won't shift into neutral and has trouble shifting into 2nd,

I have a 1980 KZ250 and after I've been riding and want to shift it into neutral it almost always goes straight into 1st, it feels like there is no groove there for it to go into neutral anymore also when I'm in first and am shifting into second it will go into neutral and its shifts hard and clicks hard into 2nd, all the other gears shift fine, I doesn't seem to be anything w/ my clutch, I think something needs replaced in the transmission but I don't know what, any help is greatly appreciated

ttt- somebody wanna gie me a little help here? , I know I need to replace something but what exactly is it?

natl, I am going to first suggest you put your bike's year and model in your signature... even a location would help in the event someone is nearby who can run by and take a look... (I say this as an official moderator thing to all new posters bwhahaha)

Anyway, here is what I would do if I had your problem...

Have some patience with me as I am not familiar with your bike but this is bikestuff 101 and most will apply...

You have an outer countershaft cover. It slides over your external gear shift mechanism and countershaft beneath. Remove it... Don't worry, no oil comes out.

At this point, you had best drain your oil. ALSO NOTE, you will need a new inner countershaft sprocket gasket. If you don't feel like trying to find one or they are only available in a kit, get some gasket paper from the local autoparts store and a 1/4" hole punch from a place that sell school supplies... you will end up having to cut out a new gasket. I also suggest you pick up a hand impact driver... Sears sells them, Harbor Freight sells them... just get one. The phillips head screws on your case covers get MANGLED easily if you use a phillips head screwdriver on them. Now, drain your oil...


Loosen the countershaft sprocket nut. I think it will be a 27mm nut so if you don't have an air impact wrench, get a 1/2" breaker bar and the 27mm socket. These things are on tight so have at it. Once you have the nut off, take off the washer underneath, which has a locating tab. You will probably have to unbend the edge of the tab which was bent over the nut to hold it from working loose.

You will need to remove your drive chain and the countershaft sprocket. The drive chain probably has a master link... note the closed end of the master link clip goes in the direction of travel. If not reinstalled this way, it can come off. Use a pair of pliers and pop the link off. It will probably be necessary to remove the cotter pin on your rear axle nut and loosen the nut and then loosen the chain adjusters and push the rear tire forward some... Anyway, get the chain out of the way.

Take the impact driver you purchased and put in a #2 bit and put the bit in the phillips head. Turn the driver counterclockwise and give the top of the driver a whack with a hammer. This will break loose the phillips head bolt. Then you can use a screwdriver to remove it... anyway, remove all of the bolts holding this cover... have a rag handy as some oil will drool out. There won't be much but you will save yourself from having a small puddle if you have the rag handy.

The cover will seem like it is stuck. Check again to see that you have removed all the bolts. Gently pry the edges of this cover till it starts to pull loose. The gasket typically will cause it to stick and needs to be torn to break it away from the engine. Note there is an oil seal around the countershaft and shift lever. Be gentle with these because if damaged, your bike will leak oil.

Once the cover is off, beneath is the external shift mechanism for your bike. Note there is a round disk. In the center is a single phillips head screw. Note if it has a fluted locking washer. If not, you will need to Loctite this screw when reassembling. Anyway, take off the OUTER disk. Under is another disk with a bunch of shift pegs inserted. Your shifter pivots. At the pivot point is a spring that clips onto a dowel coming out of the engine case. There is a spring around the pivot point. The spring has two arms for locating itself on the dowel. Examine the spring and make sure these arms are not broken (on the spring). If they are, you will have to buy a new spring. It sounds like it is possible this spring is broken on your bike. I have seen it happen.

OK, if this spring is OK, look at the other two smaller springs involved in the external shifter function. The first is the one that closes the shift pawls which are the long hook type things that grab the shift pegs. This will seem confusing when you READ it but when you see the shift pawls you will understand their function... as you push down on the shifter, the pawls grab the shift pegs and rotate the shift drum (the inner disk is the shift drum). If the ends of the pawls are worn, if the pawl arms are bent or if the SPRING is shot, the pawls will not grab the pegs well and you could have symptoms as you described. Note that neutral is when the longest shift peg is at 8:00 position on the shift drum. The longest peg is there to provide an electrical contact for the neutral switch. When you ut the bike back together, put the bike in neutral and make sure the shift drum is in this positon.

The last spring is the small one up in the top left. It pulls the detent mechanism back into place so that once you shift, the bike won't pop out of gear. If the spring is there, it probably works OK... make sure the detent pivots easily and if it doesn't, remove it and clean the pivot area. The detent mechanism is about 1 inch long and shaped like an apostraphe. It has a hole in it for the spring and sits on a pivot dowel.

Anyway, put it back together like you took it apart. If you decide to use socket head bolts to replace the phillips head cover bolts, that is a good idea but get the same length bolts and DO NOT install the bolts and then walk away from the job till you have checked that the chain doesn't rub on the bolt tops. Most of the time, you end up having to use a phillips bolt due to its shallower top since the chain will hit a socket head bolt.

Anyway, have patience... some of use only view the board once a day or perhaps twice and NEVER in the middle of the night. Cheers