Shift lever won't move!!

[ifly85]

1983 GS1100GLD (shaft drive)

The shift lever won't move, up or down. I have been doing a bunch of work on my bike, but nothing to the transmission. There were no problems with shifting before I started working.

Main work done:
- Replaced the cylinder head after four exhaust bolts broke off and cracked the head.
- Removed clutch plates and cleaned varnish off of metal plates. Clutch seems to work fine as far as motion.
- Drained and refilled secondary and final drive gear oil.

I don't get a nuetral light on the instuments, but it is not in gear(rear wheel rotates). I also have no indication of what gear it thinks it is in on the instruments. The sidestand light also stays on (this may be due to powdercoating the sidestand. Does it need metal contact?).

After the engine work it starts fine (have to pull the clutch handle) and runs great(the clutch can be released after engine start.). I had hoped that something was just stuck from not having oil in it for a long time, but after adding oil and running it, nothing changed. I removed the side cover that the gear shifter shaft runs through, but it didn't appear to bind. There was no movement without the cover on either.

I don't know what else to check now. I really didn't want to remove the engine and seperate the case, since I just did plenty of engine work.

The sidestand sensor doesn't stop the tranny for going into gear does it. I can't remember that from when I was riding it.

Thanks for any help. (I did search for related articals, but I couldn't find any with this problem.)

[earlfor]

It sounds like your clutch is out of adjustment so far that it cannot disengage.
On models that have a shift shaft running through the transmission, there is usually an adjuster for shaft play at the end of the shaft.

Not having an 1100 shaftie, I'm not exactly sure what your arrangement is, but there will be provision for adjustment.

Earl

[BadBillyB]

Try doing this.........Put the bike on the center stand. With the engine off, turn the rear wheel by hand while attempting to shift into first gear. If it goes into gear, the wheel will stop and the shifter travel will feel normal. Now shift it back into neutral, it should go right in. Wheel should spin freely now....Will it do this ????.....BadBillyB

[ifly85]

Thanks for the suggestions. BadBillyB, it won't go into gear that way. I had tried that before, but it still won't. I don't feel any movement whatsoever in the shifter shaft. I can't imagine that the shaft drive isn't turning things in the transmission, so maybe there is some kind of adjustment that can be made as Earl suggests. I don't recall seeing that kind of adjustment in my Clymer manual, but I will check again.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

[rgierer]

After I did clutch discs I had a similar problem on my 1100G. What I found was I could not force shifter up or down. I did a search and found some reference to problems shifting. I got down on the side of the bike with the shifter and needed to move the lever back and forth to work through a shift. It was easier to do by hand than with my foot but after doing it by hand I got enough understanmding of the up down motion that I could accomadate it with my foot until the clutch broke in a bit.

I am assuming the challenge is a result of the work you did with your clutch and things in there just have lots of friction.

Good luck

[BadBillyB]

I don't feel any movement whatsoever in the shifter shaft.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

If by "no movement whatsoever" you mean zero movement of the shaft, than I would have to say it sounds like the shaft is frozen in the cases. Remove the shaft. It has a clip on the left side (shifter side) that holds it in. The clutch basket will have to be removed for clearance. With the basket removed and the clip removed from the left side, the shaft pulls right out through the cases......BadBillyB

[earlfor]

Did you count the number of clutch disks and check their thickness? Not all models use the same number of disks and one too many will certainly bugger the clutch operation.

Earl

[ifly85]

Thans for the quick responses. I did not replace the discs as they all measures well within specs, so it has the number that it always had.

I wonder if oiling the discs when I reinstall them would help it the problem is the friction? When I checked the friction discs and cleaned the metal(drive?) discs, I left the small amount of oil on the friction discs, but the metal ones where cleaned.

The zero movement in the shaft, makes me think like BadBillyB suggests, that the shaft is frozen in the case.

I can certainly pull the shaft out. Are you thinking that I may be able to just pull it out, re-install it, and that might take care of it?

[tkent02]

Not sure where you're going with the clutch ideas...

the shifter should move with or without the clutch being pulled in. If it is not moving, has nothing to do with clutch function. I understand the lever feels as if it is welded in place, no movement at all ?? I have not worked on your exact model, or had shift problems with any GS, but on old dirt bikes we got something screwed up similar to what you have, parts of the shifting mechanism are underneath the clutch and may not be lined correctly, such as a pawl not caught on the drum or something like that. No sure what you may have changed by messing with the clutch plates, you didn't even remove the clutch itself, did you? There has to be something wrong under that right side cover.

http://www.bikebandit.com/partsbandit/showschematic~dept_id~709890.asp

[ifly85]

You are correct that I only removed the plates, not the entire clutch. Also, it was stuck before I ever checked the plates.

Siezed shaft is sounding likely to me.

[spchips]

my guess is something slipped off on the clutch side. with the clutch open where mentioned before, those parts can move around and get all messsed up. this is the little gear that looks like a butterfly and all the stuff around it.

[ifly85]

Problem Solved

I found the problem. Thanks for the suggestions.

It was the spring on the clutch side. Aparently, when I had the covers off for powder coating, the gear shift shaft had been pushed in and then pulled back. However, when it was pulled back the two arms of the spring were both below the pin that they should surround. In the schematic below, the spring(#28) surrounds the pin(#29). I did not even need to remove the clutch as it is easy to slide the gear shift shaft out a little and reposition the spring and teeth. Now if I can just mesh the dang clutch and cover together right again!

http://www.bikebandit.com/partsbandi..._id~709890.asp

Hopefully this helps someone else if they run into this problem.

Thanks again everyone.