YBR 125 : Gear shifting problems

[Freddy125]

Hi guys, I am riding a 2009 Yamaha YBR 125. A few weeks ago my gear shifter stopped returning to the neutral position after shifting gears. It is still possible to shift gears but I have to return the gear lever manually (well, by foot). It seems likely that the gear lever reset spring is gone. I have already bought the spring, biut wanted to check which steps to take in order to replace the spring. So far I could find no information. Checking in the service manual, it seems quite involved. It looks like I have to remove the gear shaft, opening both sides of the engine. Has anyone done this already and can give me some instructions on how to go aout this? Or is there a repair manual availale with detailed instructions? Grateful for any suggestions. Cheers, Fred

[WD Forte]

You have to remove the RH side ( looking forward) cover and the clutch
to get at it.
Does it have a kick start?
early YBRs did and some around 2009 had both kick and electric and later bikes were electric start only.
probably be a wee bit easier if it doesn't in term of access.

Todo (off the top of me head)
Buy a side cover gasket and litre of new oil
Stick it in neutral then take the gear change lever off
drain the oil and whip the RH cover off
remove the clutch (4 bolts 1 big nut IIRC)
now you can examine the selector mechanism and withdraw the
gear change shaft for fitting a new spring
clean the oil filter gauze while yer in there

Take pics and show us what you find
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[A100man]

[Freddy125]

Thanks guys for your guidance. that sounds doable and gives me hope. So, just to recapture, once the clutch basket and the gear lever on the other side are removed, the gear selector shaft wiil just slide out. I will not have to open the other side?
I will post photos when undertaking this operation and keep you updated.
There is just one thing that is scaring me a bit. When I had opened the clutch cover a couple of years ago, the thread in the engine case from one of the bolts holding the cover got stripped. I fitted the other bolts and thankfully the engine was not leaking. I am now worried that this might happen again on another bolt. Any suggestions how I can avoid this. Also, is there a way of somehow returning the thread that got stripped previously???

[WD Forte]

Stripped threads are a fact of old bike life and usually happen when people have over tightened steel bolts in an alloy case or cross threaded them out of clumsiness or impatience.
Helicoil type thread repair kits are common as muck, cheap and easy to use.an M5, M6, and M8 set is part of my tool kit.
Snapped bolts or studs in an alloy case are harder to deal with and need some extra care to sort out.

My advice is to drop the oil and remove the cover first then take pics of it and consider the clutch removal.
Take time to make notes and take pics of what you have and what goes where on re assembly.

A100mans edit about holding the basket to remove the central nut with causing damage is a good one.
I'd use my impact driver for this job and rattle the bugger off
or devise a non destructive means of holding it steady.
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[Freddy125]

Impact driver for the clutch nut is a great idea. I will give this a try.

And thanks for the helicoil introduction. I had a look at a few videos on how to do it and have a rough idea. Just a few questions: should I get the original helicoil kit or will a chinese one off eay do the job? Should I use loctite on the coil when inserting it or do without? Lastly, how will I get the tang off after inserting it? i believe the punch can only be used when it is an open hole...

[Freddy125]

I finally got to fixing my gear return spring today.
The procedure was pretty much as described by WDforte and 100man. Using the impact driver for the clutch case nut was an excellent idea, worked a treat. While I was at it I also chaged the clutch plates as the clutch has been slipping a bit in the past.
Here is a video link and a photo show on how to go about getting to the gear shaft and what else to take consideration of when doing this thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dn9ZUJ1PiA&t=4s

https://ybr125owner.blogspot.com/2014/07/yamaha-ybr-125-blog-clutch-removal.html

[WD Forte]

What about the return spring?
had it broken or slipped?

Well done finding the 125 blog, that's a handy reference I'd forgotten
to mention
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[Freddy125]

The spring had broken as suspected.
Such a joy to shift gears normally again after all these months...