85 Big Red shift problem

[Psyonyde]

Yesterday I noticed that the shift lever on my Red was a little loose, and when I would shift it would kind of slide, and had problems shifting gears. I took it for a ride, and was shifting it into reverse, but it would not go to reverse. I cant even shift it into neutral to start it..we had to pull it out with our tractor. Anybody got an idea what the problem could be (and yes, i tightened the little screw on the lever, it did nothing)

[ScottZJ]

Check this post on org, it might help you out. Mine on the SX was like that and needed replacement. The SX is the same as the ES engine, so this might help.......peace

http://www.3wheeler.org/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=868

[kdagenais]

Just like jeswinehart said you need to see if the gear shifter itself is slipping on the shaft. The wayu to check is by grabbing ot with your hand and look at the shaft toi see if turns with the shifter. If not you need to replace the gearshifter or you can so the following for a band aid fix.

For the Band Aid fix remove the gearshifter from the machine and leave the screw out of the shifter. Take a hacksaw and cut out a piece of the shifter where it has th separation to enlarge the slot more. This will allow you to tighten the wore out gear shifter more than usual. I have used this method numerous times with great sucess.
Good Luck!

[slowmo]

One caution- be sure that the splines aren't stripped out before you do this, on both the lever and the shaft. I did this booger fix on the trail on a Honda XL175 I had (note: always carry a piece of hacksaw blade in your on board tool kit!) it got me out of the woods, but I tore up the shaft pretty bad. If you've ever priced Honda Dealer parts you know how much that hurt! My lever had stripped out, and by tightening it further and the twisting involved in shifting twisted the splines slightly so I couldn't get a new lever on. Since the bike was only worth about $200 I just hammered the new lever on and put a couple tack welds on to keep it in place. Sure do feel sorry for whoever has it now.....

[Psyonyde]

thanks