matt

Michael - I took the cover off one more time and changed the pawl spring. It was not broken. Changed it anyway. Same problems - Missed shifts, false neutrals, neutral light coming on when in gear. I have been told by a mechanic that probably cleaning clutch spline would help. Big job. In any case, I believe it is a clutch issue. I have also been told that you have to be positive when shifting, but i don't think this V11, while older (30,000 miles) should shift like an Ambassador. It used to shift better than most Ducs. Been riding my Multi and enjoying it . alas

Michael - I did change clutch fluid. Not a bit of difference in shifting.

The spring does not need much tension. It merely holds the arm against the selector. All it is doing is overcoming gravity. I discovered that if I bent the spring to relieve some of the pressure against the arm it did not wind up tight against the boss when shifting. That alone should make it last indefinitely. It is when it grabs the boss at the end of its travel and area of flex is greatly reduced that it is prone to fail. On the "freeze up" or missed shifts issue, the first time I changed my fluid, I switched to Spectro synthetic gear oil (because I had it on the shelf). No issues going in and no adjustments made, just a fluid change. Very soon afterward I had similar issues. Sometimes it would not come out of a gear, sometimes false neutrals, sometimes the shifter would not return to the centered position. I opened the cover and found there was quite a bit of accumulated dark paste all over and in the bottom. I really cleaned everything out, took the pawl arm off and smoothed & polished the surfaces where it slid against the selector pins. Going back together I filled it with Redine heavy. I have never had another shifting problem. The polishing of the ramp surfaces made for slicker gearshift feel returning to the centered position but I doubt it did anything else. I think the residual sludge in the box from the original fluid and normal wear was lifted by the new lube and it gummed up the works. The thorough cleaning and Redline is what solved it. Dan - Why would the false neutral /missed shift problem start to rear it's ugly head after a few miles and not immediately? And coincidentally with the neutral light beginning to illuminate all the time? Separate issues? Do you mean there was accumulated paste in the gearbox cover alone or in the cover and in the gearbox bottom? I never saw any dark paste accumulations and there is redline shockproof in there now.

Yes - Plate has been off three times. I'm not sure why I didn't just replace the spring (since I have a new one), but it is definitely not broken. I could replace it, but again, it is definitely not broken. I can remove it rather quickly with all this practice. It will be easier than replacing the clutch, that's for sure. The fact that the bike shifts fine for the first few miles and then develops this problem has me stumped and leads me to believe that is heat related. Also , why does the neutral switch behave normally for the first few miles and then light up all the time, coincidentally with the mis-shifting problem?

Sounds typical of pawl spring failure. Michael - I am still having exactly the same issues (even neutral light problem!). Pawl spring is fine. No hang ups on linkage. Changed clutch fluid and went to Red Line Shock proof in the gearbox. Runs fine for the first 5 miles. The neutral switch light even operates normally. After that everything goes south. False neutrals up and down. It's very unnerving and it it is not operator error.. I have owned this bike since new. It now has 30K on it. This gearbox is not functioning properly or the clutch is not operating properly. I am now looking at it as a clutch problem. I'll keep you posted. This is an '01 green V11s.

Mis-shifts revisited - OK - Here's what I have done so far. 1. Bleed clutch fluid. 2. Take off gearbox cover and check for broken return spring. Spring is not broken so put the cover back on , replace oil,try again. 3. More of the same with mis-shifts,false neutrals. 4. Plug slot under flywheel. Pour 1 pint of mineral spirits in inspection hole,start bike for 30 seconds while actuating clutch. Drain spirits. 5. Clean up shift linkages and grease (although they looked pretty darn good to start). 6. Take her out for a spin and more of the same. Mis-shifts up and down, false neutrals, etc. I can get through all the gears cleanly sometimes if I short shift and am extremely deliberate, but not all the time. If I accelerate hard and shift in the upper rpms then you can forget about it. It's a crapshoot whether it will go into the next gear and more often than not it won't. Do I take the cover back off and replace the spring even though it is not broken? Can it just be losing tension or should I be thinking more about a clutch issue? Thanks for any input.

I'll try the adjuster next. I'll let you know. I wonder if anyone can think of a reason why the shifting degrades when the bike is warmed up? This is puzzling and leaves me skeptical that it is just the adjuster under the acorn nut. Yes. You may have worn splines on your clutch input hub and on the i.d. of the flywheel, or the flywheel may be packed with clutch dust. You can try cleaning it. This sometimes helps, though seldom for more than a few thousand miles. Then, you have to flush it again. Here's how: 1) Use a strip of duct tape to cover the weephole on the underside of the bell housing. 2) Put a drain pan under the bell housing. 3) Remove the timing plug and pour a pint of mineral spirits into the bell housing. 4) Plug the timing hole. 5) Start bike and lightly rev it while continually actuating the clutch lever for about 30 seconds. 6) Remove tape and let the goo drain out. Greg - Do you think I should skip the gearbox adjustment for now and proceed to this cleaning of the flywheel? Thanks Matt

I'll try the adjuster next. I'll let you know. I wonder if anyone can think of a reason why the shifting degrades when the bike is warmed up? This is puzzling and leaves me skeptical that it is just the adjuster under the acorn nut.

Michael - That is exactly what is happening on my V11. When it warms up it is definitely worse on the mis-shifts. My clutch lever is already all the way out. Is this an adjustment on the back of the gearbox or on the cover plate? Thanks for the photo of the roller pin location. Did you use any loctite on the pin when you put it back? Matt

Yup - the recall has been taken care of. I bled the clutch fluid. I have not taken apart the shift lever, assuming you mean the hand lever. It does seem to be loose. More like an up and down free play, which just recently developed. Are there shims already in place at the lever or are they something you add to adjust play in the lever?

I changed fluid (non-synthetic) when i reassembled it. Old fluid looked good when I drained it(no milkiness)

I have a 2001 V11S I have owned since new. 30,000 miles on it now. Recently when shifting up through the gears I encounter false neutrals between all gears. Sometimes if I am very deliberate with my shift I can get it to shift cleanly but not usually. I pulled the cover off the gearbox to inspect and the springs on the plate were all intact. There was a wrapped roller pin that dropped out of the case ( I asume this is where it came from). I repositioned the pin where i thought it should go and reassembled the box and tried again with no improvement in shifting. Anyone have any ideas as to what I should be looking for in the box to cause this mis-shifting? Thanks