lost first gear, can i still ride?

[kamchuka]

well here it is. racing this last weekend and noticed i had a bit of a skip or miss from my tranny.
didnt get to look at her till today. took clutch side all apart and inspected oil and plates and what not. the plates are new. anyways, found a little chunk or two in the oil, assuming its off the dog or cog....first gear.
since its too late this week to get the parts i need. does anyone see any prob with cleaning her out real well and just not using first? i have a ride on sat. and a race on sun.
01 RM250, also has anyone had, or is this prob. indicative to this machine.
thanks a million....

 

[xcracer72]

Dead engine starts?

Try starting in second or third :coocoo: :coocoo: :coocoo:

First gear stinks anyway on an rm its way too short and jerky

 

[kamchuka]

naw

just out at eddyville, its like a strungout 7 mile long motox course, you just take off from the gate a couple at a time. you dont even really use first gear. its a 4 hour deal, as many laps as you can. i rode a 97yz2fif last year it didnt like it. alot of long, loamy, uphill, whoops and jumps.
its a blast i hope i dont have to miss it.

 

[xcracer72]

the thing that will suck is that to get to your tranny you need to split the crank case
how small were the "bits" you found?

 

[kamchuka]

probably

if you snaped a freshly sharpend pencil lead off. bout that size, three of em. about the size of the tip of the gear. :pissed:
you think if i clean real good and change my oil a few times it will hurt it to ride?

 

[kamchuka]

and

i'll change the gears out next week, they will be on order tomorrow.
i know i have to split the case. :( but whatever it wont be the first and wont be the last. i hate doing it, but i love ridin........ :ride:

 

[Corey-414]

It'll be slower start but after it catches up with the rpms it will go fine

 

[Vic]

You're takin' a chance that there's still some debris in there that could jam in critical areas and cause more fraggage. Chances are pretty good that it didn't all come out.

 

[NO HAND]

There is no way the debris will all come out just by draining the oil. When you have signs of transmission failure, usually what goes out the drain plug is only the tip of the iceberg. I wouldn't even start the engine until it was split and completely cleaned.

 

[John Cena]

I wouldn't risk riding it. You risk messing up alot of bearings, it should be taken down cleaned and blow out the bearings with air.

 

[kamchuka]

thanks

i've had different answers here localy, but i think i'm better off just not riding it. i knew i would be taking a chance anyways, just thought i would ask you folks.
i'll just have to steal a buddies bike :p they are all deployed..... they wont mind

 

[jefpel_1213]

If I were you I would wait for a new first gear instead of risking it

 

[MXer]

I had an 01 RM 250 it would downshift on its own from 4th to 3rd. It did this twice. First time I thought I bumped the shifter with my foot. The second time it did it going down a straightaway 4th gear wfo. Luckily it didn't do it on a jump. After this I parked it. It was less than a year old. I split the cases and the whole transmission was worn. I remember the piston also had wear marks from the intake side of the cylinder. The two vertical bridges on the cylinder would scour the piston. The RM was very well maintained. I did not race it. I changed the oil after every one or two rides. I always rode Suzuki's. I liked the ones I had before this one. I got rid of it and bought my first Honda. The 01 CR 250 that replaced the RM has been bulletproof.

 

[NO HAND]

Another thing, If I were you I would wait before ordering parts, until the engine is open and you can see for yourself where the damage came from. Sometimes the first and the last diagnostics are very different.