Looking for some transmission advice

[AndyBCcoast]

Hi,

I recently bought two FJ1100, one a 1984 and one a 1985.  The 1984 bike looked in better overall condition, and the odometer read just 11,000km.  I am not convinced this is correct; however with a bit of time spent cleaning everything up, cleaning the tank and carbs, flush out honey-colored brake and clutch fluid, oil and filter change, check the valve clearances, all the usual stuff. I dropped a new battery in and she fired right up.

The engine sounds really sweet, no rattles or knocks, no blowing smoke, nothing nasty in the oil or filter.  It idles just fine, revs like a demon, pulls like a train and is overall a total joy to ride.  However..... the bike does not stay in second gear, a problem of which we are all aware, my solution is simply to up-shift twice out of first and go into third. 

The 1985 bike has 77,000 km on it and I believe that mileage is genuine. My plan is to get this bike running in the next few days and see if that has a second gear issue too.   I have a trip planned for May and if the 1985 bike has a functional transmission I will take it, however if it has problems my back up would be the 1984 bike.

My question is...... can I continue to ride the 1984 bike with no functional second gear, or am I gambling with a possible transmission failure many miles from home?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Andy

[T Legg]

I don't think your transmission will fail you. I bought my first 84 fj1100 with 47,000 miles on it. 2nd gear would pop out only under hard acceleration around 8500 rpm . Over the next 26,000 miles of aggressive riding it progressed to popping out at 6500 rpm in both 2nd and 3rd gear.
I finally broke down and bought a transmission with undercut gears from RPM and installed it . I inspected the old transmission and other than the worn dogs causing the jumping out problem the old transmission looked fine .

[AndyBCcoast]

I don't think your transmission will fail you. I bought my first 84 fj1100 with 47,000 miles on it. 2nd gear would pop out only under hard acceleration around 8500 rpm . Over the next 26,000 miles of aggressive riding it progressed to popping out at 6500 rpm in both 2nd and 3rd gear.
I finally broke down and bought a transmission with undercut gears from RPM and installed it . I inspected the old transmission and other than the worn dogs causing the jumping out problem the old transmission looked fine .

Thank you; your real world experience is very useful.  I am planning to fix the issue and have chatted with Randy via email; however I don't have enough time to do anything about it before the trip.