Gear shift jammed, why it pays to be thorough...

[krebsy]

Swapped my Divvy exhaust this weekend, was going to blog it but all it would be is swearing .

Exhaust fitted (Motad 4-1) after 2 days of ripping the old Yamaha stock one off and cleaning up the remains of the bike. Thought I'd take it for a test run afterwards and managed to get 2 miles down the road before my gearshift jammed and I was stuck in 5th gear.

Not a fun time after the weekend's worth of work I had just put in.

Managed to limp the bike home and could not get the gearshift free. It had happened once or twice before where the bike wouldn't change gear but with a bit of "extra pressure" i.e. a solid stamp on the shifter then it would free up. I had the thought that something might be out of shape (a gear shift fork, push rod or something else in the gearbox) and was planning to get it checked at the next service.

This time, no amount of pressure would get things moving.

Luckilly I have just taken out breakdown cover and called for a guy who could do roadside repairs (rather than just pick it up and cart to the garage) who turned up and checked it over. The lever was pretty solid and he recommended taking it into the garage monday or tues, based on the fact that the bike had done 30k and probably needed the gears re-doing.

Found a local shop that was open (Silversone superbikes in Stony Stratford) who could take the bike in today and "resigned" myself to borrowing a friends 3 Litre peugeot 406 coupe for a day or so..

Phoned the breakdown service again (CMG) who came out to pick up the bike. The guy took a quick look and said, "Do you want me to take this to the shop? I could fix it right here and now."

"Go ahead", I added with a happy sense of relief (that I would have the bike back on the road in minutes).

The left hand foot rest is bolted on in a few places, one right under the gearshift. It seems that a bolt had worked it's way loose (nowhere near the exhaust system I might add so I definitely didn't muck up the exhaust swap ) and had jammed under the lever. I guess that in the past the weight on the lever had popped it back into the bolt-hole just this time it had come out too far and jammed.

5 minutes later the bolt was secure back in the bike and the gears were merrily shifting up and down with no issues.

So, after fearing a gearbox re-build it was all sorted out by a thorough check and an allen key...

K.
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[ZRX61]

[Redd]

[stinkwheel]

Roadside breakdown guy earned his pay then.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[krebsy]

The first guy had come up from London (90 mins) to have a look as well. I had specifically requested that someine who could do Roadside repairs come out as well. The bolt is pretty much hidden behind the gearshift and I didn't spot it as well. I'm glad then the exhaust is only on the right side now.. . I'll stick some threadlock on the bolt at the weekend just to be sure.

Still, I'm happy that the bike is back on the road as I've a 200 mile round trip tommorrow to do.

BTW: I have 2 Divvy end cans now on my garage floor. Does anyone have a picture of a brand new one so I can compare the state mine are in? I don't know how to test them to see if they are any good and I'd sell them on if they are not too damaged. Where they connect to the downpipes will probably need a bit of touching up so I need to know how much pipe there should be at the ends...

K.
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[Nb]

[krebsy]

Not been there for anything major but they seem pretty decent and clued up...
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What's my New Year's resolution?

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