Little splitter

[sinkankan]

Well, there's good news and there's bad news.
I finally got the GS850 down to the Suzuki shop to deal with the gear change issue, they checked it out today and the synopis is a bent gear change fork inside the box.
The bad news is obviously the motor has to come out, and the lower cases split to access the fork/s. The worser news is that these forks are no longer available via a OEM supplier. Oh bugger and damn I hear you say, second hand will have to do and happy hunting.
The good news is that on the way home they ( the bike shop) have sourced a set from a 750 around the same era, and the bike only had a thousand k's on the clock.
The bike has been taken back to my mates shop, and he's going to strip the motor out and take it back to the bike shop this week.
In the interim the motor will get soft blasted to get the ugly silver paint off it, and hopefully my spare set of carbs will get here from the US of A.
Huge storms predicted here over the next few weeks, so it's a good time to get working on the Bike.
My mate reckons to call it the Black Bitch, I said don't let her you call her that or she will spit you off.

[Big T]

Bent shift fork?

Some PO must have hammered that gearbox, they're pretty strong

Hope your fix is easy and you don't find more damage

[Wingsconsin]

I have heard (anecdotal information here) that one can wear and bend the shift fork by resting ones foot on it while riding ...long term wear and pressure causes the end of a few degrees -which is all it takes to prevent proper operation.

[tatu]

Another one here, I have never come across bent shift forks inside the box, it might have been possible with the old Brit type stuff where flat steel plates were used but not the cast ally rotating drum stuff.
I've seen it on high miler cars where the dogs wear in the lock ring grooves when resting a hand on the lever, helping to attribute to a sloppy lever.

[sinkankan]

I forgot to mention that it might also be a bearing seat on the end of the cluster shaft that's worn. But it is a bit of a mystery because overall the bike is in very good condition considering the age.
Both the mechanic and the counter guy were impressed and said the bike looked well maintained and clean. (Except for the daggy engine color, might be worth chasing up the history a bit more because I do know the previous owner fairly well)
And to add insult to injury the front brake lever is apparently the wrong type, and keeps applying the brakes, I do have the correct one and have to change it out.