Won't change gear

I can go from 1st all the way to 5th no problem. However changing from 3rd to 2nd, i push the front shifter down to drop to 2nd and it does, but the heel/toe shifter doesnt spring back, which means i cant shift from 2nd to 1st, so i have to shift back into 3rd, then 2nd then 1st.
It only does it sometimes (think 3 or 4 times per hour riding) but its still annoying. Makes no difference if the bike is hot or cold. Any idea what its likely to be?

For me it was the shifter bearing causing this sort of problem...its just a plain bush the gets crud in it and dries up ...apparently its quite common.
Clean and lube the shifter bush and try that first of all.

  Can't beat a good lubed up shifter bush.

Cleaned it all out, yet to try it though

Well it feels like i've had a new gear box installed. Night and day difference. The gears dont even clunk anymore, i can hardly even feel the heel shifter when i press on it.
Would recommend cleaning that bushing if others havn't already. Thanks for the tip

Good to hear it was a fairly simple fix & glad to hear your bike is now 'sorted '! 

Pleased to read that Eazy.

Good to see it sorted Eazy, bet you thought it was gonna cost a fortune, feels good when a problem is sorted for free

On a side note do any of you guys clutchless shift or always use the clutch?

Sometimes clutchless shift if I'm just pootling around and changing up early, doesn't feel totally natural to me ..... Funny though I've been riding 30years and still can't shake the habit of covering the clutch lever all the time even on the motorway in fifth... Started my riding on some very peaky 2strokes ...

EazyDuz wrote:

On a side note do any of you guys clutchless shift or always use the clutch?

Only when riding one handed while I smoke a cigar 

Was doing it in france whilst ambling along, actually shifts smoothly clutchless but the habit to pull in the clutch lever is still strong!

I've  changed clutchless, I'd worry it could do damage

I replaced my shifter bush with one of the ones from Gman. Does make a difference.

What is the Gman bush Rattler? I've seen them mentioned but never took much notice, are they expensive?

It's made out of oil soaked bronze. The bush works out about 20 quid but after delivery and import duty was probably 40-50 quid.

Steep! probably worth it over the life of the bike though, I'll 'stick' with grease, or 'not stick' should I say

Isn't it just great when the system works!!

On the way home from a bike rally with the trailer on, fortunately only half a mile from home, this self same thing happened to me. Bike is coming up to 3 years old with 13000 miles and suddenly I can't select 1st from second. Fortunately the lights changed before I came to a standstill and I managed to roll on in 2nd. It hapened again at the next junction turning right but I managed to get it into first by going back to 3rd and coming down again. I stayed in first till I got it home - about 300 yards. All I could see was £££££'s in front of my eyes! An hour later I looked on here and there it was. Straight back out, stripped, cleaned and replaced in 10 minutes. Better than new.
To be honest I didn't think it was that mucky but it certainly makes a big difference. It has now been added to my annual maintenance tasks.

I put it all back the same as it was but it doesn't conform with the drawings. The bush is flanged at one end and there is a wave washer that fits over it and rests up against the flange. The bush then fits into the gearshifter from the engine side and bolts to the foot plate bracket with the nut on the engine side. It all works fine, but the drawing shows the bush being fitted from the foot plate bracket side with the wave washer on the outside. It doesn't make sense to me as the wave washer internal diameter is too big. Has anyone else noticed this?

Interested in doing this will try to see if anyone has posted a video or a step by step guide is there much to dismantle?

Hi Ardie
10 minutes. 2 x 14mm spanners, tin wd40, tin of grease and workshop towelling/kitchen roll towell. Undo the nut and bolt holding the gearshifter to the left foot plate and remove the bush. Clean it out, grease and replace. Can't believe how such a small amount of dirt and grit can cause so much grief. I also pushed off the rubber covers of the two knuckle joints connecting the link rods and cleaned and regreased them.

Thanks for that Keith . never had a good look in around there will get it done after the weekend as it's northwest 200 races this week over here and the weather looking good .Will let you know if I can feel any diff when I am done.