Shift Lever Sloppiness

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exilestudios
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

*sigh* What could be the cause of the shift lever being sloppy. In neutral it's flat out sloppy and with some rocking back & forth and playing with it to get it into first it'll be stuck in the down position until pulled back up. Then it can be pulled up into neutral or if lucky second gear, which then it just gets stuck in the up position until pressed back down. I can already tell I'm going to be tearing it down again and sadly might have to crack the case open, but I wanted to get some insight from you guys as I sit here disappointed about it. If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck... :sad:
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rbates9
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by rbates9 »

First, take a deep breath. :wink: Most of the centering of the shifter is done on the end of the shift shaft under the side cover on the right. The end of the shifter has the fork shape thing that turns the shift drum with the little hook shaped ends. There should be a spring that holds the shifter centered on a pin that is in the middle of the whole mess. It is kinda hard to explain but you will probably see what I'm talking about when you get back in there. Just make sure all the springs and what not are in where they belong. The white plastic collar might be out of place too.

It should look something like this
Image
exilestudios
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

rbates9 wrote:First, take a deep breath. :wink: Most of the centering of the shifter is done on the end of the shift shaft under the side cover on the right. The end of the shifter has the fork shape thing that turns the shift drum with the little hook shaped ends. There should be a spring that holds the shifter centered on a pin that is in the middle of the whole mess. It is kinda hard to explain but you will probably see what I'm talking about when you get back in there. Just make sure all the springs and what not are in where they belong. The white plastic collar might be out of place too.

It should look something like this
Thanks! I know exactly what you are talking about. I'll have to pull that side cover back off again and check it out. Hoping that's all it is.
Last edited by exilestudios on 04:14 pm Mar 19 2013, edited 1 time in total.
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rbates9
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by rbates9 »

I would guess that when you had the cover off something just got bumped or moved out of place. I really don't think you will need to go deeper then the side cover.

By the way, with as much as you have been going in there have you thought about using wing nuts or velcro to hold the cover on? :lol:
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Re: Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by KDXnoob1 »

Haha, I had the same problem as I'm rebuilding my '85 200 at the moment, was really sloppy and I though "this can't be right" So I opened it up, opened up my clone motor to match em and saw that I was missing that spring. Put it on and presto! Good luck with the repair!
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bufftester
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Re: Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by bufftester »

Spot on, likely the spring is loose or not present. Was it shifting fine before you opened it up earlier? If so that is the most likely culprit.
exilestudios
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

rbates9 wrote:I would guess that when you had the cover off something just got bumped or moved out of place. I really don't think you will need to go deeper then the side cover.

By the way, with as much as you have been going in there have you thought about using wing nuts or velcro to hold the cover on? :lol:
Haha I should...but yeah...now I'm a bit mind fucked. The collar and the spring change shaft is no where to be found, yet it shifted just fine before I opened that side up to replace the governor lever in there. I don't recall ever seeing them being there, but I don't see how it's possible that it was centering itself out before without that there to do so. I cant find that collar or spring in my box of **** where I keep everything I take off the bike and it's no where else to be found. So I don't believe it ever existed there, but if that's the case it just doesn't make sense. I mean I guess I could have lost it, but it would be kind of hard to and I don't recall taking it off. Either way, I guess if all I need is this and this then I'll be ordering them. Other than that everything else to seem to be there and fine. :hmm:

Image

I took the kicker starter idler gear off for better access, so that's why it's MIA in this picture.
Image

Edit - Well the spring is apparently obsolete for the 89, but on another parts site it said it was superceded to 92144-1736, which based on the diagram it looks pretty much exactly the same. However, if you guys know otherwise please let me know. I want particularly rbates's input before I go spending money.
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rbates9
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by rbates9 »

To be honest I don't know if I have ever even seen an 89 in person so I can't say anything for sure. If the part subs up to a newer part number I would guess that it should work. How does the #13236 and the spring from the picture you posted look.

Take a look at this site someone else posted. It shows the cases being different for an 89 than any other year but most of the other transmission parts seem to be the same from 89-94
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bufftester
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Re: Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by bufftester »

According to the Kawasaki parts listing, the active part # is 92145-1368 which superceded 92144-1736 and 92144-1142. Runs about $9 online. Its basically the same part for all KDX from 88-06
exilestudios
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Re: Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

Thanks guys!
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

Today was a bit warmer day than it has been (sick of this winter in spring time crap), so I decided to work on getting my bike back together since I got the parts I needed. After getting it all back together I decided to try out the clutch before filling up with fluids in case I have to tear the clutch cover back off. Well in doing so I noticed with the clutch pulled and it in gear, the motor is still turning over as if the clutch isn't engaging. Should I bother tearing the clutch cover back off to see if something is up or could this just be because of me testing it out without having oil in there. Just a note I wasn't running it or anything just simply clicking it down into first and pulling in the clutch and pushing it back and forth. I'm sort of hoping it's just because it's not filled with oil, but if not I won't be shocked to have to pull off that cover yet again. :P

Edit - I'm pretty sure all this could possibly be is the lack of oil, as I've removed and put back on the clutch properly god knows how many times now in the process of addressing each issue I've run into. However, I wanted to get some verification before I go pouring in fluids, as I'm getting tired of draining it back down every time I fill it up due to additional problems arising. :lol:
Last edited by exilestudios on 10:52 pm Mar 26 2013, edited 1 time in total.
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bufftester
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Re: Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by bufftester »

As long as the clutch pack isn't missing any plates and is properly assembled I would adjust the clutch free play to spec, fill with fluid and go. If you assembled it with dry plates its going to drag a bit, that's why you don't assemble them dry. I assume that your shift lever play is gone now that the spring is in?
exilestudios
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Re: Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

bufftester wrote:As long as the clutch pack isn't missing any plates and is properly assembled I would adjust the clutch free play to spec, fill with fluid and go. If you assembled it with dry plates its going to drag a bit, that's why you don't assemble them dry. I assume that your shift lever play is gone now that the spring is in?
The plates aren't completely dry, they still have oil on them from when I recently took the clutch out to replace the parts discussed in this thread. The shift lever play is gone now that the spring is in and that is all good to go. I can't wait to get out and do some riding, but I just wanted to double check about the clutch acting like that when testing it out ahead of time before putting in oil. Thanks for the response and I'll give it a go tomorrow if it turns out to be a some-what nice day out.
exilestudios
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Re: Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

exilestudios wrote:
bufftester wrote:As long as the clutch pack isn't missing any plates and is properly assembled I would adjust the clutch free play to spec, fill with fluid and go. If you assembled it with dry plates its going to drag a bit, that's why you don't assemble them dry. I assume that your shift lever play is gone now that the spring is in?
The plates aren't completely dry, they still have oil on them from when I recently took the clutch out to replace the parts discussed in this thread. The shift lever play is gone now that the spring is in and that is all good to go. I can't wait to get out and do some riding, but I just wanted to double check about the clutch acting like that when testing it out ahead of time before putting in oil. Thanks for the response and I'll give it a go tomorrow if it turns out to be a some-what nice day out.
Couldn't resist the urge of wanting to go out there and give it a shot first thing this morning, so I did just that. The clutch is just fine now that it's filled up with oil :) and oh my does she have so much more power now that the power valve **** is fixed. :D
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rbates9
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by rbates9 »

Even with oil in the transmission and everything working the way it should with everything broken in there tends to still be considerable drag from the clutch with the engine off and the bike in gear while you are pushing it. Try it again with the bike cold and see what it feels like. It will probably still be hard to push and maybe even turn the engine over. Have you ever noticed that the bike usually starts easier in neutral then in gear? Not that you can't start it in gear but it takes a little more effort.

Glad you got your shifter working right now.
exilestudios
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Shift Lever Sloppiness

Post by exilestudios »

rbates9 wrote:Even with oil in the transmission and everything working the way it should with everything broken in there tends to still be considerable drag from the clutch with the engine off and the bike in gear while you are pushing it. Try it again with the bike cold and see what it feels like. It will probably still be hard to push and maybe even turn the engine over. Have you ever noticed that the bike usually starts easier in neutral then in gear? Not that you can't start it in gear but it takes a little more effort.

Glad you got your shifter working right now.
Yeah, I've noticed that it does seem to drag and yes it does start easier in neutral than in gear. It seems when trying to kick start it in gear with the clutch held it tries to push the bike forward. It's nice to know these are normal things. :) Next thing on my todo list is to situate my carb jetting, so I don't have to have my air screw in so far. However, it's running amazingly now. It truly blew my mind how much difference having the power band working made. My dad's 4-stroke 350 Yamaha Warrior can't keep up with my KDX. Just got done riding a bit ago and put that to the test. Such a fun bike to ride. :grin:
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