Rocket stuck in top (5th) gear and now making grinding noise... 240HP

@MRJ Hey man you got any hints, tips, pictures, anything remotely handy you could help me with?? Seems like this may be a fairly long build!

Sam said:

@MRJ Hey man you got any hints, tips, pictures, anything remotely handy you could help me with?? Seems like this may be a fairly long build!

Click to expand...

Here's a link to get into the clutch...There was mention of the clutch shaft "button" breaking on some engines. It's near the finish of the video. But, I thought I'd provide this link for you...hope it helps. And...he goes on to the next video for clutch removal..etc.

Sam said:

@MRJ Hey man you got any hints, tips, pictures, anything remotely handy you could help me with?? Seems like this may be a fairly long build!

Click to expand...

Hi,
Sorry have not been on site for a while. Ok it sounds like you have chipped a gear or 2. These bikes run a constant mesh tranny so most of the stuff is spinning all the time so the noise from damage will be there.
On my bike when I did 3rd gear the bike made a heap of noise, was stuck in gear etc etc. once stopped and turned off I was able to free it up but the noise was still there. I have ordered 3rd gear output and 3/4th input.

My bike runs a turbo but it's de-tuned as I can't keep up with the fix it bills. This is the 4th time my engine has had gearbox issues over 8 years. Is it horsepower related ? Yes partially I think, is it rider ? Yes also partially, is it design ? Absolutely.... The gear sets have no capacity for end float shimming, the dogs run virtually no undercut so by design they can spin out on the odd occasion. triumph did an upgrade kit for the early ones like mine which was to machine off a set of dog posts on second gear dog as they were lower than the others. This meant that 50 percent of the time you could have shallow engagement contact. Now I have a **** load of backlash in second...

But I digress, there are bucket loads of Rockets out there with high HP that have had no issue so maybe I'm just lucky. **** happens, fix it and move on.
Engine removal, around 6-8 hrs, engine strip 3 hrs, assemble 3 hrs, back in bike to running stage 8-10 hrs. This is for a hack I his shed with a fridge close by. Pros like Nev probably drink less...

Ok, so now where in AUS are you ? Are you thinking of doing the repairs yourself ?

Cheers

Mike

Quick update, was putting a complete tutorial/build report together for this rebuild but unfortunately I had my mobile phone stolen which had all the progress pictures on it..... I will put together a detailed assembly post with all relative hints/tips included =]. At the moment I am still waiting on parts from triumph.... STUPID BACK ORDER BS!!! Once parts arrive I will be undercutting all drive dogs, and then beginning reassembly! Cannot wait to get this beast back on to the road! Sick of riding my jap bikes... they feel somewhat... uhh... feminine, for lack of a better description, since I have purchased my rocket HAHAHA

@Mittzy I am in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria

Sorry for the late reply.... had kinda lost all interest in this build for a while due to parts taking sooooo long.

@MRJ Strip has been completed by me, and re-assembly shall be also. I tend to do all my own work on my motorcycles due to so many nightmarish situations I have ended up in after taking my bikes to local motorcycle shops.....

During the tear down I found that the cam chain tensioner guide was snapped in half !! So in the end it is kind of lucky the gearbox went bang as the top end wasn't making any strange noise.... most probably due to the fact that the manual tensioner had been adjusted in (previous to me purchasing the bike) to compensate for the break.... Would have been a real shame if something had let go in the top end due to this.

So gearbox wise I found that 3rd and 4th had been engaged simultaneously due to a circlip jumping out of it's groove... stripped heaps of teeth and made a mess of 2 forks. @MRJ Maybe I should machine this groove deeper? Although I am concerned doing this could weaken the shaft to the point of failure, which would of course be catastrophic.

Anyway I shall continue to update this post as I go along. I have nearly $4000 AUD worth of parts coming on the 20th of this month... which wont come soon enough! I think I'm getting a stiffy just thinking about getting this thing back on the road! Wheel stand shots to come

Thank you all for your input!

Sam said:

Quick update, was putting a complete tutorial/build report together for this rebuild but unfortunately I had my mobile phone stolen which had all the progress pictures on it..... I will put together a detailed assembly post with all relative hints/tips included =]. At the moment I am still waiting on parts from triumph.... STUPID BACK ORDER BS!!! Once parts arrive I will be undercutting all drive dogs, and then beginning reassembly! Cannot wait to get this beast back on to the road! Sick of riding my *** bikes... they feel somewhat... uhh... feminine, for lack of a better description, since I have purchased my rocket HAHAHA

@Mittzy I am in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria

Sorry for the late reply.... had kinda lost all interest in this build for a while due to parts taking sooooo long.

Click to expand...

I am not sure if you are replacing the fourth gear or not but there is a company in the USA, Robinson Industries that has made a better fourth gear out put shaft side I know he has some in stock.
Below the back side of both gears the OEM one on the left



The front side of the new reinforced gear where the dogs mesh.



Hope this helps I've have seen a few guys shred the OEM gear

Robinson Industries

631-630-9219 His name is Bill

Get the box undercut by a proper person, it will help. 1and 1/2 degree dog angle is enough. Some one who uses a tool and cutter grinder or similar , not grinding by hand.One can make shims to shim the box properly and should do so. At the risk of blatant advertising, check our "made for the R3" cam chain tensioners. Good luck.

Actually @Sam if all your doing is the gear box you will not have to release the valve timing just roll the engine over and split her to get at the transmission. I did that when I blew my internal clutch hub bending the input shaft to the gear box. Easy job just take your time and follow the book.

Edit as I just noticed your post above about the cam chain guide. I hope the valves and pistons did not make contact. Have you pulled the head off yet? if not you might want to scope it first for a look see. also check the bucket clearance on the cam lobes if they are correct the valves are closing and your most likely lucky. in the time you rode her did you adjust the tensioner? Is it a blue manual one?

Sam, I salute you for your resolve!

It sounds like you picked up that Carpenterized Beast from blastedbones, a crazy-assed dentist from Queensland. If it came with a hybridized Mad Dog or Predator 3 into 1exhaust (I can't remember which one it was), that's his ex-ride.