sloppy gear shifter

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ventura01
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sloppy gear shifter

Post by ventura01 »

Hey all,
I have a 91 ZXR400 track bike that has an increasingly sloppy standard issue gear shifter. Ive coped with it for a while but now I think its responsible for a couple of mis-shifts and wonder if there is a remedy to this- or just find a new one?
What tends to wear more the inside of the shifter or the outer edge of the foot peg that goes thru it?
I dont want to get a new lever and find its sloppy on the footpeg shaft.... so work with the old or go new? it really moves right to left quite a bit and under shifting this must reduce the upward and down ward force needed for gear changes. I considered some washes and the like but that just stifens it up when bolted together so Id be interested in what others may think,
thanks
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Re: sloppy gear shifter

Post by Slow and wobbly »

nothing worse than a sloppy second.

The shaft is hardened (Fnaarrr) so it is the lever that wears.
Has your lever got any splines left on it?
Got a pic of the two? (Fnaaar again)

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Re: sloppy gear shifter

Post by ventura01 »

when you mean splines are you refering to the clamps on the linkage mech?
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Re: sloppy gear shifter

Post by seiko1 »

Drop a Viagra into the sump, that should fix it right up ;)
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Re: sloppy gear shifter

Post by matt6 »

If you are talking about where the lever pivots on the peg (rather than the splined arm on the selector shaft) it may have a bronze bush inside that can be pressed out and replaced. When the one on my old 6 got sloppy, Kawasaki would only sell the whole gear lever. I pressed out the old bush and got it matched up at a bearing supply, it was about $5 for the bush. Even if the material on the peg is hardened, they still seem to suffer form some wear - they end up like a barrel shape. The new bush will help, but probabaly wont be perfect.
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Re: sloppy gear shifter

Post by Strika »

Slow and wobbly wrote:nothing worse than a sloppy second.

The shaft is hardened (Fnaarrr) so it is the lever that wears.
Has your lever got any splines left on it?
Got a pic of the two? (Fnaaar again)

There are so many single entendre's here.
I guess it really depends on which track you are riding. When riding a tighter one, I would prefer a sloppy 4th, 5th or 6th. But if it's looser, more open, then a sloppy second is fine.

If the output shaft spline is not worn, then potentially part of the problem could be a worn shifter rod clamp. But, you say it has lateral movement, which means the bush is worn out on the inner side which the peg runs through. I would be looking at either replacing the shift rod clamp and the Shifter lever at min. A new set of levers will make the bike feel new!!
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