No Neutral?? Found problem

I have 82' 750 Maxim and I can not get into neutral. I have had the bike inop for a while from nasty carbs but I have since gotten that all cleaned up. The bike needs to be ridden to get all the bugs worked out. Am I missing something here? Would oil weight make a difference? The PO had the wrong weight and told me the clutch was bad but that is perfect.

 

Re: No Neutral??

Sounds like you need to pull that clutch apart to me. Have you checked that your clutch cable is properly tensioned? Oil weight shouldn't make a difference in the shifting selectability. It is possible that the starter clutch chain guide fell apart and may be jamming things. Did the bike sit unused for a few years?

 

Re: No Neutral??

It'll make a huge difference on a running bike. On my XJ650 it's very difficult to find neutral with 20W50 in there unless the engine is really warmed up. Much easier with 10W40.

Does the bike shift and you can't find neutral? Or is it stuck in one gear?

 

Re: No Neutral??

^^^It is true MiCarl, the weight can/will make a difference in the shifting characteristics but that is not what I attempted to convey. I should have said that the weight of oil will not keep you from shifting from one gear to another (unless its say 200 weight!;p ). My apologies for any confusioin.

 

Re: No Neutral??

He didn't say if it physically would not go into neutral or if it is just difficult to select neutral with the bike running (wants to jump from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 1st) the former would be the disintegrated chain guide symptoms, the latter a dragging clutch (or the effects of heavy oil.) I run the Yam-recommended conventional 20W40, and the clutch is fine. Never noticed dragginess with 20W50 however...

 

Re: No Neutral??

I have the clutch cable adjusted according to the Haynes manual that I have. As far as oil I am using 20w50 Amsoil. I am having difficulty finding neutral before the bike is warmed up. I have not ridden it for 2 years while pursuing other projects. Before it sat I was able to find neutral but it was still hit or miss. When I run the bike is up on the center stand.

 

Well I found my problem.


It should be like this.


I had a side cover leaking and when it was put back together I installed the shifter arm incorrectly. So when I thought that I was in first I was actualy in fifth gear. Stupid move, but we can only learn from the mistakes. Hopefully my mess up helps someone else.

 

Hey, wait. What? Those pictures are boggling my mind. That's totally bass-ackward to how my Seca is set up.

Not to insult your intelligence in any way, but you find first by clicking all the way down on the lever, right? I didn't realize the Maxim was linked so differently.

 

I think his captions are transposed. Down for slow, up for go. On all XJs, it ain't British...

 

I have been riding it for while and everthing seems ok. Yes clicking down puts it in to 1st. Down for slow, up for go is what I have. Am I missing something??