Monday, May 31, 2010

Shifter Trauma

The trike was a hit at the event. Sadly, I could not take it anywhere due to the shifter issue. I had to fight for any gear I could find and leave it there as long it would stay. The site had what could best be described as decent dirt roads and most any significant bump would make it jump out of gear, a clear symptom of the problem.

After we got home last night, I sat down and looked at Jamar shifters. I think I can adapt one to my situation if replacing the stock shift rod hanger doesn't work well enough. I think it likely will.

The ones on the trike (it has two to support the length of the initial shaft) were cut in the ring. I think someone chose to do that rather than go to the rather frustrating trouble to properly replace the shaft bushings. To do it correctly, the shaft needs to be pulled out, new bushings installed and the shaft put back in. Because of the welds on the u-joints on this shaft, they don't fit though the installed bushings. With the ring on the hanger split, you can bend the ring open enough to slide the bushings into place. Trouble is, the ring is weakened when bent and more bending makes it worse. It gets so weak that normal shifter motion can push the ring open. Eventually, it will break.

I have a new shift rod hanger. It should be easy enough to pull the shaft out, cut off the old hanger and weld on the new one. I may need to dress the u-joint welds a bit to reinstall the shaft, but next time it will be much easier.

After that, I hope to have it roadworthy enough to do some tuning on the engine. With what little riding I was able to do, I think it goes lean at higher throttle openings, which only makes sense. I couldn't experiment there in the driveway :)

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