07 Pro Shifting Problem

[sectionone]

I hit the shift lever on a rock and the crossbar on the shift shaft center locator broke loose. Easy fix and I replaced the part. The problem now is that I can't shift into 2nd unless I double shift. All the rest of the gears work fine up and down. I followed the shift centering procedure on the GasGasUSA owner's DVD but I can never get the centering click into 2nd, even without the spring and tophat. It will shift into second without the tophat and under load. When trail riding, one shift up from 1st always goes to neutral and two shifts always into 2nd. When stopped with the clutch in, it won't go into second. Time to split the cases?

Edited March 1, 2009 by sectionone

[spenser]

We had something similar and I tracked it to the small "pawls", one of which was slightly bent, that sit in the shift drum. Unfortunately, that means splitting the cases, not as bad as it sounds until you try to put the engine bad into the bike with the skid plate on.

Spencer

[sectionone]

Thanks for the info. I see the piece that you mean. It looks like a small chain link. Expensive part? I was watching the engine disassembly video and splitting the cases does not look like fun! It's going to take some time and money. That little shift shaft center locator and spring cost me $65USD and it looks like I could have replaced that cross bar myself for free.

[jse]

Thanks for the info. I see the piece that you mean. It looks like a small chain link. Expensive part? I was watching the engine disassembly video and splitting the cases does not look like fun! It's going to take some time and money. That little shift shaft center locator and spring cost me $65USD and it looks like I could have replaced that cross bar myself for free.

The shift shaft comes as a unit (shift shaft, pawl, springs and rollers), in spite of the blowup of the seperate pieces photo. Often, the shift shaft centering spring support will break at the braze line rather than transmit the shock to the shift pawl, but as you found out, not always.

Splitting the cases is fairly straightforward, just keep track of where things fit and take your time. If you leave the kickstart mechanism in, be sure to rotate the kickstart shaft back a little just before the top case meets the lower one so the gear will ride on the plastic rest (it will stick down from the back of the top case and you'll wonder what the heck it is at first) and be sure the end of the kickstart spring goes into the machined hole in the upper case when attaching the top case half or the top case will not fit flush in the back.

Jon

[sectionone]

I was able to replace the cross bar on the shift shaft locator. I took a deadbolt plate, cut it, pressed it in with a little overhang and hammered the ends to lock it in. I did the following mods and now it will shift into second but have not done a test ride yet. I'm wondering if I can leave it like this or could I be risking more damage or potential to jump into neutral when going up a rock?

[jse]

I'm wondering if I can leave it like this or could I be risking more damage or potential to jump into neutral when going up a rock?

I'm guessing it's like Clint Eastwood's question: "How lucky do you feel?".

Chances are that you may have damaged other components, like a shift fork, and there's no telling what may break or be damaged by the modification. Transmission parts are fairly expensive and the Pro engine is very precise in it's design and operation and if it were my engine, I'd split the cases and fix the real problem rather than try to work around it and possibly create more damage.

Jon

[sectionone]

I took a test ride today and it's shifting normally again. I guess I'll take my chances. It will cost another $150 to replace the pawl and lots of trouble splitting the cases. In the meantime, perfect riding weather this week!