problems shifting into 2nd, and intermittent problems w/ 3rd and 4th gear

[bustert]

mating gears should be replace in sets. you do not have to replace every gear. this is an iffy deal, the same as changing cams, sometimes the bushings line up and sometimes they may bind. some say they do not even worry with the spacing on the pawl but on my 01 sport it does make a diff. some of those wire clips are tricky and maybe one did not or lost home, a pawl adj is the first step. while you are in there, consider a Johnson engineering sportgear, a real hoot!!! also, consider replacing the split poly cage bearings with metal type.

[1904Sportster]

Since the bike shifted fine initially I'm going to check the shifter pawl again and see if that helps. If it still has issues I'll look into replacing whichever gears mesh with the new 1st and 3rd countershaft gears I just installed.

[1904Sportster]

What gear does the 5th gear mesh with? I looked at the diagram and it doesn't look like it meshes with either of the gears I replaced.

[rider61]

i think 5th is direct

[1904Sportster]

With the bike off, should I be able to shift the bike through all the gears with it just sitting still? Or, at most, rocking the back tire a little?

[bustert]

should help. there is one particular wire snap ring that can cause issues on install and this spaces out the set, limits shaft walk but if you are meticulous you should have no issues.

[1904Sportster]

Thanks for the diagram. My manual has a similar one but doesn't have the arrows showing where the power is going. Looks like I need to study how it all works and hopefully I'll figure it out.

[1904Sportster]

I have everything apart and while studying the shifter pawl mechanism I noticed that those five pins are indeed walking themselves out making the detent plate cockeyed. This was something I noticed the first time around but I assumed it was designed that way. I've tapped the pins back in place but see no reason to remove the transmission as I'm fairly confident all of that is assembled correctly.

Now I'm off to track down a new detent plate since I'm back in here again.

[bustert]

might do as oldwrench suggested.
there are many ways to detain the plate. spiral ring, safety wire of proper size and a compressed split flat washer. the trick is to get zero play in the plate, aka, no wobble.



need to shim the plate tight, here is used a thin ss washer and a compressed split flat washer, been in use years. spiral rings work but finding them tough and safety wire works but must be able to clamp the retaining washer and fit the shaft groove.

[1904Sportster]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to do something different. I just tried fitting the old detent plate (no one in town has one) and now that I've driven the pins in until they bottom out the clip does absolutely nothing. I don't know if I sent them in further than they are supposed to go, but I'm going to have to do some sort of e clip and washer.