I recently bent my shifter shaft pretty badly. I was lowering my bike on a lift onto the back tire to reattach it when the bike started tilting. I had had it up pretty high so the tie-downs were loosening as I lowered it. I tried to catch it but the bike fell off the lift. Yeah, I know, rookie mistake. Ive been working on my bike for 7 years and have never even dropped it. I was... upset to say the least. At least I didnt lose face further by throwing myself on top of it with my fist in the air screaming "WHHY!!! WWHHHYYYYY!!!!" Anyways, my motto about it is, "I broke it. Tough **** now fix it." With a new Shifter Shaft in hand and my primary cover off im staring at the bent one and wondering. Do I have to take off the chain and what holds on the chain to do this? If so, Im sure I would need special tools of which I dont have. Is it possible to do this without removing anything more than the cover?

BTW, my bike is an 06 sportster 1200XL.

 

Ive scoured the town for a clutch spring compressor tool to no avail. Getting one from Amazon. Once I get the retainer ring off I think ill be good to go.