No fifth gear. Where as it gone?

Arrghh i just discovered that my kz400 does not have a fifth gear. It just goes to neutral when i shift from 4 to 5th gear

I guess that is kinda bad

Anyone has any idea what can cause this? Its pretty wierd.

The most frequent culprits are-

bent shift fork

goobered up shift drum

grunged up or bent shifter shaft

improperly adjusted clutch cable - unlikely if it is easy to shift in and out of other gears

exploded gear or bearing - extremely unlikely

malfunctioning operator - more common than might be supposed

your mileage may vary.

PS Could be an ancient BSA in disguise. They had only 4 to begin with. :silly:

just keep it off the highway youll be fine.dodge had a problem with 5th gear basically falling off in its cummins diesel trucks with 5 speeds,i know a guy whos been driving that way for years just doesnt have overdrive :laugh:

TexasKZ wrote:

The most frequent culprits are-

bent shift fork

goobered up shift drum

grunged up or bent shifter shaft

improperly adjusted clutch cable - unlikely if it is easy to shift in and out of other gears

exploded gear or bearing - extremely unlikely

malfunctioning operator - more common than might be supposed

your mileage may vary.

ok so its not all that uncommon to have lost the 5th gear?

Guess i will have to mess around with it over the winter and see if i can find out what has gone wrong. And thanks alot for the reply, now i have an idea what to look for.

PLUMMEN wrote:

just keep it off the highway youll be fine.dodge had a problem with 5th gear basically falling off in its cummins diesel trucks with 5 speeds,i know a guy whos been driving that way for years just doesnt have overdrive :laugh:

hehehe yeah i guess i can live without the 5th gear. but then agian if its supposed to be there i kinda want it. Just like a 3 year old kid that wants the toy that the other kids are playing with

Whatever the cause, you will need to open up the bottom end to fix it.