1993 K75C intermittent 5th gear shifting problem

[MrTim]

Hello all, I have owned my K75 for a year now and since I bought it it has always been a hard shift into 5th gear. It seems if I don't remember to jam it in it will sometimes just not go into gear and display nothing. I studied the problem on this site and others after I bought it and figured it had never had the clutch splines lubed since it had 21k miles on it. So last winter I pulled the gearbox and lubed all the splines and flushed and refilled all fluids. (thanks to Chris Harris on Youtube) The bike runs like new it just is hard shifting into 5th still even after lubing the clutch splines.

I replaced the clutch cable and adjusted it according to the manual. So my question is do I have a gearbox problem or is it normal to have to jam it in 5th gear? I am not really concerned about it if it is normal and I like the fact that it shifts like an old Allis Chalmers, it gives it character my Honda Pacific Coast lacks. But the PC shifts like butter but is so damned hot behind the windshield it won't come back out until fall.

[Laitch]

A need to jam it into fifth gear isn't normal on my moto but one person's jam might be another's flip. It's certain that shifting a Brick's gears must always be done assertively. Lack of spline lube tends to show up as stubbornness in downshifting. The upside of your Brick's condition is  that it does shift into gear and that you enjoy the agro-mechanical sense of it. Try not to compare your experience to that of others; covet not. 

Maybe the previous owner moved the shift lever upwards on the shaft for ergonomic reasons and that change isn't allowing enough throw of the shift lever because your ankle is strained by the time you get to fifth gear. Who knows? Does the shift lever have any rotational play?

[MrTim]

Yea it's kind of weird, when it shifts normally, like 3/4 of the time, it just feels like all the other gear shifts with no play in the shifter. But when it fails it feels like it isn't meshing or something. It clunks and then goes into seudo-neutral. Then I have to jam it again to get it to go into gear. It's possible there is something wrong with the gearbox since the previous owner dropped it at slow speed turning in an intersection. I don't think he replaced the gear shifter but I will have to check. I am hoping I can just figure out the correct procedure so it shifts without missing. Usually it will if I push it harder than the other gears.

The thing runs great otherwise and has for a year. I like it a lot better than the Honda for riding the back roads of East TN. I have had gobs of bikes since 1976 and it is one of my favorites. I have been trying tell my wife I need two more bikes, there are two more seasons. They will be BMWs.