A couple weeks ago, I was riding (fortunately on a country road and not on an interstate) and I went to shift gears and the shifter just flopped. The bike was in gear, so I had control and was able to pull over to see what happened. I quickly saw that the shifter rod (17 in the diagram below) was no longer in the hole in the lever (part 16) and the nut that is supposed to hold it in place was missing. When I pulled this diagram, I saw that it was a nut and the two washers that were missing. (parts, 5, 7 and 8) Fortunately I had zip ties in my saddlebag and was able to hold it together and ride home.





When I got the replacement parts and threaded the nut on, the threads were full of scrud. (I'm pretty sure that is the technical term.) So I began to suspect that the washers and nut had been missing for a while and the bolt piece had just been resting in the hole.

Has anyone else had this happen? The bike has 45,000 miles on it, so it could have worked loose, but it had also been in for the 45,000 mile service so it surprised me that they wouldn't have caught it. Is that not a "critical fastener" that should have been checked?

Anyway, this is a long way of saying you might want to check that nut. It's not really visible since it is behind the rod and lever, so it's easy not to notice.

 

Very common fixed several friends with zip ties. Change the joints to Heim joints

 

Yes, "scrud" is the correct technical term and aren't zip ties the greatest invention besides duct tape? I'm glad you weren't on a freeway, too, and I'm happy you made it home okay. I'd make sure whoever did your service knows what happened. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Changed mine to chrome Heim joints. End of problem, & looks better.

 

I switched to the Heim joint and problem solved.

 

Kurt ... Never leave home without zip ties, duct tape, wire and a pair of vice grips ... Oh ya, a credit card and a cellphone are good ideas too :>)

 

Changing to Heim is the best solution. Because it is a weak setup I picked up a spare stock rod before a trip which has been buried in my saddlebag for years for whoever needs it on the road. The washers and nuts were not included and purchased separately. $23 is cheap insurance.

 

Same here.
Glad you had a fix, and thanks for passing it on!
Reminded me of an old story from long ago. Years ago, an old bike of mine had the shifter shaft splines to strip, and the shifter lever fell off on the road. I did the beer can fix on it, and when it fell off a couple of more times I clamped down a big pair of vice grips/roach clip on the shaft. Rode it that way for a long time. Once leaving a bar, some drunk followed me out raising hell about something, when we got to my bike, I unclamped the vice grips from the shifter shaft, cold cocked Him, clamped them back on the shifter shaft, and eased on down the road.
You just can't make this stuff up!
Just a flash back, thanks, everybody carry on...

 

Lets not forget velcro.

 

Always on the look out for loose fasteners. Years of operating heavy equipment has taught me the importance of good regular inspections. The factory linkage is similar to what are on some of our machinery, I pulled them off and used blue locktite on them when I first got the bike. I have also since replaced mine to the chrome Heim joints.

I have also found the right foot board coming loose, pulled the bolts and added blue locktite. Then I did the left side.