Hello SOHC Community,
I am a long time reader, first time poster. I've alway been able to solve my issues by reading, but my most current issue has me stumped.
A little background about myself. I am a mechanical engineer working in the automotive field. I started off with a K3 right after graduation two summers ago. I completely disassembled it and build it into a "hot-rod" of sorts with an 836 kit. I then helped a good friend buy and completely restore an F2.
This summer I bought a sunrise orange K4 that had been sitting for 15 years, mostly original (at least I thought), and decided to do a complete factory restoration. I completely went through the entire bike in 1 month (except for the bottom end). It ran great after I rebuild it except 1st gear would pop in and out under load.
The first thing I did was I pulled the trans cover off and found that the drum retainer disk was bent. I straightened it out, but that did not solve anything. At this point I figured I had a bent shifter fork, so I removed the engine again. To no surprise, the 1st/2nd fork had the tell-tale wear where it had been grinding against the gear. I also was suspect of the shifter drum, since it had slight wear in the usual position; I therefore replaced it as well. While I was resembling the lower end, I noticed the bearing on the gear axle was brass, which I though was odd. Upon doing research, I found that was an indication that the bearing at least, was from a 76+ transmission. I didn't think to much of it at the time, and I continued to reassemble. Upon finally getting the bike back together today, I found that I still have my first gear issue.
I am now out of ideas and am turning to the infinite knowledge of the SOHC community to help me with this one. I was diligent at taking multiple photos along the way, hopefully they can help uncover some clues.
Thanks,
Wisehart
