SAVE your Honda TRANSALP from destruction !!
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- Опубликовано: 23 май 2023
- The old Transalps and Africa Twin bikes are amazing and extremely reliable bikes, unfortunately they have a weak point, even worse on the Transalps 650 and 700, and that's the transmision shaft that wears too fast, especially if you use the bike a lot in the city or for offroad. This may also be useful for Honda Shadow chain driven models owners.
Here you have a solution for this.
Link for KKbikes (not sponsored and I don't get a dime, I bought my own sprocket): kkbike.it/en/
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Imagine avoiding a very expensive breakdown by spending a few bucks, wouldn't that be amazing?
A motorbike from the 2008... with the same system from 1987?
It's an entry-level!
Miserable edition!
Dont have a Transalp yet, but watched the video anyway. nice work 👍
I will produce a lot of videos showing improvements on my Transalp, so keep watching if you are interested! Cheers!
The problem is the loose push fit on the splines of such a powerful engine. The splines need to be a good tight fit in the first place to prevent chattering under braking and acceleration, or they will just hammer themselves looser and looser. This upgrade sprocket is a good way to prevent a lot of problems.
Un grand merci à toi ,je ne connaissais pas ce produit 🇧🇪
Merci!
First of all thank You for the tip. How is the bike now when you changed gearing, you put bigger front sprocket. Do you feel much difference in top speed and revs in 5th gear?
Thanks for watching! I have a specific video about the 16 teeth sprocket: ruclips.net/video/fGHRTO7jH4I/видео.html
Spoiler alert, I will go back to the 15. In fact, I reach higher top speed with the 15, but in 5th gear the bike rides a lot smoother and more relaxed with the 16, the engine runs around 500rpm slower at same speed, so if you use a lot the bike on highways and fast roads it might be a good option. Cheers.
Hello! I have a transalp 700 too, with 82.000km now. My shaft seems already ok, and some months ago I decided too to mount a 16 teeth sprocket. Up to now it seems fine, but I consider it still on test. What do you think about it? Do you think 16 teeth is better? Thanks for showing videos about an undetestimated bike... I think the only real issue is the hot temperature it quickly reaches while riding slow in hot wheather. Bye!
Hi there! One of my next videos will be about the 16 teeth sprocket, so stay tuned. Also in the next weeks I'm going to address the problem with the temperature which is common in the 700. I definitely never had this trouble on the 650, even on Hard offroad in very hot places. Cheers!
It appears that the original sprocket has a rubber cush integrated into its design. Does the KK sprocket have one as well? My old 90 Transalp has a rear wheel sprocket rubber cush drive design to absorb the forces. I'm not expert, but it seems like forces may do damage to internal parts within transmission. You may be curing one problem but also generating another in the process.
Hi, the rubber on the front sprocket is mainly to reduce chain noise, the rubbers on the rear cush drive are the ones that reduces the force when you open the throttle or cut it. The KKbike sprocket does not have that rubber, nor any other sprocket that is not the Honda one. My previous Transalp 650 always used the stock Honda front sprocket (three of them), and the shaft lost all his teeth at around 80.000kms, with a lot of offroad abuse I reckon. My second Transalp 650 was 100% stock with only 35K km, and the stock front sprocket with rubber. The shaft was already showing great signs of wear. Fortunately, the 600 seems to be less prone to this problem. But with lot of offroad or urban use, it will happen anyways. Cheers!
Just a quick note, applying anti seize to the shaft and locking plates will save considerable pain when removing them later, especially noting you stated it was very tight. Been doing it for years on my off road bikes, never had an issue. Good vid, what it s the price difference off the KK unit compared with the standard set up? Is it reasonable? Cheers.
I definitely considered applying anti seize, as I do with a lot of bolts. But the trails on my area are very dusty and sometimes sandy. I'm always afraid any sticky grease, lubrifiant or similar, with dust and sand on it, will act as sandpaper. The stock Honda sprocket and the KKbike have similar price, but the point is the last one will double the life of the shaft. It's the only weak point of the Transalp 650and 700, not so much on the 600 and Africa Twin 650/750. Thanks for watching!
It's a dilemma re the grease, but I would have cleaned the splines and added a moly grease or something like that. The damage that two unlubricated spline surfaces can cause is greater than a bit of dust in grease. An additional action is to regularly inspect, clean and re grease the splines. A short job compared to the damage that can occur when they wear the frise splines.
Hi! Sorry, I just saw your answer. If you only use your bike on the road on sunny sundays, maybe it will collect only a bit of dust on the shaft, but if you offroad it, like I do, it will collect a lot of dirt, sand and other particles. I have a dozen workshop books for different bikes, road and offroad bikes, some are Haynes, some are french RMT, and some are official from factory. None of them recomend to put grease between the sprocket and the shaft, but they profusely talk about which kind and quantity of grease you should use on any other moving part of the bike. If you go to a dealer showroom, you can check by yourself that none of the new bikes have any kind of grease between the countershaft and the sprocket. Cheers!
Did you add a link to the chain or does the 16 tooth sprocket fit with the standard chain length?
No need to add links, it fits straight in. Thanks for watching!
My father bought pne of the new xl750 trans alps. I took a good look at the sprocket set up and it appears they already addressed this issue. His is factory and has a much wider sprocket
Yes, the new Transalp 750 have a totally different engine from the V twin used in the older Transalps and Africa Twins. I'm glad they learnt from their mistakes, but they should have done that when they launched the Transalp 700, which uses the exact same countershaft as the 650 but with more power and weight. I've seen 700's with only 30.000kms that had already lost the splines of the shaft. Of course that is an extreme, with people using the bike agressively in city environment, but still unacceptable. I'm sure your dad will enjoy a lot his new bike. Cheers!
I would advise using a heavy grease between the splines and sprocket
That's what I would do if I'd only use the bike on the tarmac, but I frequently go to easy trails, and my area is very dry, dusty and sandy. The mix between heavy grease and sand would convert it in sandpaper and grind the shaft and sprocket. Thanks for watching!
Bravo!
Thank you!
Hi. Thanks for the Transalp front sprocket installation video. Hope you find music more pleasant and not annoying.🙃
Thanks for watching! I'll try to find a better music next time 😁
@@coastrider8881 and not too loud please.
Thanks, looks a great solution to protect output shafts.
It definitely is, thanks for watching!
If anybody have also trouble to fit it on shaft dont smash it, just heat the sprocket over 100°C and then it will slide easily ;)
I also use freezing or high temperatures to insert some parts, bearings for example, but the problem with this sprocket is the width, not being stuck on the splines. Worth a shot tho. Thanks!
I'm currently on the market for transalp 650. Is there any way to check if that part is ok, without opening the bike?
Hi, nowadays I would'nt buy an old Transalp or Africa Twin whithout checking the transmision shaft. They are incredibly reliable bikes, and this is the only weak point that can destroy your budget as the repair is very labour intensive. You can check it if you have basic mechanical skills. Just loosen the rear wheel axle, chain tensioners and push the wheel forward. Now you can take out the front sprocket cover and the sprocket with the chain. Check the shaft splines for any "steps" or excessive wear. Put everything back. It should'nt take more than 15 minutes and very little tools. Cheers!
So how did you finaly fit the sprocket? Mine is also giving me struggle, i didnt want to use brute force so i took a break for some more advice :-)
With some patience... and a rubber hammer! Hahaha!
I just kept, very carefully, hitting with the rubber hammer until it finally came all together. You don't want to hit too heavily, to avoid damaging the seal and bearing of the countershaft. Just slightly and trying to put the lockers every now and then.
Cleaning very well the splines help a lot.
Cheers!
I am also having the same problem. It is super tight and by margin I can not fit the retaining plates. It took my an hour to hammer it out after. I had to switch to the original honda pinion. I am afraid that even if manage to put the kk pinion it won't go out when it is time for change. I have seen other videos where it goes in easier and it makes me wonder whether they messed up when machining mine.
@@panagiotisseventekidis7153 i have finaly managed to fit it be heating the sprocket, it was piece of cake then
I have the same problem when i try put this Superpinion, how did you can put the retaining plates?
Hi! Yes, it's very tight to take advantage of the full lenght of the splines. I used a rubber hammer and very carefully pushed the sprocket back until there was enough room for the plates. Cheers!
One more detail, clean the surface with WD40, Copper grease it and then fitt sprocket.
It's not shown on the video, but I cleaned the shaft with WD40 and then wiped any excess. I never use any kind of grease on the countershaft of bikes I'm going to use for offroad. Together with the dust and dirt, it gets converted into grinding paste. Thanks for watching!
I have a '98 Transalp 600, is this affected? And will the bigger sprocket be better for motorway driving?
Hi mate! The 600 is not affected that much, unless it's been used a lot offroad or in everyday city use. Nevertheless, it's worth putting a superpinion to protect the countershaft.
A sprocket with one more tooth will be better in highway, but worse everywhere else, so it's up to you depending on your use of the bike. Cheers!
Muito bom esse produto. Bom, um produto pode ser aplicado para remoção da ferrugem no eixo e após uma lubrificação. Aquela ferrugem ataca e desgasta o eixo. Em minha Transalp regularmente faço a limpeza neste eixo.
Obrigado pelo vídeo!
Yes, the rust also increase the wear on the shaft and sprocket. So a good cleaning here and there helps a lot. The main problem on the Transalps 650 and 700 is the quality of the steel on the shaft, which is lower than the 600 and Africa Twins, and thus gets wear pretty fast. The problem on the 600 and Africa Twins is that even if they last longer, at some point they will wear, and the parts are not available anymore or difficult to find, and the repair is very labour intensive (aka $$$$$), so better to spend a few bucks and double the life of the shaft. Cheers!
Bro you mentioned africa twin also which models plz i have 2018
Hi there, I'm talking about old Africa Twins pre-2005. But most of them only need the superpinion if the countershaft have too much wear due to high mileage. The main problem is with old Transalps 650 and 700, in which the countershaft splines get worn out a lot faster due to poor design or bad quality.
A great idea, but with limits, as it only increases the spline area by an estimated 30%. Surface rust that is forming on the hardened surface, then worn away, plays another key part in spline wear.
An increase of 30% is HUGE. If you increased the rear tire width by 30% it would be 170 instead of 130, go figure! A lot of factors intervene in the wear of the splines, but unfortunately the Transalps 650 and 700 suffer from a faster wear than they should, and it's even worst if you use them a lot offroad or in the city. This sprocket is the best prevention, put it before it's too late. I've had to replace the countershaft on my first Transalp (I did it myself), so I know the amount of work and money required to repair. I've also had another 650, now a 700, and an Africa Twin 750, and seen dozen of them when looking for a good one. Believe me, you absolutely need to put a superpinion first thing on your bike.
@@coastrider8881 Thank you for your well meant advice. I read a lot about this on the German AT forum. The consensus seems to be that while it is a wear part, it’s life can be prolonged by proper use. Which means using the original sprocket, which is supposedly softer and sacrificial to the shaft, keeping enough chain slack and not accelerating at less than 3000 rpm. There are several senior members there with high mileage on their engines, following these recommendations and have no problems what so ever. Personally, I have the feeling that rust is quite possibly another major factor. With rust of course easily worn off. And once wear has started, wear will only accelerate, because the sprocket will start riding an eccentric path on the shaft, which will only exacerbate wear. I regularly oil the output shaft. To do so, I cut a hole into the sprocket cover for access.
This is true for the AT and old Transalp 600, but unfortunately the Transalps 650 and 700 have a notoriously weaker countershaft. It's even worst on the 700 that uses the same part as the 650 but have more power, torque and weight. On the AT and Transalp 600 the superpinion is a solution for high mileage bike which start to have some wear. On the Transalps 650 and 700 it's an absolute necessity to put it as soon as you can. The only downside is with the superpinion, appart from costing double than the stock sprocket, the chain wear slightly faster. But all of that is still a lot cheaper than replacing the countershaft. Specifically on the 650, by adding the superpinion you virtually got an undestructible bike, as this is the only weak point on a well maintained bike.
This only seems to be a Honda issue on several models street,dirt,and adventure bikes.. make me wonder if the new transalp 750 is no different?
Hi Gabriel, the only two models I know with this issue happening early are the Transalp 650 and 700. On other models it only happens with a lot of years and miles of abuse, like any other motorcycle. The thing is Honda's are so reliable that you have ton of them with 100k, 200k or 300k, like one of my old CB 500 which had 330.000kms when I got bored of it. The new Transalp 750 have a totally different engine than the earlier Transalp's, I hope Honda learnt from their previous mistakes. Cheers!
@@coastrider8881 not necessarily abuse. I've heard of this with several different models I have experienced it with an older cb500 a 2017 xr650l and also hear the 300l has that issue . As far as the new transalp 750 time will tell..in the meantime I will not be buying any honda motorcycles
That's interesting feedback, are we talking about the old pc26/32 CB500? Or the newer models? The XR650L which is a very old designed model has never been sold in Europe, so I guess your experience is with the most recent CB500. Can you give us more information? I never heard about this kind of troubles with the most recent CB500 nor the CRF300, so it would be interesting to know more about that problem.
I had a massive camshaft wear on my 1993 Transalp 600 with around 40.000 km on it. Just normal road use. So, yes the older Transalp 600 have also the Problem.
Boa noite, em qual site encontro essa peça??
Hi! In the description of the video you have a link to the manufacturer. You can buy it there or find a list of resellers in different countries. Cheers!
I wish i knew this yesterday. Mine has completely stripped.
That's why checking and replacing the sprocket is the very first thing I do when buying an old Transalp or Africa Twin. I whish the supersprocket existed when I got my first Transalp, that would have saved the countershaft on my 650. Instead I had to fully open the engine to replace it.
While I think I already know the answer to this question, since I also saw how tight is the fit of a 16t front sprocket, I'm still somewhat wishful thinking about the possibility to mount a 17t one, do you think that would be possible?
Hi! I don't know if a 17 teeth sprockets fits, but why would you put one? A 16th makes the bike gears already too long for anything but highway, so what's the point of a 17th? Just curious. Cheers mate!
@@coastrider8881 While I initially bought it, thinking that I can also go off road if needed, after one year I realised that it barely saw anything else but highways and asphalt. I already made some modifications to better suit highway riding (16t front, 43t rear->~5l/100km @ 120kph), but after another year in this configuration I realised that unfortunately it's still not enough for my needs. Probably the logical solution in this case is just to sell it and buy some sport touring, but I just became somewhat attached to it after it took me throughout most of Europe without any hiccup. Given that its reliability is pretty much second to none, I just want to give it another shot by changing again the sprocket(s)
@@theodor913 Your part of the world must be very flat! I'm guessing with that combo (16/43) you're slightly over 4000rpm at 120 km/h. What is your goal? Less consumption, less rpm when cruising?
@@coastrider8881 Not that flat in particular, but I don't mind the slight lack of power when going uphill. Unfortunately it's just below 5k rpm @120kph and I guess I'd like to achieve both since they're linked. Something like 140kph at sub 5k rpm would be what I'd like to get and from my basic calculation I should be able to get that with a the lowest no of teeth sprockets I found available, namely 39t (~138kph @ 5k rpm), or 37t (~145kph @ 5k rpm). Out of these I'd normally try the 37t one, but since I only found aluminium ones I'm slightly concerned about its higher wear and its high sensitivity to drive chain maintenance.
Which is your model, 650 or 700? The 700 tends to overheat if used at low rpm due to the ECU programming to meet pollution standards, it's too lean. Also, 5l/100km is already very low, not sure if you'll be able to reduce that number. It's nice you're modifying your bike to make it meet your requirements, it's also my philosophy. Cheers!
Genial saludos cordiales desde Patagonia Chile.. amigo necesito ayudarme Transalp 700 con 18 mil km no parte .
Hola, pueden ser muchas cosas. Has probado con la segunda llave codificada? Cuando pones el contacto se oye la bomba de gasolina durante un par de segundos? La luz del HISS se queda encendida con el contacto puesto?
I was looking for something like this for Suzuki GS 500?
Hi Konrad, thanks for watching. I've never heard of this problem on the Gs 500, is your countershaft damaged? Usually on the GS 500 the problems comes from the cylinder head because using the bike with a too low oil level or bad valves clearance, and also from the stator/ rotor of the ignition system. Cheers.
@@coastrider8881 gs 500 engine is bulletproof!! There is no common problem in engine other than paint finish and fuel system problems..
@@lokeshdeshwal5288 The gs 500 engine is extremely reliable, but still have some common troubles, like the rotor in the alternator system and the camshaft if you use bad oil or low level of oil for a long period. The most reliable bicylinder of that period is the Honda CB 500. You can find units with several hundreds of thousand kms that still work like new. The only weak point is the regulator that can be easily replaced for around 30 bucks. Cheers.
In your opinion which engine take more abuse (durable) , Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda?
Hi man! That is an imposible question to answer, as there are a lot of models and years of production. Some engines are more reliable, than others, and in my opinion the peak of quality on the most sold motorcycles was achieved in the '90s, later on the quality started to go down to reduce costs, except on very expensive top of the range models which duplicated their price instead of reducing the quality. Look at the price of a new Honda Fireblade compared to average wages, and then do the same with the new price of the original 900 Fireblade with the same year average wages.
With that being said, after owning, and abusing, dozens of bikes, and having dismantled or repaired a few other dozens, at the moment I'm sticking with Honda and Suzuki. But again, keep in mind I usually buy bikes with 10+ years, and models that have proved to be reliable, so I have no clue which new bikes are more reliable, but you can get a good taste when going to a dealership and check the quality of plastics, metals, paint and the overall enginering of the bike, not only the looks. They all look good now, even the chinese bikes. Cheers!
@@coastrider8881 very very thankyou sir, for your valuable feedback 🙌,, greets from India 🇮🇳
Dove lo posso acquistare? Grazie :)
Hi! The link is in the description, cheers!
Perhaps a little cleaning and grease before fitting new parts...
Thanks for watching! I cleaned the countershaft, but I never grease them on bikes I intend to use offroad, even for mild offroad. The mix of grease and dust / sand becomes a grinding paste. Neither the RMT (Revue Moto Technique) nor the Haynes workshop book recommends greasing the countershaft or the sprocket inner splines. Cheers.
I guess the "special" sprocket could be very easily modified to make it water-thigh and allow for lubricant. Because metal dust and mud is not a very smooth either.
That's why you ride cardan driven bikes.... ;)
Yep, because we all know cardans never breaks and are cheap to fix :D
@@coastrider8881 convenience comes with a price.... If it crashes, it stops, this also applies to chain-driven bikes.
I think the choice boils down to, the logo on the fuel tank.
I like my logo, respect yours. Have ridden chain driven bikes before, don't like the maintenance. That's all, I think. However, I like the reliability of Japanese bikes. Those cardan driven bikes are mostly from Europe, not so reliable. So who is right, you or me?
@@TheTuxMaster Correct, everyone has different needs. I prefer chain driven bikes for heavy off road use because the system is lighter, easier to change the gearing ratio and more reliable and easy to fix in for hard offroad. I'm not going that hard with the 700, but certainly did with the 650. I would definitely consider a cardan driven bike for more road oriented use, but it would probably be a japanese model, because I like to work myself on my bikes and these are easier to work on and the parts are usually cheaper. Cheers!
Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer has shaft.
Bravo
Bon, j'ai la ferme impression que si il avait pris les cinq minutes necessaires pour desosser le carter sabot ,il se serait emmerdé dix fois moins,mais bon ... Ils ont l'air vachement bien ces pignons de sortie de boites . Comme je ne pige rien en anglisch ,j'aurais bien aimé savoir si c'etait le même nombre de dents sur le pigno ou bien une dent de plus ? Super bonne idée en tout cas
Merci .
Salut. Ouais, sur cette bécane les dents de l'axe etais en bon état, et c'est justement pour les conserver comme cela que j'ais installé le superpinion KKbike. Malheureusement dans le passé j'ais dû réparer un moteur qui avais perdu toutes les dents de l'axe. C'est cher et chiant. J'ais mis un Superpinion avec une dent en plus (16), mais j'aime pas trop, je vais en remettre un 15 dents. A toute!