81 XJ650 - The dreaded “falling out of 2nd gear” problem

Been having a well known issue recently and it’s seriously bumming me out. My bike will occasionally fall out of second gear and into neutral, while under power. It seems to happen at random. Sometimes I can rev to 7k with no problems, sometimes it will fall out while puttering around at 3k RPM in traffic.

I understand this is a common problem caused by worn shift dogs in the transmission, and I’ve heard it’s impossible to fix without splitting the case. However, I wonder if there might be something else I can try first. The thing is, I only started having this problem after installing the performance shifter pawl and replacing the springs under the shifter cover. Second gear was still temperamental before (hence why I did the mod), and it would sometimes fall into neutral when down shifting from 3rd to 2nd. This felt different though, and it would never happen under power.

So, is there any way this problem could arise from messing something up in the shifter mechanism? Or does it have to be the dogs because the other gears are totally fine?

 

2nd gear is the one that gets the abuse on take off.

If the new shift mech isn't pushing the shift barrel far enough then the shift fork isn't pushing the dogs in as far as they can go also. So it could be some issue there, maybe.

Shift forks get worn or bent also. Bits of the primary chain guide have been known to restrict the gear change also.

Easy to see when split... Boroscope maybe somehow into that spot might illuminate your issue also.