[Chromenomad]

Hello All,

Well I looking for a few ideas of what to look at to fix my issues outlines below.

History:
I have a 2006 650 Strom with 42K on it currently. I have owned it since the early 30K's. The guy before me was doing a lot of off road riding with it on ORV trails and decided to get rid of it to buy a dirtbike.

Problem:
Shifting from 1st -> N has always been a bit of a challenge on this bike. Some days it works great, others it is a bit of a fight. Early last year i started to run into many issues with clutch drag when the clutch was squeezed in. After trying to adjust it about 20 times i mostly eliminated that problem unless the bike gets really hot. I am a MSF RiderCoach so after doing drills in classes the clutch gets quite warm and start to drag and pull quite bad at a stop.

Last year right before i put it away it started to fall out of gear on me. I can be pulling away from a light in 1st or 2nd and as soon as i roll off it will go to N. It is also happening when I am engine braking down through the gears. As soon as i hit 2nd it will fall to N. This doesn't happen every time, but at least 2-3 times per ride. Some days it acts fine but then just at a steady speed it will fall out of 2nd.

I had had to replace a clutch before so I'm not terribly scared of that but a few friends think it may be a transmission issue.

Thanks for any innput.

 

[badjuju]

I think your friends are on the right track, unfortunately. It sounds like the gear dogs on 2nd are worn, possibly in combination with a worn/bent shift fork. Whether it occurred prior to your ownership (from the PO abusing the tranny in off-road situations) or as a result of long-standing problems with clutch engagement is a moot point. You're prolly looking at splitting the cases and replacing parts. A do-it-yourself job might be worth it cost-wise, but if you're not mechanically inclined and would need to avail yourself of shop services, your best bet would be to sell or trade the bike and find another in better shape.

 

[V-Tom]

Just to eliminate a possibility: when you adjusted the clutch did you adjust the pushrod in the housing where the front sprocket is?

If you can, take a look at the worm gear adjusted mechanism and see that the arm the cable attaches to is firmly attched to the screw mechanism. On my 2006 DL 650 I had the spot wel that held the arrm firm break and it allowed the arm to move a bit making proper clutch actuation impossible.

..Tom

 

[Chromenomad]

I have adjusted the pushrod along with the cable multiple times. Also replaced the cable mid-summer last year as it frayed out.

I havent looked at the spot weld on the arm, I will try to check that out tonight.

 

[568v8]

lubrication ?

Just a suggestion. My Vee shifts much better with full synthetic oil. Of course being more slippery might make your problems even worse. I've never even seen Vstrom real gears and dogs, just pictures, but I'd suggest that you try a variety of kinds and weights of oils before you tear things apart.
You mentioned that your clutch gets hot? So it must be slipping.
Is it properly and completely engaging?

The pushrod can get gummy from wax build up is you use some kinds of chainwax lubrication. Be sure the rod is well clean.