Gear Selector does not engage drum??

[enzo906]

Hi Guys

On my return home I had no way of changing gears. There seems to be full lever motion and spring return it just does not engage the selector drum. Once home I could no longer get the neutral light to come on or get the gears to change consistently. Once the bike cooled it allowed the selector to engage the drum but it may let you get the odd shift then it feels as there is no engagement.
I bought it secondhand and do not have the history or the true mileage (60000Ks aprox).
Has anyone heard of this before or know what is the logical sequence to discover the cause????
cheers

[jcslocum]

These are pictures of the gear selector mechanism. It does have an adjustment and you do not have to pull the flywheel to set it.

Did you just but the bike and this happened on the way home from picking it up?

[enzo906]

Thanks Jcslocum

It was the first ride. I picked it up in a trailer a month ago and stripped it down looking for anything to fix or Paint. Put new belts on it, changed oil, filter, coolant, set the Dellorto's up properly cleaned the K&N filters, brake pads etc etc. I found lots of little things that were broken or badly repaired including a leaky tank. I thought I covered eveything. So I took it out for a spin and everything was going great until almost home. I selected 6th and the lever didn't return at first, then would not select any gear. It is possible something was dodgy and just held together for an hour and then let go. I can't say the person I bought it from was very informative about the bikes history but I have been looking for a decent PASO for several years now so I bought this one and hoped for the best.
Not what I would normally recommend to others to do.

[duckboy]

have you solved the problem yet?

[jomo]

I have just had a similar problem. Mine had trouble selecting gears going down. You had to put a slight upward pressure on the lever before changing down. That would mean the return spring is faulty. So I replaced the spring and then I had troubles going up gears.

I pulled it apart another 7 or 8 times tried different positions on the adjuster. All was OK for a few hundred kilometres and then it got worse until I had to give up on sixth.

I gave up to and it is now at the bike shop! I will let you know the outcome.

[higgy]

Lets start at the start. What oil did you use to change the oil.If you used the wrong weight oil you could have problems with shifting. Also if your chain is tensioned too tightly or too loosely you will have problems shifting. All that aside you may have a slack or broken spring or a bent selector arm or pin on the drum. beyond these very basic checks lay the land of split cases , a place no true Ducatista fears to go . Man up pony boy and decide which side of the fence you care to go and note my tag line
You have come to the right place,for that you get a big gold star

[duckboy]

Hi enzo906.
I am wondering if this is the same problem I had when I first bought my Paso.
I don't recall the exact symptoms, but I think the bike would only change gears in one direction (either up or down).
If you compare my photo to the photos posted by jcslocum, you will notice the broken detent spring on the selector arm.
I replaced this spring and the problem was solved.

Brett

[duckboy]

Here is a better photo.
you can see the remanants of the spring, just below the falcrum (elbow)

Brett

[jomo]

I just got the call yesterday from the workshop. Apparently when I reassembled the mechanism after replacing the spring, I didn't locate it properly where the two bolts hold it all together. He tells me it is all fixed. So there you go! Operator error! I must be getting old.

[higgy]

We are all knuckleheads from time to time

[Finnpaso]

Also i have played with this thing in my 750 Paso and my fault was, that i didnt adjust system enough well, so downshifting went well, but upsifting had problems.. "Centering" (fork/drum) it again just to middle(mark) helped and since ok.....

Brett, what is that brown colour inside Your engine? Cant be rust .... Or, if it is rust, then next question: Why? I never had seen such colour inside Ducati engine, but also it can be "camera fault", etc....

[duckboy]

That is a good question,
and one I am unable to answer... It was like that when I bought it.