Gear Shifter Locked Up

[Call Me Ahab]

Greetings all,

I recently restarted my work on my GS850 - it's been sitting in the shop for three months now with the engine open - lugs removed, clutch cover removed.

I've got the whole thing back together with some repairs, replaced gaskets, seals, valve guides etc, but now I find out that the shifter will NOT budge - neither up, nor down.

When I hit the key, the gear position light is blank, no 1, 2, 3 etc. The rear wheel spins freely, as if it is in neutral. The engine turns over just fine (I have yet to fire it up as I'm still hunting down split wires and tweaking wire routing.)

What could be the cause, and should I be worried? There is now oil in the crankcase. I have drained and replaced the oil in the gearbox with Royal Purple. At no time was the gearbox left open or exposed. Could debris have been stirred up and lodged in the gears? The engine itself was flipped several times during cleaning.

I'm afraid to put real pressure on the lever, I don't want to screw something up even worse than it is now.

[spyug]

It is likely the shift pawl on the end of the shift shaft is not properly engaging the pegs on the shift drum in the tranny. Can you put it on a center stand or lift and while turning or rocking the rear wheel try to move it into gears? It may realign it but I'm betting you will need to dive in to look at the shaft and pawl.

There have been a couple of threads on this. Do a search.

To get at it , you will need to remove the whole clutch basket and fly wheel. A bit of work but not too hard.

As you note, it is not a good idea to wail on the shifter. You need to take it apart but no need to panic just yet.

Good luck with it and let us know what you find.

[Call Me Ahab]

It is likely the shift pawl on the end of the shift shaft is not properly engaging the pegs on the shift drum in the tranny. Can you put it on a center stand or lift and while turning or rocking the rear wheel try to move it into gears? It may realign it but I'm betting you will need to dive in to look at the shaft and pawl.

There have been a couple of threads on this. Do a search.

To get at it , you will need to remove the whole clutch basket and fly wheel. A bit of work but not too hard.

As you note, it is not a good idea to wail on the shifter. You need to take it apart but no need to panic just yet.

Good luck with it and let us know what you find.

Thank you - I'll start looking into the other threads!

I hope like hell this isn't serious... The one thing I did NOT want to get into was the lower end and transmission...

[tom203]

Yeah do a search, there were recent posts on this- maybe someone can pinpoint it- my search skills are primitive.
Here's a pic of what's behind clutch from that post

[bwringer]

The other possibility I've seen is that the clutch cover gasket is too thin.

There's a nubbin inside the clutch cover that keeps the shifter shaft in place, and if the gasket is too thin (as many aftermarket gaskets are) it can contact the end of shifter shaft and pretty much lock it into place.

Loosen the clutch cover bolts a bit and see if the shifter moves easily.

[Call Me Ahab]

It was indeed the pawl on the shaft - slipped off at some point! Thanks guys, all is well now!

[sugi]

Thanks guys. THis info just saved my ass today LOL. Gotta love this forum.

[blowerbike]

there should be a clip on the shifter shaft to keep this from happening.
it would be on the shifter side next to the seal.
just to add years ago i was working on one and didn't have a clutch gasket so i yamabonded it....shifter was locked up tight as it had no clearance and bottomed in the clutch cover.