GS 1150 shifting issue, screwing of the pooch, and related questions.

[dorkburger]

Hey all,
Over the last few rides, downshifting from 5th to 4th gear has been increasingly stiff. The actual gear change is ok, but I've had to push harder on the gearshift lever to shift. Sort of a tight, resistance to movement type of feel. Shifting up thru the gears is fine, clutch adjustment is good.


In a wishful thinking / check easy fixes move, I had a look at the shifter pivot and linkage today. All fine there, other then some wear / slop. Nothing was tight or binding. Next was off with the sprocket cover. Shift shaft looks ok and no signs of problems where it passes thru the cover.


Then the pooch screwing began. I removed the retaining clip for the shift shaft. I had read in the past the past that if this clip was taken off to NOT push in on the shaft. I didn't, but I did pull on and it moved approximately an 1/8 - 1/4 inch outward. Unconcerned, I gave the seal, etc, a look, put thevwasher and clip back on, and put it back together. Sprocket cover back on, linkage on, no shift actuation...... I'm assuming the shift gears in the clutch housing are no longer meshed.


Questions- what should I look for as the cause of the initial stiff downshifting issue?

Regarding the shift shaft screw up- is it just a matter of pulling the clutch cover and clutch basket off and resetting the gears / spring?


Any insight is appreciated.

Glen.

 

[dorkburger]

Question 2 is sorted. I pulled the clutch and the shifter gears were not meshed. I reset them and it goes thru the gears by hand. My best guess at this point is that despite being careful, I must have bumped the shift shaft in. I suppose that the clip coild have been unseated previously, but it seems unlikely that I could have gotten lucky for that long.

Its back together loosely. I started doing stupid stuff so I stopped for the evening. Hopefully I'll get it back together tonight.

 

[dorkburger]

Its fixed. And it all was due to poor poor inspection. Short answer is that the gearshift lever was hitting the sidestand on downshifting. I keep a shim made from a bent nickel under the sidestand stop to hold it down just a bit to clear the shifter. It fell out. I only noticed at the end when installing and setting the lever position.
Waste of time? No.
I found a couple of items that shined a bad light on my workmanship.
When I opened up the clutch, I found the lockwasher for the nut was not bent up onyo the nut. Also during reassembly, I hit the nut with my 1/4 impact gun to be final torqued later. I then jumped to installing the clutch hat. Thankfully I remembered then decided to call it a night. (This was on Tuesday). Last night I got back to it, and realized that I have absolutely no recollection of holding the clutch and torquing it to spec when I had it apart in 2015. I must have jumped ahead as I nearly did onTuesday. Thankfully everything stayed put.

Its back together and I took a loop around the block. All seems well.

Don't be a hack like me....

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Glen, I like how this became a sort of thinking-out-load, stream-of-consciousness kind of thread. I almost feel bad about interrupting your flow to comment on it. Glad you get it sorted. Sometimes it just helps to say things out load (or type them in a forum).

 

[Baatfam]

Curious about the shifter hitting the side stand. Is something bent, or not stock?

 

[dorkburger]

Rich, I'm hoping that my sharing will help other to learn from my mistake.

Bob, nothing is bent. Stock parts. Its just the position thay works for me as a total package. It only hits it by a bit, but enough to cause issues. The sidestand hole is worn and and the shift linkage is worn and sloppy, so they my be contributing.

 

[dorkburger]

Glen, I like how this became a sort of thinking-out-load, stream-of-consciousness kind of thread. I almost feel bad about interrupting your flow to comment on it. Glad you get it sorted. Sometimes it just helps to say things out load (or type them in a forum).

Its sort of like writing a service ticket for work, but with the freedom to editorialize

 

[Carter Turk]

Have you fussed with the external shift linkage rod itself with the righty loosy lock screw on one side to try to eliminate slop?

That may remove some slop, but also cause the shift lever to move up or down a tad.

I have a few nylon washers behind the lever on my Kat, because the shift lever itself pivots on a frame boss and is worn down a bit after 120k of abuse.

 

[dorkburger]

I haven't messed with it in years, other then an ocassionally lube. I undesrstand what you are saying. It seems to me that if I pull it tight one way, the other way will be sloppier. One nice thing Suzuki did on the 1150 was to make the pin that the lever pivots on replaceable. Next time I'm in the attic, I'll see how the parts bike one looks.