1st Gear Trouble

[gman]

Took my 88 Paso 750 out for a short run yesterday after 40mins of riding trouble struck.

As I took off from a stop sign and just before shifting into second the rear wheel locked up and the bike stopped dead. I was unable to move the bike as the wheel was locked up. I could not even disengage using the clutch.

A kind passerby helped me lift the rear and drag the bike of the road. After a couple of minutes rocking the bike forwards and backwards the rear freed up and I could use the clutch to disengage first gear and put it into neutral.

I restarted the bike and hopped back on and engaged first gear and released the clutch slowly and rode away slowly, things seemed OK then I heard a clicking sound like it was trying to jump out of gear. I quickly shifted into second and kept on riding and shifted through the gears and the bike was OK.

I managed to avoid most of the red lights but got caught at one. I tried to take of in first gear ever so lightly – The bike took off OK but I hear a couple of clicking noises and then it locked up again like the first time.

I managed to get the bike moving by rocking the bike backwards and managed to get back home by starting in second.

It is strange that the bike would not disengage by using the clutch!

Any ideas? Does it sound like a fairly straight forward fix?

p.s. I had noticed over the last few months the bike would kick out of first gear into neutral – this happened a couple of times.

[jayh]

Sounds like a selector drum / gear selector yolk issue to me gman,I hope I'm wrong !.

There is also a detent spring assembly that acts on the gear selector drum,and keeps it in selected gears,this would be worth checking first.It is located above the output shaft (front sprocket) but on the rear side of the engine.This might cause it to jump out of gear,but the yolks should move in unision
with one and other,and not allow two gears to select at once.

There is also the gear selector dog arrangement,that if not adjusted properly can cause gears to not engage fully,but once again this should only cause slipping out of gear,not two gears engaging at once.
That is located under the altenator cover,and you will need to buy or make a simple puller to remove the cover.

another possibility is a bit of crap,found its way into one of the grooves of the selector drum,and is causing some binding,you might be able to work the gears by hand and feel if you have any tight spots around first gear,if this were the case perhaps you could dislodge it by spinning the rear wheel and selecting first second neutral repeatedly and see if it clears,then do an oil change !

A few ideas to think about J.

[Brutus]

Hello, it could be the bronze bushing near the second gear. Later paso's have a different one installed. If I'm correct from approx enginenumber 4000 and up.
Léon

[gman]

Thanks for the replies J and Leon!

Looks like the engine is going to be pulled out for a look see.

If anyone has any other ideas please let me know

G

[Mc tool]

Oh Dear ! sounds to me like it selecting 2 gears at once , but in any event I would think that you will find broken and damaged parts rather than something " out of adjustment ". I was gunna say " drain the oil and check filters for shiney bits " but I spose thats a gimme now . When I split my 906 I found a gasket between the crankcase 1/2's ( .4mm thick ) but when it came time to assemble I was told to use gasket goo, which is fine except it buggers up the crank, selector and gear shaft end floats , and rather than re-shim the whole plot I cut my own gaskets..... So try and save the old gasket for a pattern . Having said all that I would check end float anyhow . I havn't pulled enough dukes apart to form an opinion on just how well they are shimmed at the factory , but any excessive float removed from the right place cant hurt. My Guzzi was f---ing terrible..... after a bit of pottering and about 3 bucks worth of shims it was a different bike. Before I pull anything new apart I spend a bit of time reading the manual , and do have a look about in here ( this site ) and it might not seem so unfamiliar. I , for one would be interested to see what you find

[ahdoman]

My bike seems to be doing almost the same thing but unlike you if I pull the clutch in and it frees up the rear wheel and it doesn't seem to lock up as badly. When I put the bike on the center stand and spin the rear wheel I can hear a very consistent "click, click click" sound that appears to be coming from the left side of the bike. I started having problems getting it into neutral.

[paso750]

most common gear change problems seem to be non disengaging clutch, worn fork selectors, worn or bent control fork for the selectior drum and sometimes its spring. Fingers crossed it`s a small problem causing the issues.

G.

[Brutus]

Gman, any progress?