Clunky 1st and 2nd gear problem

[rst steve]

A friend of mine has just bought a storm off e-bay as a bit of a fixer upper. Last week he had a new chain and spockets fitted and after that work was done the clutch stopped working so he asked if i could have a look at it as the guy who did it said it was nothing he had done. After a load of bleeding i managed to get a load of air out of the system and the lever felt fine. My friend rode the bike today for the first time and called me asking if these bikes clunk a lot going into first and from first to second as his seems to be really bad but fine through the rest of the box. I told him they are quite clunky but his sounds to be quite bad. He has asked me if i could have another look at it and was wondering if anyone had any ideas on what the problem could be???

I was wondering if the chain was very loose could this cause this problem as it did seem a little on the loose side on Saturday or maybe a dodgy slave cylinder???? Any ideas welcome.

[warby221]

have a look at the cush drive in the back wheel and the chaine first
and it could be the clutch draging a bit if you didn't get all the air out may be

[Phil-VTwin]

Could be the chain or worn cush drive rubbers, get these checked first.

FWIW sometimes mine sounds really clunky between 1st & 2nd it seems to depend on engine temp and when i change up.

[LotusSevenMan]

First gear is hideous on ALL Firestorms I've ever heard! A great clunk at traffic lights as first gear is engaged; always.
The problem can be made worse it terms of the gearchange action with a worn cush drive (shim with rectangular shims made from an icecream container lid or the like) and a too loose chain. The noise is just in the "They all do that sir" category IMHO.

[cupasoop]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wot he said about first and tell him to change up earlier going into second. The higher the revs, the noiser it is.

[rst steve]

Bit of an update had a proper look at the bike last night and the chain was a little loose so adjuted that first then went for a little spin on it and it was better but still not good so whipped off the back wheel and found that the sprocket carrier could be moved around 2-3mm either way and the carrier could be removed with no friction at all. So the cush drive is knackered ordered a new one from David Silver well let you know the outcome when it arrives. Did think about doing the LSM ice cream tin mod but reckon it would of taken the whole tin to take up the slack.