Triumphrat

12-01-2004

I have a 71 Bonneville 5spd. Even after the rebuild I'm still having shifting problems. Usually during downshift 5,4,3rd gear it will miss the next gear and find a spot between, like going into neutral. I know these early 5 speeds were notorius for problems (gear hardness was the first reported) but does anyone know of product improvements or will a later model transmission install in this case?

12-01-2004

I have a 71 Bonneville 5spd. Even after the rebuild I'm still having shifting problems. Usually during downshift 5,4,3rd gear it will miss the next gear and find a spot between, like going into neutral. I know these early 5 speeds were notorius for problems (gear hardness was the first reported) but does anyone know of product improvements or will a later model transmission install in this case?

ooobaby · 12-02-2004

Try putting the bike in neutral with the ignition off, pull in the clutch and kick it through a few times with the kick start. If you feel ANY resistance (after the first kick) like the clutch is dragging on subsequent kicks you may need to adjust the clutch. By the way, you may know this already, but when you go to start the bike always kick it through once with the clutch pulled in to free up the clutch plates and it will start easier. Hope it's a minor glitch you're dealing with!

ooobaby · 12-02-2004

Try putting the bike in neutral with the ignition off, pull in the clutch and kick it through a few times with the kick start. If you feel ANY resistance (after the first kick) like the clutch is dragging on subsequent kicks you may need to adjust the clutch. By the way, you may know this already, but when you go to start the bike always kick it through once with the clutch pulled in to free up the clutch plates and it will start easier. Hope it's a minor glitch you're dealing with!

jimballard · 12-02-2004

Hi Jasper,

Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall that Triumph changed the shift detent spring on the '71 models to a leaf type instead of keeping the old coil spring setup. There were problems with it and in'72, or there abouts, they went back to the old setup. This might be an area to investigate, or at least ask about, before you get too deep into looking for major problems.

Hope it's a simple fix: Jim

jimballard · 12-02-2004

Hi Jasper,

Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall that Triumph changed the shift detent spring on the '71 models to a leaf type instead of keeping the old coil spring setup. There were problems with it and in'72, or there abouts, they went back to the old setup. This might be an area to investigate, or at least ask about, before you get too deep into looking for major problems.

Hope it's a simple fix: Jim

12-13-2004

I agree with Jim. Look under the trans case for the plunger holder and if you don't see one then it has a leaf spring and I bet it's broken.The spring is cheep but it's day's work. Good luck.

12-13-2004

I agree with Jim. Look under the trans case for the plunger holder and if you don't see one then it has a leaf spring and I bet it's broken.The spring is cheep but it's day's work. Good luck.