Curvy gearbox problems
 

Long time no see. Partially because my SV has been off the road for a while now, but I want to get it on the road again.

I've got one problem i'm not sure where to go with. With the bike running, I cannot get the bike out of first. When starting it from neutral, I can go up through second third etc. and back down again, but its a little stiff. If I then go down into first it ain't coming back out again, until the engine is stopped.

back story all included as may be relevant(?):

It dumped all its oil onto the road a couple of years ago and seized. In the mean time, I have stripped it, got the crank and main bearing sorted, and rebuilt. I had it on the road for its shake down whilst still in its old MOT, and it was perfect for 10-15 miles, then clouds of smoke. New job/New wife meant it took me 6 months to hunt down the issue (cam chain tensioner had cracked at the mounting bolt and was weeing oil onto the exhaust, sorted) bike start and seemed to ride fine. New oil at this point. and booked MOT. Once it was warmed up clouds of smoke again so cancelled the MOT. Then didn't do much with it for a year, as I had a gixxer and life got in the way. I want it back on the road now and I think the smoke was just the oil not being burned off previously. Doesn't seem to do that now anyway. I put new oil in again, probably back in Jan, but have only started and warmed it up a few times since then (again life - gixxer and a now sorted brake issue). Once I had the brake issue sorted the gearbox issue has now come up.

what i've done/checked:
little plastic cover off the clutch/gear lever area. Its spotless, cos its only done 15 dry miles since a full rebuild.

There is a small amount of play (half a mm) in the selector stalk in and out, not sure if this is normal.

I've taken the oil filler cap off and the clutch sounds a little sticky when I pull it. I am not 100% sure there is not still some grease from the rebuild still in the oil mix, though there have been 3 changes since then.

Checked/adjusted the clutch cable, biting point is just after the initial pull, well away from the bar.

What would be the next things to check?

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

Will it cleanly go from first to neutral whilst moving? You could put on a paddock stand to test this (be very careful).

If better when moving, check the clutch plates for warping.

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

Clutch adjustment is not done at the handlebar end, it is done at the bottom end by setting up the worm gear actuator properly.
The other easy check/service item is the gear lever pivot where it sits over the footrest assembly. These get sticky over time and can cause exactly the issue you describe.Lube it up and see if that cures it.

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

I had this problem with my 1999 Curvy.

Using the,"Clutch Mantra" info here helped,

http://www.svrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54588


Also I recently fitted a new Clutch lifter/Actuator arm as mine had some slop in it.I found when I took the old one out it was missing some of the Ball bearings so serviced and chronicled the job here,

https://cx500.000webhostapp.com/SV650ClutchLifter.html

Pretty good now but I sometimes still have trouble getting into neutral from first until I blip the throttle.I tend to stay in 2nd when coming to a stop as I find easier just to tap it down into neutral.

Other than these occasional minor niggles I've found the SV gearbox to be superb.


Cost me £1.69 for the 1/8" ball bearings off eBay :)

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

Does go in whilst moving, at least downtrend lane out the back.

Next thing to check is the actuator, but this was adjusted properly before, and looking at the plates with the filler cap off, they seem to separate OK.

It does seem like it more get be the plates, so I'll try changing them. I seem to remember them being fairly warn anyway from two years of commuting in London with a new rider (lots of low speed clutch slipping)

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

Oil can make a difference as well.I'm running,"Smith&Allen" 10w40 Motorcycle oil and apart from aforementioned tiny niggles my 1999 curvy runs like a,"Singer Sewing Machine".

https://www.smithandallan.com/produc...emi-synthetic/

£19 with delivery for a 5L not the silly 4L ones :)

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

These are 2 fantastic links, thanks for putting them up, very clear and straightforward to follow.

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

Thanks for that Tamsen.I like to chronicle jobs I do if I think they have not been covered elsewhere or I can add something and of course,Save Money :p

One of the first jobs I did was to fit an After Market horn on the front left of my Curvy so I could remove the stock Horn bracket.This makes it pretty easy to get to my front plug.

https://i.imgur.com/Vnstao6.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/Gv5Dnf4.jpg

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

Yeah that front plug is a pain! Didn't think about changing the position of the horn, that is a great idea, do you have the link of the bracket you fitted?

Re: Curvy gearbox problems
 

I think the two strips/bracket came with the Stebel TM80 horn I bought similar to this,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stebel-TM...IAAOSwhzRaca71




but you can quite easily make a 90 deg one out of a decent strip of metal.It's not the most elegant job I've done but it's been secure for over 4,000 miles and I didn't like the weedy stock Horn.

https://i.imgur.com/YmmzY7P.jpg


Here's a video and his seems to have the strip with it.Fast forward to over min,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Fqe8qlZ0I

PS
The Rad grill you can see I made out of a 15" Speaker grill :)