Man, what a noise!!!

[waituntilthebeep]

I got my nice new helmet and freshly installed a new Sena 30k in it. Jumped on the bike and headed out on the freeway enjoying the tunes when the bike stuttered. Like a single cylinder misfire. Caught me a little off guard but i passed it off. Did it again and then all of a sudden started grinding like a coffee grinder! I grabbed the clutch and it stopped. I knew instantly what had happened. I downshifted and let out on the clutch and it was smooth as silk. I hesitantly jumped into 5th and started to let the clutch out and the jeezlus thing sounded HORRIBLE! 5th gear went on a permanent vacation. I rode home in 4th and parked it. Put my new helmet in its box and sighed. It is no where near page one in my fundable projects list so I have to pack it up in storage until the funds are available. Thinking hopefully 2 years from now and I will be able to do it myself.

Man do I hate caging it.

Does anyone know if the guy in Florida that does reground gear sets sell just the gears or do you have to send the bike to him? Honda won't warranty it even though I bought the extended warranty because they didn't do all the oil changes and I don't have EVERY receipt for the oil changes I did.

[MikeB]

Does anyone know if the guy in Florida that does reground gear sets sell just the gears or do you have to send the bike to him? Honda won't warranty it even though I bought the extended warranty because they didn't do all the oil changes and I don't have EVERY receipt for the oil changes I did.

Seriously? When did the extended warranty expire? If it has expired, that is the reason for the refusal of service I would think. I have never heard of any dealer refusing work on a machine "because they didn't do all the oil changes". Call South Bound or South Sound Honda in Tacoma or Olympia to see if they can advise you. I trust those two shops.

[GoldWingrGreg]

Just an FYI .... GL1800 do not like to sit.

If the bike is really gonna be sitting for a long time, be sure to follow ALL of the storage instructions in the Owner's Manual. If it's possible to get all of the gas out of it, notice that I said "ALL OF THE GAS", that's even better. Below are pictures of what you don't want to happen.

Yes ... I sell gear sets only. They come undercut and ready to install. Usually they get sold to Honda shops or other independent shops where an owner has requested them. 2 have been sold to owners who have an extensive mechanical back ground and they removed the engine and installed the gears themselves. If you don't have an extensive mechanical back ground, I'd not recommend that you do this type of work. On a scale of 1-10 in difficulty, the engine removal and reinstallation is a 10, and the engine tear down and reassembly is a 10. So it two 10s back to back.

These are recent pictures from 2 different GL1800s. To keep the cylinders from rusting, be sure to add oil to each cylinder. The cost to get the one with rust in its tank started was over $3500. Both sat for more then 2 years.

[truckerger]

To oil the cylinders, would you use fogging oil like I use on my two stroke outboard for storage? Just wondering.

[waituntilthebeep]

The bike still drives... just doesn't have a 5th gear to speak of. I am still running it on local stuff and will continue to do so. I am also going to start fishing for a dealer to look at it once I can come up for air.

My only real concern in a dealer repair, if I can find one to do it under warranty, is two fold- I know that the bike is going to have incidental issues like seized bolts on the lower cowls attached to the exhaust and what not do to it being driven year round AND i have the fear of them gutting the bike then telling me they found an out on the warranty and I get a truckload of misc parts I can't sort out to put back together. Dealers don't make squat to do warranty repairs and any opportunity to add to the bill is usually taken. All of this could get rediculously expensive at a time i cant afford for it to do so. Guess we shall see, huh?

[GoldWingrGreg]

If your trans issue is reproducible, and still under a Honda warrantee, and the bike has not been altered (triked), Honda should take care of it for you. Shops that don't want that type of work will never get your symptom to act up. If your symptom is illusive, many, many, many under various conditions will often bring it out. Sometimes hard acceleration and heavy braking with nose dives can help too.

Various conditions: hard acceleration, soft acceleration, fast shifts, slow shifts, high revs, not so high revs, slow clutch actions, fast clutch action, shifting while going up hills, shifting while going down hills ...

[waituntilthebeep]

The symptoms are pretty obvious. When you put it into 5th gear, there is absolutely none. There's a little bit of a grind, and then it just has nothing. If they miss it it's because they do not want to do any repairs on it. And they would have to be blind and deaf to miss it.

[GoldWingrGreg]

That sound warrantable.

[waituntilthebeep]

Had a long chat with the service manager at the local Mother Honda today. Sounds like things are looking up for the repairs. He soothed my concerned pocketbook and we worked out a plan. Still a couple potential road blocks but sounds like it is warrantable. His opinion is that the only reason 5th gear fails is either a heel-toe shifter is used or someone rides the shifter arm and bends it from using it like a foot peg. I disagree but it sounds like worst case scenario is i will end up buying an internal shift arm and having them put it in while they do all the rest of the repairs. Was pretty positive sounding. Going to get the paperwork collected up for the warranty and get it scheduled in. Told him I would even hold off on dumping it on him for a couple months to get it in the slow down time so it isn't keeping them out of the easier money for summer time riders. Sounded appreciative.

[AZgl1800]

Had a long chat with the service manager at the local Mother Honda today. Sounds like things are looking up for the repairs. He soothed my concerned pocketbook and we worked out a plan. Still a couple potential road blocks but sounds like it is warrantable. His opinion is that the only reason 5th gear fails is either a heel-toe shifter is used or someone rides the shifter arm and bends it from using it like a foot peg. I disagree but it sounds like worst case scenario is i will end up buying an internal shift arm and having them put it in while they do all the rest of the repairs. Was pretty positive sounding. Going to get the paperwork collected up for the warranty and get it scheduled in. Told him I would even hold off on dumping it on him for a couple months to get it in the slow down time so it isn't keeping them out of the easier money for summer time riders. Sounded appreciative.

Careful with that plan.
I did that once, and it bit me in the ass big time....
changed a warranty to a non-warranty item because I didn't bring it in on time, and I caused "more damage" before bringing it in.....
take it and leave it with him, and he can "park it" and wait a while if he chooses.....
but you best get it under "Honda's roof" asap.

[GoldWingrGreg]

His opinion is that the only reason 5th gear fails is either a heel-toe shifter is used or someone rides the shifter arm and bends it from using it like a foot peg. I disagree but it sounds like worst case scenario is i will end up buying an internal shift arm and having them put it in while they do all the rest of the repairs.

Glad you have a plan. He may not know, but your problem is not cause by you, and probably not a heal-toe shifter either. He will not find your shift arm bent either. He will find bearing wear in the shift arm that goes through the case, but that is not cause by you either. That shift arm wears because the metal is to soft. If this picture was wider to the left, you'd see about 50 of them.

[WingAdmin]

Any news? How did you make out with your transmission fix?

[Wingsconsin]

Looking at your profile it lists you are riding Double Darkside -
Hopefully they don't use that against you to dodge the issue of a faulty driveline -
Just me being paranoid ---

Where's my tin foil hat ?!

[waituntilthebeep]

The 'double' part wouldn't be an issue as that is a rear MC tire on the front, but still a MC tire. The dealer that has the bike actually does CT installs on MC rims so I doubt they would kick that back either. They have checked the bike in and didn't say anything so I am not really concerned. It's a 5th gear mesh issue. I will be in contact with them again this week as they should have it stripped on the bench by then.

[waituntilthebeep]

I have had numerous conversations with the dealer over the last month or so. The latest was today. Was a good conversation and they are taking care of business. The bike was repaired and they were going through it with a fine toothed comb to make sure everything was correct. Guess they took it out on a Q.C. ride (not the first ride since the repairs were made) and first gear started to make some noise. The bike went back up on the rack and they pulled the motor again. Not, I am sure, what the tech wanted to do but the tech wasn't going to let anything slide and the service manager told me it wasn't leaving until it was 100% correct, which I applaud. Told them I was not in any kind of hurry to get it back as long as it was repaired properly and they could stand behind the work. I have been in that same basic position and there was no way it was going to go back just to fail again. So, Kudos to the dealership. They are about taking care of the riders and they will have me as a customer for life as long as they keep treating me as they have so far.

[waituntilthebeep]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!! I got the bike back today. Shifts like butter. It was done totally under warranty and I am so very pleased with the service. The work was done at Everett Powersports in Everett, WA. I left that info out of the previous posts just because I didn't want to advertise one way or the other for the repair shop until I knew the outcome of the process. According to the paperwork, it was a total rebuild and cost 5 grand US. So glad i didnt have to pay that bill.

[MikeB]

So happy that you got her back and very pleased to find out that you were wrong in your assumption that Honda would not cover it under warranty.
Five grand would be a a large chunk of change to swallow on your own.
Kudos to Everett Powersports.

[GoldWingrGreg]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!! I got the bike back today. Shifts like butter. It was done totally under warranty and I am so very pleased with the service. The work was done at Everett Powersports in Everett, WA. I left that info out of the previous posts just because I didn't want to advertise one way or the other for the repair shop until I knew the outcome of the process. According to the paperwork, it was a total rebuild and cost 5 grand US. So glad i didnt have to pay that bill.

The fact that they had to pull the engine twice indicates they have not done a lot of them. I'm glad to hear you are riding again, and it was all taken care of by mama Honda. If I can be of any further help, feel free to call.

[waituntilthebeep]

What's funny is that I was told that they don't see a lot of failures in the transmission but I was told that the last week my bike was in there, they had another one that was a total tear down. Apparently a little more common than Honda wants to admit.

Thank you Greg. I hope to not have any more issues but ya never can tell! Gonna ride her 'til the wheels fall off.