KDX220 dropping out of gear

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Ryansteele
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KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Ryansteele »

First off.... I'm TOTALLY new to dirt bikes, I've had lots of experience with street bikes, and ATV's, but even with those, I'm not a mechanic, but seem to get thru all my projects.

So, the story..... This weekend, my 14 yr old bought his first dirt bike, since his honda 50.... With his own $$$ etc, and said bike has some issues, which we knew about, mostly cosmetic, but all in all, a great bike for him to learn the mechanical side of owning toys. Our primary mechanical issue is with the transmission / clutch / shifter. The bike goes into gear fine, but u need to keep pressure on the gear shift in order to keep it in gear, so in 1st, u need to keep the gear shifter pushed down, and in 2nd to 6th you need to keep your toe pulled up to keep the pressure up, other wise the bike seems to find neutral in between each gear. Shifting is almost impossible due to that neutral, if it gets in the in between spot, u almost need to stop, and shut the bike off, downshift and start over. Now, a few of my friends suspect it's the "shifting forks" that are bent or wore.... But to me it seems to go into gear fine, it just won't stay there. Remember, I am not a mechanic, and have never even had a 2 stroke engine up till yesterday. I've done some research (googling) and there seems to be a spring on the "neutral set lever" that can create issues like this if it breaks....

Has anyone had anything similar to this? Just want to start small before I venture into a engine pull / case split.

Thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to this new hobby
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by KDXGarage »

The spring you are referring to is on the outside of the case halves, so no case splitting involved on that.
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Ryansteele
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Ryansteele »

Thanks, so outside the case haves, but inside the clutch cover? And does this sound like this spring could be the culprit, or most likely something internal?


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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by royadams »

That spring returns the shift lever to the middle. If you push it down and the lever comes back up. or lift it up and the lever goes back down, I don't think that is your problem. Sounds more like the shift forks or drum
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by bufftester »

I'd check the spring, it's easy to see once the right side cover is off, but it sounds like a gear set lever/spring. Likely the little spring has broken or come off its mount, which would cause the set lever to not ride against the gear detents. It would require removing the clutch (use an impact wrench), but is not too difficult. If you haven't done so, get a manual. And you did say you want to teach him to wrench his own bike, the KDX is one of the best to learn on, it's simple and bulletproof. And if it were me I wouldn't ride it till it's fixed.
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Postigo »

Hi here in this photo you can see the spring we are talking about, make sure you check the shift rod spring too.Image
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Ryansteele
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Ryansteele »

So we pulled the clutch tonight and found a spring, a pin, and what looks like 1/2 a washer (see picture) in the bottom of the case, then darkness and Mosquitos forced us inside, so will have to investigate more tomorrow night.
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Ryansteele »

well apparently i'm not as smart as i thought, as i can't figure out how to post a picture.
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Postigo »

I found out that the easiest way is to take a photo with your smart phone if you have one and use tapatalk to upload the images.
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Ryansteele »

Image
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by KDXohio »

That looks like the detention spring as shown bottom right/center in the picture which would allow the shift drum to move freely I'm not for sure where the other two pieces are from I would recommend stripping the engine down fully and inspecting for any further damage bouncing metal is never good
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KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Actionman »

Check the bolt on the end of the shift drum to make sure it's right as well, after you install your new parts. Good luck!
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Ryansteele
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Ryansteele »

I'm definitely gonna do some looking / digging while its apart! It's only that 1/2 washer like piece I need to find, the pin is what the spring clips to.

Thanks again for all the help guys!
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by bufftester »

You've got two problems going on here, both easy to resolve. Both involve some parts and a couple new gaskets. The spring is the gear set spring as I indicated earlier. It is broken, which means the broken bits are floating around in the engine somewhere. It attaches to the gear set lever and the other end goes over a pinlike extrusion in the case. Spring is cheap, but you really want to know where the other bits of it ended up.
The other part in your picture is the KIPS Governor pin which typically breaks off when people do maintenance without a manual. It is attached to a left threaded shaft that has to be supported when removed or it breaks the pin. The part that looks like half a washer is the outer half of the pin mount. Read this thread :http://kdxrider.net/forums/viewtopic.ph ... in#p132675 to see what I'm talking about. With this pin broken off, the KIPS valve is not operating, so the bike likely runs like crap on the top end (assuming you could hold it in gear long enough to get there :grin: )

Likely the bits of spring have been thoroughly chewed by the transmission and you probably wont find them, and to look thoroughly would require splitting the cases. If it were me, Id probably fix the broken stuff, fill it with oil, warm it up, drain the oil...do that a couple times to possibly wash out any remaining bits, and then ride the piss out of it.
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by Ryansteele »

Have I mentioned yet how awesome you guys all are? That's exactly what it all is! I did find the remaining pieces of the spring, and I even found more of the " washer like" part, so all of the spring, and 75+% of the pin mount. And it has had a few oil changes, so hoping the 25% left is already gone.
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Re: KDX220 dropping out of gear

Post by bufftester »

Glad to hear you got it sorted. Easy fixes once you have the parts in hand.
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