Honda Twins banner
Cancel

Stuck in 5th

3512 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  moss, 
Flugtechnik
So I was riding around at lunch today and the transmission started acting up. At one point, I tried to downshift and felt the shift lever bobbling under my foot. After that, it would not shift at all. I believe it is now stuck in fifth. Luckily I was only a couple miles from home and apparently the 450 has enough power to start from a dead stop if 5th gear, albeit not very well.

The clutch appears to be working fine as I can pull it out of gear to stop and start. I'm not familiar with transmissions at all and I guess this will be my learning experience. But before I started digging in too deep, I was hoping one of you may give my some guidance to help save me some time. Any ideas what it could be? Will I be cracking open the case to fix this? Hopefully I can get this fixed before the spring.

Thanks.

Mike
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 5 of 12 Posts
Flugtechnik
tbpmusic said:
The shift shaft has an articulated arm-thingy that turns the shift drum
Click to expand...
Is that the technical term? I can't find it in my manual. :lol:

Thanks for giving me hope. I still need to study the manual to learn how it works. That is part of the reason I bought this bike.....practice for my next one that I want to build with my son.
Reply
Save
Like
Flugtechnik
tbpmusic said:
The shift shaft has an articulated arm-thingy that turns the shift drum, underneath the clutch housing. To really expose it you may have to pull the oil filter and clutch off....
Many times they go bad, but it's a simple replacement.
Also make sure the circlip is still on the end of the shaft under the counter sprocket cover.
Click to expand...
Do you mean the the gearshift spindle? Item #1 in the fiche picture attached. Also, I will check for the circlip (item #12?). When I was adjusting the position of the shift lever, I did notice that the shift shaft had a significant amount of play left to right. I will probably disassemble the thing Friday night.

Again, thanks for the help.

Mike

Attachments

See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
Flugtechnik
Well, I solved the shifting problem. And luckily, before I drained the oil and removed the clutch cover. Yes, the circlip and washer are still there. However, the circlip had come out of its groove on the shift shaft, resulting in the large amount of play I described. I guess it caused the arm to become disengaged. I pulled the shift shaft to the left and pushed the circlip back into the groove. Seems to shift fine now.

BUT.....now the clutch is acting up. Seems not to want to work. When I took the cover off, that little ball fell out. I put it back in, but the clutch still doesn't seem to be disengaging all the way now. Well, it's late and I'm tired so I guess I will take a fresh look at it tomorrow. I agree with Robert Pirsig, you can't work on a motorcycle when you are tired.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
Flugtechnik
I guess I had the same situation. The rear wheel would turn with the clutch pulled, but it was very hard. I cleaned and inspected the clutch arm on the sprocket cover and put fresh grease on it. Put it all back together and fired it up. I pulled the clutch in and put it into first expecting it to jump forward, but it didn't. Everything is copacetic again. Crazy! All because of a little circlip.

Thanks Bill! Without your advise, I would have the engine half apart by now instead of riding around. I owe you a beer...or coffee...or whatever you like to drink.
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 5 of 12 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Honda Twins
A forum community dedicated to Honda Twin cylinder motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, engine builds, classifieds, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Project Logs Engine Discussion Member Introductions Engine Discussion Electrical Discussion
Top