Triumphrat

britishsteele · 10-28-2007, 03:43 PM

Well, the motorcycle Gods are not smiling down upon me today. I was getting ready to go out and ride, went to shift the bike into 1st and I heard the noise. I looked down and saw my shifter on the ground. I apologize about the picture size, I don't know how to resize them. I still have not received my owners manual so I don't know how to fix this. If my instinct is correct, i may have to change the entire gear shift assembly, correct? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I really need to get her running. She is my transportation right now.

1999 Triumph Legend

coppi0_3 · 10-28-2007, 05:15 PM

Hello! According to the pictures neither of them, the gear shaft and the lever, appear to be completely damaged. Before changing any part you should try to clean and mark carefully the slots (with a sharp screwdriver, for instance). Then you could fit and tighten well the shifter. Be lucky.
Emilio

britishsteele · 10-28-2007, 05:20 PM

Hi Emilio,

thank you for responding, but unfortunately, the shaft broke off in the lever. I have attached a few more pictures so you can gain a better idea...also, I can't seem to shift her back into neutral.

Woody1911a1 · 10-28-2007, 08:25 PM

hi britishsteele , welcome .

guessing your bike got dropped from the looks of things . unfortunately there's no easy solution .

hit the search button on the top of this page and enter shifter shaft and clik on hinkley classic triples then search .

there'll be a lot of reading for you because it's a common issue , but will give you an idea as to what you're facing .

good luck , Woody

Wombat · 10-28-2007, 10:02 PM

A mate of mine had a similar thing happen on his R3.

He was able to find a very good TIG welder that was able to re-attach the broken bit, in situ, without too much heat doing damage to the oil seal.

cpallen · 10-28-2007, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wombat

A mate of mine had a similar thing happen on his R3.

He was able to find a very good TIG welder that was able to re-attach the broken bit, in situ, without too much heat doing damage to the oil seal.

I agree, you really have nothing to lose here by trying to have it welded or at least degreasing everything really well and trying to patch things together with some JB Weld.

Otherwise, it looks like from what I've just read in my haynes manual is that you will have to pull the motor and split the cases to replace that shaft.

Slinky · 10-29-2007, 04:41 AM

I agree, that bike must have been dropped at some time. Unfortunately if the bike is dropped on the left then it will go. The problem is that the shifter is stronger than the shaft, and it will always go at the weakest point.

One solution is to weaken the lever (saw or dril thru it) so that the lever becomes sacrificial. Another thing that some people are doing is to fit a folding lever.

I very much doubt that JB Weld would do any good in this situation, it would need a proper welding job. If the shaft does have to be replaced, I seem to recall that it can be done thru the sump, rather than removing the engine and splitting the cases.

Good luck with it anyway.

mmead · 10-29-2007, 09:11 AM

I've never done it myself, but it seems with the right tools and careful attention to diameter and depth, britishsteel could drill a pilot hole for a stout machine screw with a bolt end. It's another thing to try before...you know what.

gregp · 10-29-2007, 11:21 AM

It looks like you will have to replace the shift shaft. I have not seen a shift shaft repair that did not fail again in short order, but I guess that it could be done.
After reading about this problem here, I promptly removed my shift lever and drilled several holes in it from the back side. I did not go all of the way through the lever so that it would retain it's original look. I also installed some highway pegs that should hit the ground before the lever does.

TexasTri · 10-29-2007, 06:54 PM

I had the same problem on mine. Tried JBWeld, but it will not hold. I had cut a slot in the shifter to insert a 'key' to try and give it more strangth still no luck. I took it to a local welder adn her was able to weld it back together for me so that I did not have to change out the shifter shaft. He used the 'key to help it and said it is probably stronger now that before.

The other option is to change out the shaft. Best of luck.

BTW, mine was repaired about 2 years ago and is still going strong.