I have a honda big red 185, and the other day when I was riding it started knocking real bad from the transmission, I turned it off knowing thier was something really wrong. It knocks in nuetral a little but really bad in first gear, but then it doesn't knock in 2nd,3rd or 4th, I have the cover off the tranny can someone tell me what look for please. I don't have the money to take it to a shop right now, but I want to fix it right now or asap. I cant go without riding I love it to much. Any help would be greatly appreciated. THANKS>

 

First of all, there is no such thing as a BigRed 185.....but model ID is not important here right now.

Regardless of the model you have, I do assume you have a 185/200 series transmission. Transmission failures are rare on these models, but I have seen a few and the problem is almost always the low gear on the countershaft or the 1st gear on the mainshaft....which on these models, is made to the shaft itself. Sometimes, both pieces go.

You cannot get to these parts for inspection without completely splitting the cases.

Remember that which ever gear is bad, ALWAYS replace the gear that it mates with. Also look for broken teeth on other gears because if one tooth [or more] is broken on one gear, those parts were being slung around in there with the rest of them. I have seen every gear in a transmission go to trash due to one faulty part elsewhere.

 

Thanks for the info I really do appreciate it. I really dont want to split the case, cuz I've never done that before, I know a guy who has all the parts for it, or so he says, what do you think I should do?

 

Well, these trikes aren't worth an $800 shop reapair bill regardless of condition, so I would try and find someone locally who has at least some experience with transmission repair on an ATV or motorcycle.

If you haven't done it before and none of your friends have done it before and you try to make a go of it yourself, DO NOT have someone else there helping you that hasn't done it either. You will have missing snaprings, gears out of place, and who knows what else. I am sure other's here will agree with me on that....LOL

It's not that big of a job if you take your time, have a nice area to work, and a place to keep all of your parts organized and labeled. For the first timer, I would not even attempt this if you do not have a repair manual on hand. If you have a digital camera, take SEVERAL pictures during reassembly and when you remove the gears, snap rings, washers, and bearings from the transmission, lay them out so that you can re-install them in the correct order.
A many of wrenches have taken flight over a long job as this.....just to get it all back together and it not shift properly because a 35 cent washer was left out.

You need to get your engine number handy as well because not all of these transmissions have the same exact transmission parts and will not interchange.

You can post your engine number here and I will decipher it for you if you like. The engine number is stamped on the left engine case right below the sprocket.

You can also do a search here for model identification.
Click on search, type KF in the topic field and select ATC forums. This will bring up several threads for you to read over to determine what it is that you have. But if you want to save yourself the time,....just post your number. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Good Luck