i was out today all was good, pulled up to a stop light,went to pull away and it was stuck in first gear,shift lever would go down would not come up at all, ended up shutting bike off after jerking on shift lever several times it poped into 2nd gear so off i went, it shifts fine once i get it into 2nd, all other gears are fine but as soon as i put it back into 1st it is stuck, have to shut it off and reach down and jerk it into 2nd ,i have been reading up in the fsn, and my clymers looks like not to bad of a job, anything i should look out for that may not be in the books?( i forgot to mention it is a late 84)

 

I have not done anything with the trans other than remove it and let someone else re-install. So others can give more info. One thing to be aware of is the loose bearings on the shaft on the right side. There is a specific number of them [like 21 or something, but you need to know exactly], they will fall out as you remove the tran so you have to retrieve and count them, then there must be a technique to getting them back in.

 

Mine did this on my last week long trip (last 200 miles coming home), relax it might be this...we hit alot of rain and some got into the bung where the shift peg mounts to the frame. Undo the shifter from the shift linkage, and remove shifter arm. Then shifter arm will come off. there are two ruber seals, well they suck, I think the older bikes had a grease pin. Anyway clean it up and grease it, put it back together. try that it worked for me.

 

well i went over everything outside, i checked the shifter to make sure nothing was rubbing,the bushings in the side cover are shot,pulled side cover still wont shift, so im goin in! just found out that a late 84 takes a different clutch tool than the early 84, still looks like i can make one,ill let you know what i find out later!

 

I'm no expert but here's what I did:
23 roller pins. count them when you pull them out and put them in a safe place. they have a habit of running away. when you're ready to put the tranny back in put some grease in the roller pin race, then carefully place each pin back in the race one at a time. the grease will hold them all in place. make sure they're all lined up straight before you put the tranny back in because if they're a little slanted, the shaft won't fit in the hole.
oh yeah and I put a drop of locktight on the 4 bolts for the trap door.

 

got the trans out no trouble at all, nothing broke wore no metal shavings NOTHING,both of the shifter arm bushings are very badly worn, is there any chance that would keep it from shifting out of 1st gear?i may have got lucky on the bearings they seem to have stayed in place,i am going back to the fsn and studying the shifter mechanism

 

the FSM describes a method to check shifting with the tranny in a vise. just anchor it in there (protect it with a rag) and give that a try, if it there's a problem with the dogs or first gear, maybe it'll happen when you bench-test it.
i stuck the bottom of the trap door in a vise and shifted it up and down before I put it back in.
how do the gears look? any chips? worn dogs? if you have a good calliper, this is a good time to measure tolerances.

 

no signs of wear anywhere, gears, forks shafts nothing, it has .020 forks in it allready so it looks like someone has been in there before,ill check all tolerances in the am,i am digging around in the v-twin book looking for the shifter bushings

 

FWIW I got my tranny stuff from Sporty Specialties. Very helpful on the phone.

 

I experienced a situation where the shift level would hang up and it turned out to be the little spring loaded plunger in the transmission for the detent plate of my ’77 Ironhead. It was a little bit worn out and it got cocked a little bit sideways and it jammed and the shift lever would not move out of gear. It seems like just a little thing but it took the bike off of the road until I figured it out. I replaced mine for the piece of mind it gave me. Since you have already taken out the transmission, it would be wise of you to check out this little part. Sometimes it’s just the little things. Good luck with your project and ride safe!