Second gear issue

[Camurai]

The bike pops out of second gear under load. According to the previous owner, it did this the entire time he owned it, several years. He always skipped second gear, and he's ridden it to Canada and back several times from southern Maine. Any ideas? Worn splines on the shaft perhaps? Should I be looking for a replacement powerplant at some point, or is this moderately fixable?

[CHRIS]

sounds like a bent shift fork !

[zlMark]

Welcome Camurai!


That depends on the overall condition of the motor. If you look around the site you'll see where we swapped a low mileage zg1000 motor into a zl900. Mine has trans issues too and 30,000mi. I found a replacement complete low mileage trans on eBay for $35. Will be getting it undercut $300, Factory pro shift detent kit $90 (http://www.factorypro.com/Prod_Pages/prodk17.html) , gasket kit $145 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Kawasaki-ZL900-ZX900-84-86-Gasket-Set-New_W0QQitemZ390061801010QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotorc ycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5ad17ebe32&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116) . The problem is trying to limit myself to fix only what is broken!

Glad you found us...please enjoy your time here :thumbsup:

[Camurai]

Motor runs like a champ. Well, except for clogged carbs. The bike needs a little bit of tinkering but is in surprisingly good shape for the amount of use it's seen. The previous owner was diligent with his maintenance. I'm planning to ride the bike as-is for the season and pull it apart over the winter to fix whatever is wrong. I'd like to spruce it up a bit too, as it is looking a bit dog-eared. New bars, probably new mirrors, possibly new paint and general cleaning and polishing. Anyone know where I can find a replacement tach housing? The tach itself works fine but the housing is broken at the mount. I've got it JB Welded for now but I'd like to replace it if I can find the part.

[zlMark]

The tach housing is still an active part from Kawasaki. Here's the cost without shipping from parts depot. http://www.partsdepotstore.com/
<TABLE width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>QUANTITY</TD><TD vAlign=top width="50%" align=middle>PART</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>YOUR PRICE</TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><FORM onsubmit="return verifyform(this);" method=post name=theform action=fiche_add_to_basket.asp target=_top><TD vAlign=center align=middle><INPUT value=1 size=2 name="PART|1|14024-1097|61.581|COVER "> </TD><TD vAlign=center width="40%" align=left>COVER (14024-1097) </TD><TD vAlign=center align=middle>$61.58</TD></FORM></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


Here's the models it was used on:
Model (9): https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/notes_new.gif (http://javascript<b></b>:js_OpenNewNote("NoteDetail.cfm?NewNote=1&IsUserNote=1&LinkType2=3&cNodeID=0&Source=&cGroupID=0&LinkTo="))
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif EL250-E1 (Eliminater 250) (1991) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=EL250%2DE1%20%28Eliminater%20250%29%20 %281991%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif EL250-E2 (Eliminator 250) (1992) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=EL250%2DE2%20%28Eliminator%20250%29%20 %281992%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif EL250-E3 (Eliminator 250) (1993) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=EL250%2DE3%20%28Eliminator%20250%29%20 %281993%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif EL250-E4 (Eliminator 250) (1994) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=EL250%2DE4%20%28Eliminator%20250%29%20 %281994%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif ZL1000-A1 (ZL1000 Eliminator) (1987) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=ZL1000%2DA1%20%28ZL1000%20Eliminator%2 9%20%281987%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif ZL600-A1 (ZL600 Eliminator) (1986) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=ZL600%2DA1%20%28ZL600%20Eliminator%29% 20%281986%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif ZL600-A2 (ZL600 Eliminator) (1987) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=ZL600%2DA2%20%28ZL600%20Eliminator%29% 20%281987%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif ZL900-A1 (Eliminator) (1985) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=ZL900%2DA1%20%28Eliminator%29%20%28198 5%29)</TD></TR><TR class=clsGeneralSmaller><TD colSpan=2 noWrap>https://www.kawasakiepc.com/res/DotBlue.gif ZL900-A2 (Eliminator) (1986) (https://www.kawasakiepc.com/SResultPageModel.cfm?SearchIn=SearchPartsManual&cGroupID=0&ssTargetFrame=_self&SearchBy=PartNumber&Match=Exactly&SearchFor=14024%2D1097&ssReturnResults=25&ssReturnDesc=FullDesc&SearchModel=ZL900%2DA2%20%28Eliminator%29%20%28198 6%29)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[mikemillcreek]

my zl9 pops out of third gear on acceleration but not decel,changed shift fork and that did not solve the problem,hind sight and research has led me to believe that the dogs on the drive and or driven gear are rounded and not squared of as they should be, probaly from the bent shift fork. you can pull the engine flip, it upside down on the bench and remove the lower crank case to access the tranny. need zx900 service manual.more hind sight; could have changed shift fork on bike after removing oil pan. any way get to pull mine again someday,until then hardleys don't give much of a fight even though i'm skipping third:laughing7:

[Camurai]

That sounds like the kind of info I was looking for! Thanks Mike!