Tales of woe, EV 1100

[johnwesley]

I thoroughly enjoyed a 2003 EV 1100. I put about 15,000 miles on it since I bought it in April last year. A few months ago it developed a transmission leak that was intermittent and came from the bell housing. I thought possibly I had just overfilled the transmission because once I drained it and put it in the appropriate amount instead of using the plug that checks for the correct level it quit leaking. I loaded the bike up and went to the BMW MOA. On that trip it was good for the first thousand miles. On the return trip. It started leaking again and this time it seemed to be worse and before I got home the clutch would slip at times when accelerating to pass. I could drive less aggressive and keep it from slipping. I pulled the transmission to fix the clutch and diagnose what all might be wrong, it has excessive play in it to the point that it made it hard to run through the curves when you would roll off, entering a curve, and then power through it. What I found was the clutch rod had O-rings on it and one O-ring had cracked and disintegrated. I also found the transmission had 90° of rotation before it would engage the gears. At this point I decided to take the transmission apart. What I found was all three nuts that hold the gear clusters together were lose, just finger tight. Nothing else seem to be off. The main bearings look to have metal cages, but I can find out markings on the bearings to know exactly what they are. Before I put it together I’d like to see what you guys thought and make sure I don’t miss something.



You can see in this pic the nut has rotated past where the stake was to hold it to the shaft, you can turn it with your finger




Got the cases cleaned up in side and out all the bears look good. The out put bear just fell out by pushing on it with my finger, not sure but thought this would be a press fit. I guess the bearing retainer will hold it in place

[n3303j]

Shop manual says to glue inpot/output bearings in with Loctite.
I follow that SPARINGLY so as not to block oil passages.
Lots of people say NO!
I've had no problems.

While in there address all the other possible "oil seepage" areas the EV is noted for.

[johnwesley]

Shop manual says to glue inpot/output bearings in with Loctite.
I follow that SPARINGLY so as not to block oil passages.
Lots of people say NO!
I've had no problems.

While in there address all the other possible "oil seepage" areas the EV is noted for.

What are those areas I should be looking at? This me was oil tight on the outside. Just the pushrod seals were shot.

[n3303j]

The V11 (98) could leak oil at the following:
A. Two bottom bolts at bearing mount flange go in to the sump. Remove them and reinstall with sealer so oil won't creep around threads.
B. Seal disk behind rear camshaft bearing. Clean area well and overcoat with JB Weld.
C. Breather tube flange. Remove flange and clean surfaces. MAKE a gasket that covers maximum contact area (smaller center hole than stock gasket). Install gasket with sealer and torque mounting bolts to specifications.
D. Transmission main input seal. Be sure all O-rings are in place on  clutch actuating rod and input flange. Install Viton seal. Be sure seal contact area is unscored.
E. Engine output seal. Replace with Viton seal. Be sure contact area is unscored..
F. Rear bearing flange gasket. Some users report leaks at this gasket. If signs are there then remove bearing and install new gasket.

Any way that's what I did to chase down a small leak. Then the small leak was gone. Replaced the clutch while I was in there. Been good since then.

[John A]

Pete Roper wrote an excellent article on shimming the selector drum. I’d post a link but that was a couple computers ago and I don’t have it but maybe you can find it. It’s worthwhile , makes for nice shifting.

[johnwesley]

Pete Roper wrote an excellent article on shimming the selector drum. I’d post a link but that was a couple computers ago and I don’t have it but maybe you can find it. It’s worthwhile , makes for nice shifting.

I found it on this old tractor and printed it out. Thanks for that tip it’s a great write up.

[elrealistico]

Hm, how many miles total on the bike when these issues popped up?

[n3303j]

Hm, how many miles total on the bike when these issues popped up?

My bike was20 years old and had 60,000 miles at the time the oil leak started.

[johnwesley]

Hm, how many miles total on the bike when these issues popped up?

it was 65,000 miles.

[theoneandonly]

with that first photo ,
   i thought you were gonna say, front nut on output shaft had come loose, and cut a hole through thr g/box casing.

[johnwesley]

I put the transmission back together and didn’t like the shifting. Then I remembered the neutral I have between each gear and decided instead of trying to get it back on the road soon I’ll just consider it a project. Back apart with the transmission, shims and seals on order. I’ll blueprint the trans as I go back together making sure the shift drum is shimmed properly. It has a bit of slack in the shift drum which is good, it needs it to go into 3rd. I know better than to rush into things. I still have the spIII up and running. I’ll take it to the buckeye rally. Hopefully it cools down by then.