Sportster "skipping" in first gear

[Workinman]

I posted this over in the Sportster section, but thought I would put it here too. Thanks for any help. Hey guys, (and gals) I have an odd one here. I recently added a 2002 Sportster Custom to the stable and I'm having a problem with the transmission that I can't quite figure out. Hopefully someone here has experienced this and can steer me in the right direction. Here goes... Sometimes when I put the bike in gear and take off, it "slips" a couple of times almost like it's missing a few teeth off of first gear. However, it doesn't do it every time, and nothing I do seems to make it do it, or not do it. In other words, it doesn't matter if I put the bike into first firmly, or softly, and it doesn't seem to matter whether I go into first from neutral or from second gear. Sometimes it will skip, and sometimes it won't. If I had to guess, I would say it probably does it a little more when it's cold, but it still does it when it's hot. I have adjusted the clutch, and the primary, and checked everything I can think of. I also have removed the forward controls, so the shifter is directly on the shift shaft now. Is there a way to "adjust" the shifting mechanisim on these bikes? I don't have a service manual for the bike yet, so I don't know where else to look. Thanks for any help you can give. I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks, Chris

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[G Rod]

Sounds to me someone(previous owner) tried to stomp the tranny out of it. I have seen bent shifter forkscause that on metric bikes, not going all the way in gear.

[KBFXDLI]

[align=left]The transmission is foot-operated by the gear shifter lever,[/align][align=left]which transmits the force through a gear shifter shaft. The[/align][align=left]shifter shaft actuates a pawl and a shifter fork drum. The[/align][align=left]shifter fork drum moves shifter forks, which slide a series of[/align][align=left]shifter clutch gears, on the mainshaft and countershaft, into[/align]and out of mesh with the other gears.

This is the description of the shifter mechanism from the 2005 xl service manual which is probably similar to your setup. My guess is you have a problem with this system. I would first look at the shifter shaft & pawl. Then the shifter drum & forks. While it is possible you have teeth missing on a gear, I doubt that is the issue. Somebody probably just banged on this mechanism and it needs adjustment or some new parts. You could have a fork that is worn and not engaging the gear all the way all the time.Get a service manual if you are going to dig into it.

[Tiggy]

I have exactly the same problem. Spoken to a few mechanics and they seem to think its a breathing problem from the carb, coupled with the fact that in first gear there is very little work for the motor to do( sorry I dont know the technical term). Its not anything to do with the gear shift as it would happen all the time. This is what puzzled me. Why could I go days with no problem then 3 or 4 times in one ride. I had a hypercharger fitted and recently tuned again but it still jumps in first occassionally.

[davismltc]

One fellow with a 2002 883 had this intermittent problem since his bike was new and replaced all the parts (1st and 3rd gear, shift drum, detent plate, shifter pawl and all small parts related to the shift detent). He mentioned afterwards that one of the shift drum pins was longer in length and he felt that was causing the problem. A second fellow had problems show up on his 1997 XL and he claimed his problem was a worn dog interaction between 1st and 3rd gear on the countershaft and replaced the first gear on the countershaft at 50,000 miles.

I haven't pulled mine apart yet to find out, but the shift drum pins are highly suspect, since mine is a 2002 as well. Mine is an 883R model that is new to me and I'm in the process of sorting out all of its issues.

Hope this helps...