clip removed, the shaft pulls right out. Bike is all back together and shifts better then I remember!!!
 

tomatocity

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Stopped at the local Yamaha dealer yesterday just to visit. While there I remembered the Shifter Return Spring. We looked it up and Mike remembered he had one in the return bin. We dug through a ton of items and there it was. Cost me $3.37 out the door. That will be added to my traveling spare parts/nuts and bolts. Never know where you will break down and how long a part would take to arrive.
 

Checkswrecks

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We are getting to have a lot of high mile bikes, and there are in the other Yamaha lines as well. This is such a rare event that I'm definitely not replacing one that is working with an unknown new one.
 

holligl

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Happy Snapper said:
Sounds like it might make sense to change the spring every say 20,000 miles? What do others think.
It sounds like it exhibits shifting issues before failure. My old job had an engineering term for this type of failure: "Graceful Degradation".
 

tomatocity

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Checkswrecks said:
We are getting to have a lot of high mile bikes, and there are in the other Yamaha lines as well. This is such a rare event that I'm definitely not replacing one that is working with an unknown new one.
Agree with you. That is why the spring will be in the spare parts kit.
 
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