Stuck in Gear, help this newbie!!

Hi All,

Well my girlfriend and I finally got our '80 440 registered and insured. Our PAMSP class is in June so we decided to go practice in the school parking lot across the road. Everything was going fine for about 30-45 minutes but now we seem to be stuck in a relatively high gear. If I depress the clutch lever, the bike disengages from gear, but I can't seem to shift up or down with the foot gear. The pedal is also in really close to the bike (its ussually about 1-2 inches further out).

Any thoughts? I'll be reading through my handy clymer manual tonight as well. Sorry for the vague terminology, like I said, I'm a total newbie.

Love the "parking lot buzz" though

Thanks
-Dave

Hi Dave,
Sounds like "somebody" might have bent the lever? (Blame it on your girlfriend)

hmmm that doesn't sound too good. But if I can blame it on her, that will help, lol.

Can you explain to me what to look for? I've done my own car work, but motorcycles are a whole new beast for me. What level are you referring to, and is this something I can attempt myself? I did manage to get her home, but being able to shift sure would make riding a whole lot more fun!

Thanks
David the newbie

it helps a lot if the bike is actually moving when you shift

While sitting on the bike move the bike forward and back while trying to downshift the bike. Dont't touch the clutch just see if the tranny frees up. As for the shift lever. You should be able to see if it's bent and being interfered with. Hope this helps. If it does ..try not to come to a stop in high gear. Downshift as you slow down. Some bikes are tempermental about going into neutral or 1st when stopped. Hope it works out!

One would think I'd learn by now not to take things apart if I don't know what I'm doing, lol. The rod going through the bike is not bent, nor is the shift lever itself. I had a heckuva time getting that darned round piece back in place that turns when you squeeze the clutch, and I think I screwed something and re-assembled something wrong. up along they way, as now the bike rolls freely *until* I squeeze the clutch (opposite of before).

Hope you all don't think I'm too much of an idiot, I swear if this thing had a hard drive in it I'd have it fixed in no time!

Where the clutch cable goes into the body, onto that round elbow-like piece; what is the proper orientation for that? I fear I may have put that on backwards. If I can jsut get back to where I was originally, I swear I won't touch it anymore and just take it to the shop... I just hate to look like a fool calling AAA for it. sigh.

And my Clymer manuals' photos suck. I miss my Haynes.
thanks
frustrated in Pittsburgh.

Unless there's a gearhead in the Pittsburgh, PA region who wouldn't mind tinking on it for a lil' extra cash...

Can you take a pic of how it is hooked up now? That will help us figure it out. And don't give up and take ti to a shop. This sounds very fixable. Most things on the bike are easy to fix if you don't mind taking the time to learn.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Two pics:

www.vidgenuity.com/pic1.jpg
www.vidgenuity.com/pic2.jpg

hopefully they help. I tightened that clutch nut/screw originally b/c I could hear a pop and then the line would go slack. Now it seems to be alleviated, but Like I said, I may have the cable in the wrong orientation. The other way I could have it is with the the clutch line coming out of that circular area at about 2 or 3 o'clock, then going down out the hole. If you need more pictures or what-not, let me know. again thanks to everyone for the help thus far.

Can you show an inside pic of the engine cover that has the clutch cable attached to it? You didn't remove the cable or something in that cover did you? Let's make sure it's hooked up proper first.

And yes the screw you adjusted will mess the clutch up if it's not set right. There are numerous threads here about clutch adjustment, I think one was stickied in the archive forum, but anyway, search the archives for clutch adjustment and it may fix it.

Just a though but did you look to see if the shift lever is loose on the shaft going into the engine?

So if i understand it correctly, you basically have two problems: the shift lever and the clutch adjustment.

The shift lever looks bent to me. I think you or she layed it down on the left side - maybe not all the way. Or maybe you ran into a parking block in the parking lot and didn't notice it. You may need a new lever if you cannot bend that one back into shape.

The clutch adjustment - You really need a Kawasaki Service Manual for your model. The manual shows you exactly how to adjust the clutch and what all the parts involved do. You have to have the "elbow" parts all in order, with the spring and cotter pin holding the cable in place. Without them, you might get the "pop" as you described. See this picture for the orientation...