Hello everyone, I was getting ready to buy my first Harley (1998 Sportster 883 with 2400 miles). When I went to take it for a ride, I put it into first and the bike was then stuck there. It would not up shift into neutral or second. I shut the bike off and turned off the key to give it a couple of minutes. When I turned the key, the oil light came on and remained on. I would be the third owner on this bike and I know that the first owner sold it at @ 500 miles and the second owner has had it for several years. He rode it about twice a year for the last several years and rode it to the location I was going to pick it up at (about 35 miles away). Any clue on if this is a serious issue and should stay away?
Thanks

 

thed oil light will stay on until you start the bike. As far as the clutch goes, could be many things. I would try a simple clutch adjustment first. The bike is barely broken in!

 

Unless you're getting a REALLY,REALLY good deal I would look elsewhere, because when you get that thing home you're gonna want to be riding it,not working on it. And if you're not comfortable doing your own wrenching it might be costly.
If you think its a good deal see if the owner will let you take it to a shop and get a diagnosis of the problem-you 2 could split the cost of that and go from there.
After you turned it off and let it sit did it start shifting o.k.? I don't know what connection might be between the shifting problem and the oil light. I'm assuming you checked the oil level and that was o.k.

 

+1 normal on the oil light and checking the adjustment.

Silly question but what other bikes have you ridden? Were you pulling the clutch all the way in? Was the owner able to get it to come out of first after that?

On a related note be aware that when shifting through the gears, if you do not relax your foot all the way on the shifter peg, IE if its up or down a little still from your previous shift, it will not shift to the next gear. Its rather embarrassing when getting on it and missing a shift because you didn't move your foot enough after shifting.

MH

 

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. This will be my first bike. I am sure that I took my foot all the way off, but I will double check. I will keep you guys posted.
Thanks

 

Well could the current owner get it to shift out of 1st? If not, then first thing would be clutch adjustment as that's easily accessible. Next thing would be shift pawl adjustment, but that requires pulling the primary case and removing the clutch basket to readjust. The shift pawl is held in adjustment by one small screw and I've seen this issue a number of times, and it'll ussually shifting in only one direction if it falls out of adjustment. Other possibilities are bent shift forks, damaged shift drum. By the way did you ride the bike at all, or atleast try shifting while rolling the bike in gear. Cause if the bike is sitting still, if the gears don't line up you won't be able to shift, so rolling the bike a little is need sometimes.

 

Sorry for the delay in replying. Just picked it up this morning and everything seems to be working fine. I am sure I was probably doing something wrong. Thank you for all of your help.