Catastrophic Transmission Failure

[Txclassic]

First things first - - I thank God that the drivetrain did not sieze up and I didn't slip on the oil.

2006 Classic with 12100 miles and 5 days before the warranty expires. Lately, it has been popping out of 2nd gear under hard acceleration. It almost always jumps out of 2nd after a 3-2 downshift with engine breaking, followed by acceleration. (Like when you slow down to make a turn and then accelerate). After hitting the rev limiter a couple of times, I have been babying it until I can get it in the shop this week. Under light acceleration, there is no problem.

Today, while downshifting into 2nd, there was a terrible mechanical clunk followed by a thrashing noise. I immediately pulled in the clutch and coasted to a gas station. When stopped at idle, everything sounded OK.

With some effort, I could get 1st gear. Can't get neutral. 2nd was difficult to get. NO 3rd gear or 4th gear. 5th gear is OK.

I limp it home for the next 3 miles. Had to shift from 1st to 5th. (Yes, I know this wasn't very wise, but I'm close to home). With the rear tire in motion, something is definitely rubbing inside.

When I pulled in the driveway and put down the kickstand, I experienced the most sickening feeling - - the kickstand was covered in oil! My pride and joy was bleeding. Left side exhaust was covered in oil mist and the left half of the tire was coated in oil. At this point, I realize my riding is over for a long time.

The source of the oil was a 1/4" hole in the lower engine casing. It is located 1" beneath the 3rd oil pan bolt on the left side. About 1" to the front of the kickstand switch. Sorry for the lousy cell phone pics.

Hopefully, I'll have some answers this week. Keeping fingers crossed that the warranty claim will not be problematic.

Gotta go pull the beetle bags and cleanup the mess.
Now the depression of being a cager again sets in . . .

 

[Bohica]

Sh*t man I'm sorry to hear that your ride is down, but glad to hear that you are OK. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. The one bright point is you are still in warrenty.
Good luck and keep us informed as too whats going on.

Bob

 

[PianoMan]

1st and 5th should be all you need anyway !!!

Happy to hear you're all right and there shouldn't be a single problem with warranty. The main thing is while they're in there, might as well have them go through the whole "Kit and Kaboodle" just to be sure. This will be a tall tale you can expound upon when we're roasting hot dogs in ES at Sunshine's biker motel.

Keep us posted.

 

[TxRIIIRider]

Wow, sorry to hear that. Makes my stomach sink just hearing about it. The only problem I've had lately is the dreaded low-idle problem cropping up recently.. (looking for a piece of wook to knock on!) Definitely keep us informed. What dealer are you taking it to?

 

[britman]

T,

The important thing is you're OK. The warranty fix shouldn't be an issue. There have been a number of cases where Triumph has stepped in and covered problems even when the warranty had expired. You are probably looking at some major engine work, or a new motor outright. Keep us informed.

 

[Txclassic]

Biggest concern is the collateral damage. Clearly, there was shrapnel to have caused the damage to the engine casing. Based on symptoms of not having any 3rd or 4th gear, I suspect a shifter fork or gear failed and that's what impacted the casing. If it was the shifter bolt, then it doesn't seem possible to get into any gear at all.

I can only imagine the little bits of metal getting circulated through the engine. Just hope that it gets a good inspection and Triumph backs up the warranty.

Will be taking it to British-USA, where I bought it. Cliff and the service department have always treated me well. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Wonder if their loaner policy applies in this case?

Some other long standing symptoms I remember - - When you downshift to second or first, does anyone notice the bike lurches even with the clutch pulled in? I have had that issue since the bike was new. Also when upshifting, it seems second gear always feathered the clutch a little different than the other gears. With 2nd gear, you have to let the clutch out a little further to get engagement versus the other gears.

All those little quirks are coming back to me now. Wonder if they are related to this failure?

 

[goodfellow]

uh oh

tx classic,

that's a new one to me. glad you're ok there bro. hope triumph steps up on this one,cause a lot of us are gonna follow this one real close! sorry you're gonna be down when riding season comes to full bloom. keep us up to date on this one!


greg

 

[Jamie]

Old timers will remember that I have experienced this "second gear popping out under acceleration" problem no less than three times in about 30'000 miles (my Rocket dates back to Oct. '04). Each time, the bike could still be ridden around but I took it to the dealer, to avoid collateral damage . The dealer fixed the problem under warranty twice and outside of it the third time around. I never had to pay a cent. And it looks like the last fix was the good one.

With best wishes. Jamie

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Everytime I read this stuff, I ask myself 'is the Rocket really a good bike for me?' Yeah, It's paid for a long time ago and yeah, I don't ride it all that much as I have a couple other bikes too ride but, what if I was going on a trip and she ****te the bed. Then what? Call Amy and have her bring the trailer or find a dealer (remember they aren't around every corner like Honda or Hardley), fly home and go get her when she's ready.....

Don't get me wrong, I love the bike as much as one can love a piece of machinery. It has a unique style and it's comfortable and any bike or car can break but I keep reading about big breaks and that, in itself is disconcerting.

I've never had any trouble with my '07 Classic. None, ziltch. I've had some running issues but a 12 minute tune cures that. Nothing electrical or mechanical, not even a loose ignition switch. Of course I never cowboy the bike. I've never powershifted it and never ran it to the redline (except in high gear, once). I've never smoked the tire or squealed the brakes. It's always shifted well even though it clunks like an airhead Beemer. No false neutrals, no popping out of gear.

But, there is that nagging if..........................

I'm glad you are okay, didn 't oil the tire and go down and it didn't lock up at speed which could have been ugly for you and the bike...more for you. If you have a hole in her, sounds like a new short block is in order. Hopefully Triumph will do you right.

I have no dealer. My dealer went tits up soon after I bought the bike and now, the nearest dealer is 200 miles from here (about par for a Triumph Dealer anyway).

In retrospect, I don't believe I could sell the R3. It's like my Bonnie. A keeper. There is an untangible something about the Rocket, something I can't put in words.

I park the Kawasaki KLR next to the Rocket. I look at both of them sitting there with the Bonnike/Sidecar in front...I think to myself, 'that KLR is a nice bike, it gets fantastic fuel mileage and it's a hoot to ride...but, it will never be a Triumph. Triumph was building motorcycles before Kawasaki was even a gleam in someone's coprorate eye. Triumph has 'prescence'. Even more so that HD. Kawasaki is a cookie cutter bike, like Honda and Suzuki. The Triumph is a cut above that, it's a discerning riders' bike.

Enough of that. Time for bed. I have to teach class tomorow. I'll be riding the cookie cutter to school. Boring but frugal.

 

[TxRIIIRider]

I ride mine pretty much as a daily driver. I have 32,000 miles on the big blue bike now and have just recently started having the low idle problem, but I've had no mechanical issues at all. Luckily, I do have a dealer within an hour's ride now, so I may have them check out the low idle issue and load the latest tune. Mine is an early model, with a manufactured date of Jul '04.

I've ridden my Rocket all over.. up to Sturgis, over to Denver, to Shreveport, LA, to Oklahoma City, etc. and have no problems taking it anywhere, and mine is a July '04 model. Eureka Springs is next!

I ride civil like most of the time, but have been known to spin a tire, or pull the front end on take off.. I do some high speed runs (illegally) every once in a while and she seems to take it all in stride. Now, I have never truly taken off like at a drag strip, throwing 150 lb/ft of torque directly at the transmission all at once. Overall, I'm still pretty secure taking the Rocket anywhere.

Now that I've said that.. will my transmission will fly out of the side of the case tomorrow??..