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Sportster stuck in gear 4th or 5th

ANY ADVICE PLEASE

Well I just dumped my Sportster about 12:00 AM just got off work so not really in a good mood at all.
Here is the story i was leaving the gas station and going to the main road car cut out i hit the front break, front tire dishes out from under me. No damage :) or is there yes there is somewhere in the transmission or cluth basket I'm not sure I'm new to working on motorcycles; it is jammed in 4th or 5th gear being as I had my wife come and follow me home (to get it out of the parkinglot or get towed) while I was going 55-60mph on the freeway (i know bad idea) but I got it home. I am just afraid of what is wrong it fell on the left side: right on the shifter ergo it being jammed in gear....:( any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for any and all comments Brandon
 
Hey Hobbit,

the shifter does move down but not upso now i am pretty sure it is stuck in 5th...it has forward controlsthe only damage to the bike is an abrasion on the shifter peg(also bent the foward control in a bit) and on the clutch lever and they are only contact from being pushed in it could have benn alot worse...if you were to look at the bike without knowing i dropped it you would never know

thanks for the intrest
 
Hobbit,

I have talked to my friend i work with and he was saying that he couldn't belive that it is stuck all the wall up in 5th due to the fact all the gears it would have to go through to get there.

I have started the bike pushed it trying to disingage the gears but as of now all efforts are futile, I have had some problems at stops where when stopping at a light and then down shift it doesn't it stays in gear no matter how many times I pull up or push down... just hit me do you think that maybe the problem I was having with not being able to shift was made worse by this drop

Ha yea i guess these are the problems ya run into with preowned anything...just alittle more history on the bike. purchased it knowing that the rear break didn't work. So when i got it home ended up taking the whole rear system apart (with a very knowledgeable freind an ear shout away) i could find anything wrong; put it back together figuring it would work nope did it all again then went to the dealership and asked some advice since my friend said to.

Great guy head mechanic Bryan started trouble shooting it with me finally he asked what type of break fluid are you using i said dot 5 the purple stuff he's like ok hmmm and then i was like wait i noticed the fluid i drained out that the previous owner had put in was yellowish orange he said AHHA.

The O-ring and the other rubber part thzat sat on the spring in the master cylinder was made for and only dot 5 using dot 4 would have deteriorated and swelled the rubber parts he said buy a rebuild put it back together and see.. I called him later that day thanking him it worked.

Also drained the oil BLACK as the ace of spades with metalic shavings in it.

(EDIT) just wrote a long detailed message about the previous ower and how he was an idiot for the things he did.. example again wrong break fluid used dot 4 instead of dot 5 thanked the guiy at the dealership bryan head mechanic for advice and a rebuild kit and it worked..


Please read this...

A Friendly Reminder - Harley Davidson Community

 
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One of my bikes has previously been owned by someone who did a lot of stuff to the bike could have been done better after nearly 2 years of haxing the bike im still trying to get to the bottom of all the little things that just arent right
on your problem it looks like you may have to pull the primary cover and start checking things out as im not fully aquainted with the rubber mount sportsters ill leave more detailed help to the more informed members
Having problems selecting neutral can be as simple as wrong fluid in the primary or badly adjusted clutch
your gear shift problem may be caused by a bent or jammed shift shaft

Brian
 
My apoligies for the word poop in previous post I am thankful for your comments I have a call into the HD mechanic he'll get back to me on tuesday and my friend i work with said monday we can trailer my bike to work to see what the deal is so lots of helpful people in the HD community which i am very thankful for i will post the end resluts and pics as soon as i find out how much to fix it ooooo
 
Hopefully its nothing serious but please keep us informed of any findings as it will increase our collective knowledge for the future

Brian
 
Well i have good news it is the Shifter Lever Assembley the one hinged arm jumped over the pin and wasn't engaging the Shifter Drum, new words I learned from reading my HD manual :gh

Hey i was wondering if any one had the parts catalog and if you would be able to look up the parts # for me for the Shifter Lever Assembly
 

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Please tell us what part you found from the diagram and parts list below...thanks!


ShifterPartList.jpg
 
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I recently had this happen to me and wanted to weigh in on the fix as it was not very clear above.
First off, no new parts were needed!
Second, you will need to disengage BOTH of the miniature tension springs to get the wishbone arms properly set so that they are engaging the little cogs on the drum. More than likely, only one of these arms jumped the pin, and it won't look like anything is wrong at a glance. But on closer inspection you will notice the arm that jumped the pin, will have little to no tension on that spring.
Once you've got the arms set, re-connect the tension springs, put it all back together, add crank-case oil, adjust the chain tension/clutch and you should be good to go.
Happy rides!
 
Good info by Ash B ;)
I think this should be in the self help section
 
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