HOW TO: Rebuild a Motorcycle Transmission

I'm Matt Behning

Here's the how to rebuild a motorcycle transmission... you might also find my article on how to install a shift kit on your motorcycle a good time upgrade now.

HOW TO: CBR 929 Factory Pro Shift Kit Install w/ Clutch and Tranny Assessment

The Haynes/Clymer manual is an invaluable resource you should get before attempting to do any work on your bike because it has all the factory specs and measurements in case you want to micrometer every single part... 

This tutorial is just picking up the flaws of the manuals. That is, they have a huge lack of step by step organization and clear direction.

Most motorcycle transmissions, especially inline four sport bikes, have sequential transmissions like this CBR 954 engine. Kawasaki 14r, 12r, 10r, 9r, 6r, 636, 250; Yamaha R1 and R6; hayabusa; ninja sv650 f4i fz6 fz1; Suzuki GSXR 1300, 1000, 750, and 600; and Honda CBR 1000rr, 954rr, 929rr, 900rr, 600rr even the interceptor VFRs, Rc51... you get the point

Here's a list you can print out, check off as you go:

Some supplies needed:______ziplock bags (20 or so small, 3 or so big)
______Sharpie permanent marker 
______Card board box to collect bolts on... in a pattern by punching them through the top 
______Zip ties
______Basic tools like 8,10,12,14, and 17mm wrenches and sockets, metric allen wrenches, screw drivers, etc
______Micrometer ($10 ebay version works)
______Torque wrench that can measure NM
______30mm socket (for oil cooler and clutch center nut)
______Snap ring removal tool
______Clutch center holder (you can make your own like I did, or buy one)
______Air impact wrench (helps greatly to remove clutch center nut)
______RTV gasket maker (high temp or regular black works)
______Molybdenum Disulfide grease
______Medium strength thread lock
______Parts or Brake cleaner in aerosol cans
______90% or so Alcohol 
______The 10 new Crank shaft stretch bolts (several different sizes buy the kit on discounthondaparts.com)
______New oil filter
______New oil

Not required but worth the small extra cost:______new Clutch springs ($10)
______new clutch fiber disks ($50)
______Factor Pro shift kit ($75 for dedent arm and spring) ($170 for dedent arm, spring, and shift star) 


Basic checklist in a good order to get an engine out of a bike (this is a CBR 929/954):______Remove the seats
______Remove the side fairings
______Remove the battery
______Drain the oil, 
______Drain the coolant
______Siphon all the gas you can out of the tank
______Remove the fuel tank
______Remove the Air box
______Remove the throttle bodies (plug the holes with rags)
______Remove the radiator and it's hoses and reservoir 
______Remove the exhaust (don't be afraid to heat it up the studs and use an air impact wrench... best way to avoid breaking studs off in the head)
______Remove the ignition system (leave Spark plugs in)
______Disconnect all the wire harnesses to the engine (starter wires, stator wires, kick stand switch, neutral indicator, speed sensor, etc, etc) they all only plug into the plug they came from so no need to worry about keeping track... just don't forget any.

______Unplug the Regulator Rectifier... follow wire up off left engine cover.
______Disconnect the control cables to the engine like the clutch cable.
______Mark a dot on the gear change shaft coming out the engine at the gap where the pinch bolt spans... then remove the shifter.
______Remove the Left rear set
______Hold the rear brake (bike in neutral)... sitting on the bike works... and remove the front sprocket.
______Remove rear master cylinder and switch (tie it to the swing arm)
______Remove the kickstand after supporting what's left of the bike... ignore the manual's suggestion to wonkily support the rear of the bike by the passenger pegs... 
*zip tie front brake lever squeezed to right grip to lock the front tire
*Jack the rear of the bike up so the tire is off the ground a few inches (2 jacks lifting each side of a 2x6 through the rear wheel... use common sense to jack both evenly up... it's more stable than you think if you have good hydraulic floor jacks)
*Put blocks of scrap wood screwed together supporting the engine (and eventually the rear of the bike) Using the underside of the stator and under the clutch cover are good points to do this from... make sure the engine support is a solid piece screwed securely. 
______Remove the intact swing arm with wheel, linkages, and rear brake assembly as one by removing the bottom of the shock from the triangle linkage plates, the pivot bolt for the linkage plates to the frame bracket, and the big pivot bolt... it does take a big 24mm allan key to turn the bolt... I made mine. (only CBR 929 and 954 have the swing arm attached to engine... so most bikes don't require this step)
______ Clean the engine now while it's still sealed up tight fairly well, use brake cleaner, a few different sized wire brushes and common sense. 
______At this point you are ready to start unbolting the engine from the frame Assuming you didn't miss disconnecting anything.
______Loosen all 5 of the bolts hanging the engine from the frame Two on top and middle left and right side and one long one for the rear of the engine. (if your wooden stand can't cradle the engine well enough as the frame is unbolted then remove it and put a bunch of blankets on the ground under it.)
______Have a guy hold the sub frame and frame up while someone removes the bolts holding the engine in... once free, lift the frame and sub frame assembly high enough so the rest of the bike can be safely moved off the engine that is now laying the blankets leaking a little oil and coolant etc.

Splitting the cases:-Again, get a manual for the exact details on any given step for detailed instructions on torque and wear specs... this is just a nice point by point list for you to print out... that just happens to have a ton of color pics.
______(with the engine out the pulse generator (red plug) should be unplugged and the clutch cable bracket should be removed)
______Remove and bag the clutch cover bolts (they are all the same on the CBR)
______Turn the Clutch release lever on the cover until it releases and allows the cover to come off
______Remove Clutch cover (keep lever with it) and bag it in a separate bag from the dirty cover bolts
______Remove the five clutch bolts, and the keep the springs with them.
______Springs standard height: 48.8mm, get new ones if 47.4mm or less or if springs are warped
______After checking the clutch spring specs remove the pressure plate and all the hardware with it (bag it all together) 
______Remove the clutch disks 
______Fiber disk standard thickness: 2.9+mm, get new ones if 2.6mm (.1 in) or less
______Plain plate standard thickness: .3mm+ (.012in), get new ones if less or if warped 
______bag them together in order the right order in a ziplock with them submerged in motor oil. 
______Remove the clutch center nut after un-staking it.
______Keep track of all the washers 
______Pull the clutch housing off the shaft... bag it (with the washers)
______Remove the oil pump sprocket nut by using a flat head through one of the holes to lock it while unbolting the nut. 
______Slide both sprockets out with the chain and bag.
______Remove the plate holding the input shaft bearing and cases together (3 10mm bolts) and bag them
______Unbolt the lower cam chain guide bolt (so the cases can separate later)... return bolt to the hole so it doesn't get lost.
______ Leave the shift mechanism and drum in for now
______Remove Stator cover (You can bag all the bolts together because they are the same)
______You can remove the sprocket (and it's shaft) connecting the starter to the fly wheel (bag them)
______Remove the swing arm mount if you haven't already
______Remove the two hoses on the water pump (don't have to remove them off engine)
______Remove the 8 bolts holding the engine cases together from the top of the engine (put them into a card board box in their orientation, don't forget their washers)
______ Flip the engine over
______ Remove the oil filter and oil cooler(30mm socket) (stay organized by leaving the hoses attached)
______ Remove the oil pan (all the bolts are the same so it's up to you if you want to bag them or put them in a card board template)
______Lift off the oil pick up and oil diffuser (bag them together)
______Remove the water pump (set it aside, it'll be attached to oil cooler with hoses)
______Remove all the bolts holding the cases together, including the 10 stretch bolts... put them into a card board box to keep them organized as to where they went... even the stretch bolts that you're not going to re-use... but so you know where the new ones go)
______Separate the cases and set the lower case half off to the side
______Locate the 3 alignment dowel pins (it's up to you if you want to bag them or leave them in place)
______Locate the two steel swing arm pivot collars that are laying loose (bag them or leave them, it's up to you)
______If you haven't already, it's a good time to take some pictures of the transmission and cases for reference later to look at upon assembly
______Inspect the crank journals, seals, oil passage channels, shift forks, shift drum, etc.
______Clean off the old gasket from the engine and case covers
______Remove shift mechanism from lower engine case (that is now separated from engine)
______Remove shift drum if you need to replace it (two 10mm bolts and it pulls out)
______Remove shift arm and spring (bag them together with all the bolts)
______Remove shift forks by lifting shift shaft out if you need to replace your shift forks
______Inspect all the parts
______Lift the drive shafts out (input and out put shafts)
______Remove gasket off output shaft and the half ring washer
______Remove end cap off output shaft
______6th gear, the roller bearings inside it, and the washers on either side of it pull right off
______5th gear can pull right off the output shaft too
______Remove the first snap ring with your snap ring removal tool
______Lay each gear, washer, bearing, snap ring, etc, out in order as it comes off the shaft face up (see pics)
______4rth gear, the grooved washer, and the collar it rests on pulls off
______Remove the toothed washer and the washer it locks into (note how they are placed before you remove them)
______3rd gear can now be removed along with the collar it rests on and the washer after it
______Remove the second snap ring
______2nd gear can now come off the output shaft
______Remove the third snap ring
______Remove the grooved washer, 1st gear, and the collar it rest on off the output shaft.
______You can disassemble the input shaft in the same way (if needed)
______You can now closely inspect the gears, replace the ones needed, or salvage them in the way that is described in the how to here.

Reassembly:______With all the gears laid out in order, you can orient and swap out what gears you've bought or salvaged...spray the gears you worked on with parts cleaner to remove the shavings or dirt etc.
______Reassemble the gears, washers, snap rings, etc back onto their shaft in the same way that they were removed. If you kept good order of everything it's no problem.
______Compare your final rebuilded transmission to the picture you took before you removed the shafts out of the case
______Place the shafts back into the case half, make sure the hole in the caps fit into the pins in the case.
______Put the Molybedium disulfide grease on the crank journals and bearings.
______If you haven't already, put the shift drum, forks, and dedent arm with spring in.
______The shift forks go in like so with the "R" fork nearest the clutch/ right side of the engine, "C" is in the center, and "L" is on the stator/left side of the engine.
______If you took the shift star off the shift drum you can put it back on... 15Nm of torque
______The drum/shift fork shaft retainer bolts also need medium strength thread lock (as do all the bolts you're re-installing) and can be torqued down to 12 Nm... 
______The shift arm can be torqued down to 12Nm
______The shift mechanism slides right in and positions over the shift star to select gears.
______You can put the lower case half on dry, put a bolt in each corner and try shifting through the gears to make sure you installed everything right.
______As you lower the case half down you have to align the shift forks into the transmission. the shift fork pins only fit into the drum one way... as for the shift forks: the R and L fit back into the output shaft and the Center fork fits forward into the input shaft.
______With the cases temporarily dry fitted together with a few bolts you can dry shift through the gears by clicking the shift fork counter clockwise (if you are looking at the shift star with the shift mechanism removed). Then shift back down to neutral by turning the drum the other way... it'll be difficult to turn it by hand, so you can use a big screw driver to help coax the drum. 
_____Now you can use some alcohol or brake/parts cleaner to clean the mating surfaces of the upper and lower case halves and case covers where RTV gasket goes.
_____And double check to make sure the oil passages are clean
_____Put RTV down on the upside down engine case half in the designated areas (see pics)
_____Make sure the half ring washer on the output shaft is in the chanel, but also note worthy is just to the right there is another alignment pin to be sure is placed corectly... if not, the crank case halves won't close together and seal.
_____Make sure the two swing arm pivot collars are in the correct position
_____Make sure the 3 case halves dowels are present
_____Slowly put the case halves together while a second person guides the shift forks into the transmission (as described earlier here)
_____You can now start bolting the lower crank case half down... 
_____The smallest of the bolts: 6mm (majority are in the front of the engine) get just 12Nm of torque (don't forget to use medium thread lock)
_____The 8mm bolts (majority are on the rear of the engine case) are 24Nm of torque
_____The ten 9mm stretch bolts get 20Nm of torque PLUS another 150 degrees rotation of the wrench (use new stretch bolts... there are three different sizes be aware)
_____The 10mm bolt on the right rear of the engine case gets 39Nm of torque.
_____Install the oil cooler... The oil cooler bolt is 74Nm of torque with the 30mm socket
_____The two 6mm water pump bolts are 10Nm of torque...
_____Make sure the water pump's drive shaft is locked in with drive shaft coming out of the back of the oil pump
_____Put the oil diffuser back on.
_____check the oil pick up screen for debri and re-install that if clean
_____Put the RTV down for oil pan if everything looks good
_____Bolt the oil pan back on... all the bolts are the same... 10Nm of torque
_____There is one alignment dowel on the stator cover side, so make sure that is in there.
_____Return the sprocket and dowel it spins on if you removed it.
_____Put the RTV gasket maker down on the Stator case cover edge (even under the wire lume collar).
_____When you put the stator cover back on be careful to not mess up the RTV because the magnetic force of the stator pulls it.
_____The bolts on the stator cover are also the 10Nm... basically common sense snuging them down works good too
_____On the clutch side, re-install the plate that goes around the output shaft, the three bolts get 12Nm of torque
_____Then you can slide the drive collar, chain, and oil pump sprocket on
_____You can torque down the oil pump sprocket to 15Nm by putting a screw driver through one of the holes 
_____The next step is putting on the clutch but in order to slide it on the two sprockets on the crank have to be aligned (see how too pics)...
_____Make sure the holes in the clutch accept the nubs on the oil drive collar... otherwise it won't set all the way back and the oil and water pump won't turn.
_____Next you can put the large washer on the shaft.
_____Then you can put the clutch basket in
_____Then install the first washer
_____Then another washer that is slightly smaller, out side facing out.
_____Then a new clutch center nut... you can re-use yours too... don't forget to re-stake it into the grove of shaft after you torque it down to 127Nm of torque. It's a 30mm nut like the oil cooler bolt.
_____The Judder spring seat is what you insert first, followed by the Judder spring it's a concave shape (see pics for correct placement)
_____Then you put in the first fiber disk... it's called the "Large inner diameter disk"
_____Then it's just a matter of putting the steel plates and fiber plates in one by one alternating.
_____The last disk with the green edge goes into the clutch basket like this off set from the others
_____Next you can put in the clutch lifter and the bearing
_____Then you can put the lifter plate on
_____Then you can put your clutch springs in
_____The clutch bolts need medium strength thread lock... don't forget the washers that go along to.
12Nm of torque
_____Don't forget to re-bolt the cam chain tensioner guide bolt, 12Nm of torque.
_____Lay the RTV gasket down on the clutch cover, like the stator cover I put it under and over the wire coming out of the case. 
_____When you put the cover on there are two alignment dowels to watch as you are putting the cover on...
_____clutch pull rod is insetered in the cover and turned open so it can properly hook on to the clutch lifter rod.
_____The clutch cover bolts are also 12Nm of torque and to use lock tight (like all the bolts) 
_____At this point (if you haven't already) you can flip the engine upright again.
_____There are the crank case bolts you need to return. They are varrying different sizes, however it is not too difficult to locate their spots because they will either a) stick out to far or too little when dropped in OR b) they will be too big or small to thread into the bolt hole. 
_____The big 10mm bolt is 39Nm of torque
_____The 8mm bolts are 24Nm of torque
_____and the one 6mm bolt is 12Nm of torque
_____Then you can wrap up by putting the hoses on the water pump etc
_____Done

__________________

So here's the step by step with pictures.****click on them to make them larger****** Most modern I-4 sport bikes are assembled like this CBR 954 where you have to split the cases to get to the transmission. Exceptions like the Kawasaki 636 are nice exceptions because their transmissions can slide out the side with the engine still in the bike.

 Anyway, It's nice to build a table like this For your project because you can walk around it. It's really nice if you have a second person helping because you can both work on it... which would be difficult if it was on workbench or the floor.

 Remove the bolts holding the clutch cover on (most bikes including 929/954 have all the bolts the same size and length)

 It can help to stay organized by pushing the bolts through card board in the general configuration/ shape of the case it's holding in.

 There are usually a couple pry tabs to gently ease the covers off once the bolts are out and clutch center pull rod is released.

 Here's just the clutch cover fresh off... All the big four sportbike Manufacture's bikes look like this under the clutch case.

 Loosen and remove the clutch bolts and springs and washers... they are only held on with 12 NM of torque so they come right off. 

 It's a good idea to upgrade to new clutch springs and even 10-20% stiffer springs to feel a nice improvement in clutch performance street riders appreciate. Track riders tend to like the soft stock clutch springs to easily control wheel spin.

 You can now remove the clutch lifter plate

Remove the clutch lifter rod and bearing

 After the clutch center pressure plate and hardware is removed the clutch fiber disks and steel disks can be removed from the clutch basket. Stack them in the order they come out, including the judder spring and washer which are the last parts to come out of the clutch basket.

 You can use your manual to check the specs of the clutch plates before you bag them; however, much like brake pads and rotors you can visibly tell when they need to be replaced.

 Zip tie them together and bag them up with your engine oil you use in your bike... but keep them in a bucket encase the bag leaks.

 Unstake the clutch center nut... using a hammer and screw driver work good.

 To remove the 30mm clutch center nut you have to hold the clutch basket steady... you can make a template like this and create one out of flat steel yourself without too much trouble.

 Use all five clutch bolts to hold the tool onto the clutch center

 If your clutch center hub was as worn as this one all five tabs might break off at once... the notches in the studs happens from the rider chopping on throttle abrubtly and frequently.

 with the studs broke off we tried to get the nut off by notching it with a grinder

And hitting the notched out area... it didn't work... 

Bracing the hub with screw drivers and strapping the engine down to the table and using heat didn't work.

 Even with all five hub bolts broke we improvised by using five long bolts to reach the threads that were left in the hub to again hold the clutch center tool on.

 Finally the thing that worked was an impact wrench... So the lesson to learn to prevent breaking parts is to use the impact wrench in the first place. The air gun's rapid short bursts of power are the trick to getting a bolt or a nut like this that is wrenched on with 127 NM of torque. 

 With the nut off there are two washers you don't want to lose.

 The hub will slide right out (see this is actually a pic of me installing the new hub lol)

 Under the hub is the large washer... I usually bag the hub and washers together.

 The basket can now slide out... might take a little careful effort since the sprockets on the crank are so closely and tightly meshed to the teeth on the basket.

You can leave all the shifting mechanisms, drum, shift rods, etc in (on the left)

 Next step is to remove the sprocket on the oil pump... to prevent the pump from just turning while unbolting (or bolting in) you have to put a flat head screw driver through on of the holes on the sprocket to prevent it from spining while unbolting the 10mm bolt.

 After the oil pump sprocket, chain, and drive sprocket on the input shaft are removed you can remove the spacer collar and then unbolt the three bolts holding the bracket around the input shaft... bag it all together.

 The clutch side of the cases is almost ready to seperate..

 You just have to unbolt the cam chain guide from the lower case half... to prevent losing the bolt return it to the hole it came from with it's washer.

 You can now remove the stator cover. Note what bolt is holding the cable support (on the right). All the bolts are the same so you can put them all in a zip lock bag

 Remove the sprocket conecting the starter to the crank and the shaft it's on... they both slide out. (bag 'em) 

That's it for the Stator side, no need to remove anything else here

 So now that the clutch and stator side are ready to split you can remove the rest of the hardware and accessories. You can leave the starter on... but we took it off to clean around it.

 Take the swing arm mount off the engine by loosening the two 14mm nuts on the two long bolts (right side of engine). The two bolts are held in with pinch bolts (red) so you have to loosen them to get the bolts out after the nuts are removed.

 Here's Vince doing the next step of removing the two hoses to the water pump... you can leave the hoses that are attached to the back of the heads.

 Put some paper towel in the holes to prevent dirt from getting in there

 There are 8 bolts to remove out of the top of the engine that help hold the cases together.

 They are all different sizes... If you don't remember the order it's not hard to test place them in the holes to find where they go... they all sit about an inch above the case before they are bolted in.

Again, I keep track of the order and placement of bolts by putting them in the same relative pattern/location that they would be on the engine stuck in a piece of cardboard.

 Flip the engine over and Unscrew the oil filter and remove the oil cooler (30mm socket)

 Remove all the bolts holding the oil pan on... they are all the same size so it's up to you if you want to put them in order on a piece of cardboard.

 Don't ever over tighten your oil pan drain plug

 This is all the crap in the oil pan... the strainer looked just as bad... it's all the chunks of gasket that came loose from the previous owner putting too much RTV on the side cases.

Remove the oil pick up strainer and also the oil difuser. Bag them together.

 You can now unbolt the water pump. There are two long bolts holding it in. Don't make the same mistake and accidently unscrew the bolts holding the pump together... we had to use RTV and create a new gasket since we broke the seal. Also note how the drive shaft for the water pump links into a shaft coming out the back of the oil pump.

 Helps keep track of parts if you keep as many as you can together... The many hoses can be difficult to keep track of otherwise.

 Here's the space where the water pump was.

 As you get ready to seperate the cases it can be useful to take a look into the transmission and note how the shift forks orient into the two gear packs.

 Here are all the bolts that you have to remove in order to separate the cases (including the 8 on the top) I thought it was easier to highlight their location on the cases after they were seperated.

The dozens of bolts holding the cases together are different sizes and they can be re-located if they get mixed up... that is except for the 10 stretch bolts that have just a few mm of difference between them lengthwise. You must buy new stretch bolts, but having the correct placement known ahead of time is nice.

Don't forget about this bolt holding the lower cam chain guide before you attempt to seperate the cases

 Here's one of two places that have tabs extending just to help you gently pry the case halves apart

 Here's the second pry spot location... if they aren't lifting with small to moderate amount of effort than you probably have forgotten to remove a bolt or two

 I actually captured the moment Steve and Vince lifted the case halves apart

 Before you get too excited make sure you find the three removable alignment tabs. They can easily drop into the upside down engine and cause catastrophic damage if you fail to realize this. 

 You can check out your seals and bearings, look over everything good

 Taking pictures like this before you touch anything can be helpful when going to reassemble the transmission

Here's the clutch side of the lower half right side up... all the shift mechanisms, drum, forks, etc are still in place in this piece.

 Here we are just realizing the forks are completely shot along with the drum lol (more on that later)

 Here you will notice a journal that appears worn... don't worry this one is supposed to look like this... But you can look over all of them for scoring and wear... his all looked good.

 Here's a really important shot I recomend for you to take of your transmission before you lift it out... even if you aren't going to write a how to write up... I say this because the clymers manual actually stated to put the 6th gear on the input shaft on the wrong way (top right most gear)... because of this picture we caught it and put the facing the correct way... IDK if it would have worked regardless but just goes to show there can be typo's in these books.

 As stated earlier, we realized more parts than anticipated were destroyed in the trans so while waiting for parts I took the oportunity to clean the parts. However, it's best if you do this before disassembly if possible.

 Here you have no choice but to wait to clean all the left over gasket off the case covers and engine case halves (not pictured here). A razor blade works best... I removed the coil from the inside of the stator cover and the pulse sensor from the clutch cover as to prevent them from getting dirty.

 I find the paste like engine decreasers like turtle and GOOP hand cleaner work good for cleaning parts that have tough thick grease cooked on. Liquid parts cleaners like brake and carb cleaner don't seem to settle in and break down the thick grease as well... but we all have our different preferences... I was very careful not to get the inside of the engine dirty.

As I waited for parts I put the cases on with just a few bolts for each one and really cleaned the engine up.

 Here are before and after pictures of cleaning the cases and parts of the CBR 954 engine.

 So this is what we were looking at. This pic shows the fact how gears actually wear... so be careful if you're buying a used one of e-bay or something:

 ransmission gears actually wear on the inside on the dogs... not so much on the outer teeth.

 Shift drums wear out on the inside chanels where the shift fork makes turns... if you think about it, it makes sense... Brad W was in a pinch with his CBR 900rr transmission drum and couldn't find a new one locally so he added a bead of weld to the chipped out area and used a dremel to grind down the weld to reform the bank of the chanel like new. I thought that was a good story since a new drum is about $80... sounds like something I would do

 We needed more new gears and all new shift forks along with a replacement shift drum. As you can easily tell these forks are Completely destroyed... it's any wonder how the bike even shifted.

 So now that everything is clean you can remove the shift mechanism by pulling it out... should pull right out as long as the shifter is off. Don't lose the washer on it.

 You can measure specs on it.. but generally if it doesn't look worn or bent and you haven't crashed hard on the left side causing the shifter to bend this part... it's good to re-use.

 To get the drum out you have to remove the dedent arm and spring along with the two 10mm bolts holding it in... the second bolt also hold the shift fork shaft.

 So you can pull the shift fork shaft up and the forks will slide off.

 Removed the dedent arm and spring. And now the drum can lift out

 As you saw earlier the drum can visually assessed.

The same is generally true for the shift forks.... His were obviously shot

 When I did my bike... my 929 shift forks here just show minor wear... slight scoring on the inside U of the forks... very slight inside wear on the lower face of the forks... the tips of the forks were flawless and straight.... so I re-used them

 You can get out a micrometer and measure all the specs (which mine were within)... but just like brake pads... all it really takes is a good eye to determin if your shift forks are worn, bent, scored up, etc.

 Same for the shift shaft... as long as it rolls smooth along a flat surface... or you can use a square to see if it's true'd up

 This is still my tranny, but the 929 and 954 shift mechanisms are the same... I installed a Factory Pro Evo shift kit in my CBR 929 which I highly recomend for any sport bike that has 1st to 2nd gear mis-shifts.

See: 

HOW TO: CBR 929 Factory Pro Shift Kit Install w/ Clutch and Tranny Assessment

 Now you're ready to remove the drive shafts

 But don't just pull them out and start pulling the gears off

 Here's what it looks like after you remove the drive shafts... they just lift right out.

 Now you're ready to start removing the gears if you aren't replacing the entire complete drive shafts with gears.

 Starting with the output shaft (the lower drive shaft that has the front sprocket attached)... you can remove the rubber seal off the end and inspect it to make sure it's intact.

 Also remove this half ring and set it aside.

 On the other side of the output drive shaft is this cap, it pulls right off.

 6th Gear on the CBR 929 and 954 are the only gears that are the same on the output shaft... it also pulls right off.

 5th Gear on the output shaft also can be removed without tools by pulling it off.

 Be aware of the washers on either side of 6th gear, along with the removable ring of bearings inside the sprocket

 At this point you will need a snap ring removal tool to take out the snap rings holding in some of the gears... they are only about $10 at a local hardware store and come with several different removable heads for different rings.

 I found it easiest to keep the gears organized by lining them up left to right face up as they come off the drive shaft.

 After you get the snap ring and washer off Fourth gear comes off 

 Here's the order they come off in (left to right)

 There is also this collar to remove that 4rth gear rides on

 When re-assembling this toothed washer is tricky to get locked into the accepting spaces of the washer below it... having pictures and paying attention now will make re-assembly no prob. As you see the washer it locks into is in a groove in the drive shaft... that allows you to turn the lower washer in that groove and rotate it until you can lower the toothed washer into the washer into the accepting points on the lower washer (seen below here).

 3rd gear can now slide off

 Third gear also has a collar that it rests on

 Then another washer comes off

 Then you have to remove another snap ring with your tool.

 Then 2nd gear can come off the output drive shaft in the 954/929 transmission.

 Then another snap ring... you will notice that snap rings are on either side of the gear sprockets that move side to side on the drive shafts via the shift forks that engage the gears.

 1st gear has a collar that it rests on too.

 Here's a new CBR 954 first gear compared to the used 1st gear. You can save 30% by buying from discounthondaparts.com... rarely will you find a good used first gear for sale on sites like ebay... actually, rarely will you find individual gears for sale on those sites.

 Here's 954 6th gear compared the the sixth gear on 929 transmission that was purchased on ebay they are interchangable

 However the rest of the gears on the output shaft are not interchangable 954 to 929. Thats because (for whatever reason) the 954 gears have four dogs and the 929 has five dogs.

Here are the two laid out side by side (the washers and other hardware is interchangeable and the same).

 Now you can remove all the gears from the input drive shaft in the CBR 929/954 transmission in the same organized way you did the output shaft. 
This input drive shaft has the clutch attached to it and the clutch transmits cranking power from the crank shaft to the input shaft which in turn transmits power to the output shaft through the specified gear ratios in the transmission which makes your rear tire move. Most motorcycle transmissions, especially inline four (I-4) sport bikes, have sequential transmissions like this. Kawasaki 14r, 12r, 10r, 9r, 6r, 636; Yamaha R1 and R6; Suzuki GSXR 1300, 1000, 750, and 600; and Honda CBR 1000rr, 954rr, 929rr, 900rr, 600rr even the interceptor VFRs, Rc51... you get the point

 The CBR 954 and 929 input shaft and gears are the same

 Now we get to the fun stuff: how to salvage a worn transmission gear with a dremel... A motorcycle mechanic friend shared this tip with me.

 Grind the rounded off edges down on the dogs to be nice sharp angles again... it really works!

 From the pics you can see all that is done to save a gear is grinding down the left inside edge of the gear face where the dog engages. Make sure you grind the area even/level/flat... it can't slope down and out... if anything sloping it in barely is okay. People pay to have this precision machine work done. It's called undercut gears, usually a 2% grade slope into the base of the gear sprocket that promotes holding the gear engaged.... even though the shift fork is primarily responsible for holding a gear in place. However, don't attempt to undercut your gears yourself. 

With all this work you are simply recreating the flat crisp edge for the engaged gear's dogs to rest on as the cranking power is transmitted throught the mated gears. The rounding happens if the rider mis-shifts hard and often enough that it damages the gear. It can be from poor timing of the shifts, not shifting hard enough, worn or bent shift forks, or other bad shifting habits.

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 Re-assembly of the transmission gears back on to the drive shafts is simply the reverse order of taking them off, snap rings and all. You can use the pictures and discriptions in this thread and trace the steps backward. Be careful when using manuals my Haynes manual I have has a mistake. It tells you to put sixth gear on the input shaft on backward with the slope of the gear facing out... that is wrong. Sometimes your best reference is your own pictures you take of your transmission before you begin the disassembly. 

 Here's the output shaft re-assembled

 Make sure to place each shaft's cap properly into the stud... otherwise the case halves won't close together.

Also note the three alignment studs in the case halves before re-joining the cases. And here are the places to put the molybdenium disulfide grease too.

 If you haven't already, put the shift drum, forks, and dedent arm with spring in.
The shift forks go in like so with the "R" fork nearest the clutch/ right side of the engine, "C" is in the center, and "L" is on the stator/left side of the engine.

 If you took the shift star off the drum, this is the order of the parts.

 The star back fits into the drum's pin like so

 Don't forget medim strength thread lock

 You can torque the shift drum bolt down to 15 Nm with it held lightly in a vice with a rod through it to prevent it from turning.

 The drum installs here in the lower case half.

The drum/shift fork shaft retainer bolts also need medium strength thread lock (as do all the bolts you're re-installing) and can be torqued down to 12 Nm

 The shift arm can be torqued down to 12Nm

 If needed you can lift the arm up onto the shift star with a screw driver 

 And there it is

 The shift mechanism slides right in and positions over the shift star to select gears.

 You can put the lower case half on dry, put a bolt in each corner and try shifting through the gears to make sure you installed everything right.

 It looks more difficult than it is because the shift fork pins only fit into the drum one way... as for the shift forks: the R and L fit back into the output shaft and the Center fork fits forward into the input shaft

 With the cases temporarily dry fitted together with a few bolts you can dry shift through the gears by clicking the shift fork counter clockwise (if you are looking at the shift star with the shift mechanism removed). Then shift back down to neutral by turning the drum the other way... it'll be difficult to turn it by hand, so you can use a big screw driver to help coax the drum. 
Bikes shift best if the engine is running and the bike is moving so don't be discouraged if it's not shifting fast and crisp up and down.

 Now you can use some alcohol or brake/parts cleaner to clean the mating surfaces of the upper and lower case halves and case covers where RTV gasket goes.

 And double check to make sure the oil passages are clean

 Here's where the RTV gasket gets put down before you put the case halves together.

 Here the half ring washer is missing from the chanel, but also note worthy is just to the right there is another alignment pin to be sure is placed corectly... if not, the crank case halves won't close together and seal.

 After you make sure the trans shafts are settled into their dowel pins and set pin, the swing arm pivot collars are in place, the 3 case halves dowels are present, and you also have the RTV down, you can place the lower case half down... 

 have a second person guiding the shift forks into their position in the trans while you lower the case down... if not you'll have to simply remove the shift fork shaft, and put each shift fork into it's spot and re-install the shift fork shaft.

 You can now start bolting the lower crank case half down... 

the manuals aren't very clear on the torque specs... they don't mention that the front crank case bolts are only 6mm in the front of the chapter for the torque specs, leading you to believe these small bolts are 8mm which say to use 24Nm of torque... which equates to 18ft lbs of torque... that is over double what you are actually supposed to use and all the 6mm bolts broke with that ammount of torque. 
So after a trip to Menards (who actually had the identical bolts in stock) and looking over the manual for what went wrong we found in the very front of the honda manual it says to use only 10Nm of torque on 6mm bolts.... we also used medium strength thread lock (which we used on all the bolts). It would have been nice if both Haynes and Honda would have clarified this in the beginning of their chapters instead of assuming you know all this.

 Here's where all the bolts you will be returning into the lower crank case half. There are 10, 9, 8, and 6mm bolts. Which, after breaking a half dozen of the 6mm bolts using the full 24Nm of torque only to find out later in the very front of the honda service manual it says to use only 10-12Nm of torque on 6mm bolts... The 10mm bolt call for 39Nm of torque and the 9mm stretch bolts call for 35Nm of torque (more on that later) and the 8mm bolts on the rear of the crank cases and some on the top of the crank case call for 24Nm of torque

 Here's where you'll be putting in the 10 new stretch bolts. People say you can re-use them, however, with bolts that stablize your crank shaft I don't want to mess around. It's well worth the $50 or so to get the new bolts.

 Of the Ten 9mm bolts there are three different sizes. There are x5 88mm, x1 93mm, and x4 108mm.
It's confusing because the different manuals out there differ in what torque specs to put down. The honda pdf manual I saw says 35Nm of torque and the Haynes Manual says 20Nm of torque plus 150 degree rotation...

 So I did the 20Nm +150 with the new bolts.

 The oil cooler bolt is 74Nm of torque with the 30mm socket

 The two 6mm water pump bolts are 10Nm of torque...

 Make sure the water pump's drive shaft is locked in with drive shaft coming out of the back of the oil pump

 Put the oil diffuser back on.

 The previous owner of the bike put way to much RTV on the case covers and the pieces came off and ended up in the oil pick up screen so you can clean that out by spraying parts cleaner down the other side.

 Then you can put the oil pick up back on

 Put the RTV down for oil pan if everything looks good.... You can double check that it's still shifting good and you can even turn the engine over with the 14mm bolt on the timing rotor on the clutch side to double check the engine is smoothly turning... make sure your spark plugs are out... just to make it easier.

All the oil pan bolts are the same so you can put them in and torque them down to 10Nm.

 There is one alignment dowel on the stator cover side, so make sure that is in there.

 Return the sprocket and dowel it spins on if you removed it.

 Put the RTV gasket maker down on the case cover.

 When you put the stator cover back on be careful to not mess up the RTV because the magnetic force of the stator pulls it.
The bolts here are also the 10Nm... basically common sense snuging them down works good too

 First re-install the plate, the three bolts get 12Nm of torque

 Then you can slide the drive collar, chain, and oil pump sprocket on

 You can torque down the oil pump sprocket to 15Nm by putting a screw driver through one of the holes like this

 The next step is putting on the clutch but in order to slide it on the two sprockets on the crank have to be aligned...

 First you must locate this hole in order to put a screw driver or some rod through to stabalize and prevent the engine from just turning over.

 The Haynes manual I have mistakenly tells you to turn the 14mm nut clockwise to align the sprockets... I found this wasn't true, you actually turn it counter clockwise... it doesn't take a whole lot of pressure and this bolt is held in with 90Nm of torque so it isn't going to unbolt for the little pressure it takes to align.

 Make sure the holes in the clutch accept the nubs on the oil drive collar... otherwise it won't set all the way back and the oil and water pump won't turn.

You can see here that these parts are not aligned... simply reach in and turn the oil pump sprocket while lightly pushing on the clutch housing until they lock into place.
The sprockets should be flush.

 Next you can put the large washer on the shaft.

 Here I'm holding the washer in my left hand

 Then you can put the clutch basket in... we installed a new one

 Then install the first washer

 Then another washer that is slightly smaller, out side facing out.

 Then a new clutch center nut... you can re-use yours too... don't forget to re-stake it into the grove of shaft after you torque it down to 127Nm of torque.

 It's a 30mm nut like the oil cooler bolt.

My home made clutch center holder.

 Next you can open up the zip lock bag with your zip tied together clutch plates

 The Judder spring seat is what you insert first, followed by the Judder spring it's a concave shape 

 Then you put in the first fiber disk... it's called the "Large inner diameter disk"
Then it's just a matter of putting the steel plates and fiber plates in one by one alternating.

 The last disk with the green edge goes into the clutch basket like this off set from the others

 Next you can put in the clutch lifter and the bearing

 here they are installed

 Then you can put the lifter plate on

Then you can put your clutch springs in... new ones are only about $10 on ebay so it's not a bad investment. I prefer 10-20% stiffer clutch springs because of the better feedback I feel from the lever.

 The clutch bolts need medium strength thread lock... don't forget the washers that go along to.

 It goes without saying to torque any part with multiple bolts in a alternating pattern one across from the other one by one.

 These clutch bolts only need 12Nm of torque

 Don't forget to re-bolt the cam chain tensioner guide bolt.

 It's another bolt that only needs 12Nm of torque

 As long as the old gasket is cleaned off you're ready to put the clutch cover back on.

 Lay the RTV gasket down, like the stator cover I put it under and over the wire coming out of the case. When you put the cover on there are two alignment dowels to watch as you are putting the cover on...

 As well as making sure the clutch pull rod is insetered in the case and turned like this so it can properly hook on to the clutch lifter rod.

 The clutch cover bolts are also 12Nm of torque and to use lock tight (like all the bolts) 
Once the cover is on and you feel the need to test out the clutch... don't be surprised if you can't turn the clutch pull rod by hand... If you use a pipe about a foot long or so then you can easily enough test it out.

 At this point (if you haven't already) you can flip the engine upright again.

There are the crank case bolts you need to return. They are varrying different sizes, however it is not too difficult to locate their spots because they will either a) stick out to far or too little when dropped in OR b) they will be too big or small to thread into the bolt hole. 
The big 10mm bolt is 39Nm of torque
The 8mm bolts are 24Nm of torque
and the one 6mm bolt is 12Nm of torque

 We took the timing rotor cap off and shifted through the gears and tried the clutch out while rotating the engine over. Turn clockwise. And you don't have to go fast... it just helps you shift.

 Then you can wrap up by putting the hoses on

There's pics all around the CBR 954 engine

 The work space of course.

 And the cool sign that Steve made for me.

 Don't forget to use your seat belt on the way home.

 Here we're trouble shooting and getting the bike running again.

Then when it's all done
Hope the write up helps. 
It's been running great all summer 2015 since we did the job last year.


-Matt Behning