TOPIC:

Quick question for the 1000p owners.  Have you had issues getting the bike in gear?  Any quick fixes?  I have been having issues with the starter and I read that the fix (until you replace the starter) is to put the bike in gear and rock it back and forth a few times then try starting it again.  I have been trying to get it into gear, and the neutral light goes off, but it doesn't go into gear.  The bike is a 95 1000p with 62k miles.  Thanks!

Have you tried putting it into gear WHILE rolling it back & forth? Many bikes will need the inside parts moving to swap gears. Good luck.

I'll give it a shot. Thanks!!

KZ bikes use a neutral finder, which keeps you from putting the bike into 1st gear unless the bike is rolling.  Could that be the problem?

The neutral finder will prevent sellection of 2nd gear unless rolling forwards. 1st gear should always be sellectable, rolling or not.

H.

In cold weather mine hated shifting until the engine warmed up. That was using 20w-50 oil. In hot weather no problem.

Do you still have the heal/toe shifter. Might be a slight adjustment needed there. I’m thinking while the engine is running the motion of the transmission might be enough to overcome the out of adjustment and get into gear. When not running “MAYBE” the transmission isn’t moving around enough to overcome the adjustment needed. Also check the footboard to make sure it’s not interfering with the shift linkage. 

I cut off the heel part of my heel/toe shifter. I reshaped the toe part so it worked perfectly as a toe shifter.

Okay, myself and about 1/2 dozen friends rode these as escort bikes and they all had one common problem with their shifters. Where the shifter shaft comes
through the side cover it will elongate the hole in the aluminum cover and when you try and shift the shaft will move forward and backward instead of rotating
the shifter shaft. It will also damage the seal going into the case and cause a leak as well. Only seems to happen on the police bikes with the heel/toe/floorboard
set-up. If you can't find another cover off a regular 1000(don't get a used one from a police bike if you can help it)  what some of the guys did was take the cover to a machine shop and have it filled and a bushing inserted. For some reason the bushings were made from bronze.

Bronze bushings are available that are specifically manufactured for the purpose of bushing. They are made from a sintered material that is pre impregnated with solid lubricant so are effectively " self lubricating"

Mikaw wrote:

Do you still have the heal/toe shifter. Might be a slight adjustment needed there. I’m thinking while the engine is running the motion of the transmission might be enough to overcome the out of adjustment and get into gear. When not running “MAYBE” the transmission isn’t moving around enough to overcome the adjustment needed. Also check the footboard to make sure it’s not interfering with the shift linkage. 

This^ The stock P-bike shifter linkage has a very narrow range where it works as it should. It is easy to adjust.