Slipping gear lever Hi, Newbie here, A chap at work has a low mileage 1996 VFR750 sitting doing nothing a he wondered if I wanted for a few quid ! I have put on the road a couple of old 1980’s Yamahas and British bikes before that so getting it fit for the road is not a major issue for me, carbs, forks, brakes and chain and sprocket would be fairly straight forward, I will check the charging system as I seems that this is a common fault, but ( and there is always a but ) he tells me that the only problem he can remember from parking it up was that the gear selector is slipping on the shalf, now with all your massive knowledge, what is the best way of correctly solving this problem, will it be a case of stripping the gearbox and replacing/re machining the shalf, ( how much of a major job is this ? ) or is there a easier method ?? One future query, I have never had a bike with full fairing, no doubt there will be plenty of cracks and splits, how easy is it to repair these ? Thank you forum friends – the font of all knowledge !
Re the gear lever it depends on the damage, it could be as simple as a stripped thread or snapped bolt on the lever clamp causing it not to grip. I've seen this on a few old bikes where a monkey used a wrench! This could damage the splines over time. Depending if the splines are damaged & you don't want to strip the shaft out to replace it there are a few options;- 1. If as above, bolt/thread on lever is the issue, then replace the lever with a new or OK one! 2. Or drill out the thread I think its M6 so 6mm drill. Then use a separate Nut & Bolt right through the lever. 3. Or if splines are damaged. Then set the lever where you like it & then mark it & the end of the shaft. Then drill out the bolt hole next size up, I think it’s an M6 so go M8. Now mark where the new bolt will contact the shaft cut out & with a 8mm round file notch the notch to allow the new bolt through, don't overdo it as it needs a snug fit. Attach lever & use new bolt, it can be threaded in the lever or use a separate nut. As far as the fairing go, not sure if the old ones are ABS or some other plastic, but there are plastic repair kits out there. If it’s a contacting crack, then with ABS you can use acetone to melt it back together, just brush it on wait till the ABS goes tacky & wiggle the parts into the right alignment. I've used araldite on some small pieces with good effect, just make sure you thoroughly clean & degrease the parts, then score up the edges & surrounding area to give the araldite something to key into. The 24hr set stuff holds much stronger than the quickset stuff, but remember it will run, so may need masking tape over it to keep it where you want some thickness. For large cracks & small voids, buy some fine alloy mesh & then add araldite to the wound & place the mesh on the back, force it down gently so the araldite oozes through, add more on top if required. This will reinforce the area & bridge gaps. When set you can use body filler to fill the void & sand/paint as required. If you want a really good finish there are plastic repair places out there that can do brilliant work, but it’s expensive.
Cheers Mohawk, If it's just a spline and clamping bolt / nut arrangement I think I can sort that out without to much trouble - like the oversize bolt and file idea though. Redcorfe
