FYI 250sx 250es shifter stuck down

[Gator72007]

Thought i would share what i found.
Traded my Auto-X for an 85 250sx, and the foot shift would not return, it would stay down unless i pulled it up with my toes on a down shift.
After reading on here i figured it would be the common return spring bolt or spring its self broken #20 and #21 but it wasn't.
#21 bolt was loose and
The gear shift arm #19 in diagram was broken and separated and cracked on the other side. So it was spread too far out to work together.
I put a couple spot welds on it after squeezing it back to the original position. Works great now and a free fix.

[ps2fixer]

Yep I've ran into that too. Not sure what causes it, I suspect running into something with the shifter I guess.

[Gator72007]

Exactly what mine looked like

[ps2fixer]

In my case I swapped it out, I think the shaft showed wear unevenly if I recall correctly, so I assumed it was bent too. My uncle & dad did the weld fix on a TRX125 with the same problem and he rode the snot out of the machine for a good 10 years before he ended up selling it. Large full grown guy riding a TRX125 around and it took all the beating he could give it, he upgraded to a 650 rincon so the proportions were a little better lol.

[hublake]

MY 85 BR is doing the same thing. Can this be fixed without removing the motor?

[ps2fixer]

Yea the side cover can come off while in the frame. Drain the oil and pull the foot peg off and there's enough room to work around the area. The photo I posted was for a 250es btw.

[Gator72007]

MY 85 BR is doing the same thing. Can this be fixed without removing the motor?

Yes. I drained oil. Laid trike on its side. Take off foot peg 14mm, and left side cover 8mm. Shaft slides out easily. Check if its broke like pictured above, or spring on it broke. Or the bolt im pointing too is loose or end broken off. May need new cover gasket

[Big G]

Thanks for sharing Gator. I had to replace the broken spring on my '85 250ES.

Hublake this really is an easy fix. As mentioned the left side cover comes off and you will see pretty quick what the issue is with yours. From what I remember you have to remove the small starting gear cover as well to facilitate lining up the starter reduction gears when you reassemble. As always it's a good idea to replace the gaskets while your at it so maybe have those ordered in advance.

[atc007]

Yep I've ran into that too. Not sure what causes it, I suspect running into something with the shifter I guess.
Usually a child has stood on the shifter. Seen it a million times as a dealer :(