Won't shift into 2nd Z1R

Hey guys, so i'm tearing into this 1978 Z1RTC D1 and it will shift into first and neutral but not any further. I'll be scouring the forum here for answers but maybe this was common and someone has some insight?? The motor was built by big bore racing and research and the turbo pak is from Blake engineering in 1978
Thanks.

Pretty sure that's Kawasaki's Neutral finder. The trans won't shift into second below a certain RPM. Or is it road speed? I'm not sure which.
Bill

There are slots in the transmission shaft, holes in the gear, and ball bearings that provide the neutral finder feature, a bike without this feature can be pretty annoying! Unless the transmission is spinning which throws the balls out of the slots by centrifugal force, the balls will block the gear from sliding into 2nd.

Hope that makes sense! Mike

On the center stand you should be able to spin the rear wheel by hand to shift up into 2nd, but I think that's as far up as you can shift when the engine is off. With the engine running & spinning the rear wheel, it should shift fine thru all the gears whether you're on the road or the motorcycle is on the center stand.

Once you have spun the wheel and engaged 2nd you will be able to get 3rd, 4th and 5th just by rocking the wheel .

These are the 3 little balls that prevent shifting into higher gears with the rear wheel standing still. Ed

Welcome to KZRider
Yes , Very common question
NOW How about some bike pictures !!!!!!!!!
Dave

Some photos to help make it make sense. Yes the output shaft has to be spinning to throw the little (3) loose ball bearings out allow the gear to slide.

Been asked and answered at least once a week on this forum alone. Hard to believe guys still don't know about this problem, which is not a problem after all these years gone by. I never tried a google search on the subject, but must be 1,000,000 times this has been asked, and the same old answer is given. We need a frequently asked question thread on transmission won't shift to 2nd. Maybe there is, but doesn't matter as no one reads and will ask the same question tomorrow, next week, next year regardless.
Sorry, but this question is so old and asked so often it is beyond rediculous.

Sorry, but some people find miss-spelling annoying when there is spell check. (rediculous) :laugh: :laugh: Maybe he didn't understand the search feature yet.

Mike

RonKZ650 wrote: Been asked and answered at least once a week on this forum alone. Hard to believe guys still don't know about this problem, which is not a problem after all these years gone by. I never tried a google search on the subject, but must be 1,000,000 times this has been asked, and the same old answer is given. We need a frequently asked question thread on transmission won't shift to 2nd. Maybe there is, but doesn't matter as no one reads and will ask the same question tomorrow, next week, next year regardless. Sorry, but this question is so old and asked so often it is beyond ridiculous.

In fact, the neutral locator 3-ball device is even described in the Kawasaki Service Manual, but for some reason folks either don't read the manual or don't understand it. Ed

It's caught me a few times. That uneasy feeling putting it together and trusting it will work. Then getting it on the road, banging it into third and IT WORKS. :woohoo:
I don't mind the question from newbies. :whistle:
Steve