20 miles in first gear.

[scottybee]

On my way home from work at 11:30 pm. After down shifting from 6 to 1 for stop sign I was stuck in 1st. All the linkage seems to be ok, the lever moves up and down but just doesn't shift. I'm guessing it's the pawl spring failure, I glanced over some pf the old post's and will read them more closely when I'm actually ready to make repair's (to many other things going on the next few days) Just wanted to see if anyone has any other idea's or suggestions I should consider.

My bike is a 2003 LeMans.

Thanks

[tikkanen]

Hi Scotty,

 

seems like the sprawl gremlin has hit you. As far as I know this is the first 2003 model that has had a tranny problem; all others have been 2002 models like mine

 

fear not though; it fixable either by your own hand if you got your thumbs mounted the right way. Otherwise it's a 1/2 day job for a trained mechanic. I drove something like 80 miles in 4th gear including a stop at a toll booth but I managed to get back home in one piece.

 

Good luck with your bike - when it's fixed it's history

 

All the best

Søren

[savagehenry]

On my way home from work at 11:30 pm. After down shifting from 6 to 1 for stop sign

Damn! How fast do you go on the way home?!? If I'm in 6th, I'm WAY over 100ish

[Dan M]

It sure sounds like all the same symptoms. I'm not a trained mechanic but I think this sounds within my abilities

And I live in a town called Mechanicsburg so that should help

Thanks

 

Quite easy, go for it. Do a search or if needed, a quick walk through is available for the asking.

[seoulman]

The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. It was the pawl spring and my bike is a 2004.

[britespark]

Hi all.

 

Mine stuck in 4th. No problem starting, but came to a junction and decided to try it again. Went down to first and stayed there.

I learned that downhill with brakes on, the pawl will fall foward enough to allow gear changes. I discovered this when I replaced the spring. It pivots from the rear, so braking and downhill will allow changes.

I had to ride home in 1st gear. Hope this might help someone ger home easier.

 

Pat

[Steve W]

I hate to be paranoid, but given that I don't know the history of my '02 - is it generally considered a good idea just to go ahead and fix this even if it ain't broke yet? It's hard for me to tell from reading the forum what the probability of failure is...

 

Steve

[raz]

Good question. How many forum members do we got here and how many of those had a problem? We only hear from the latter group so the problem may seem much more common than it is. If I ever buy a V11 I will probably stock a spare spring under the seat, but I would not replace it unless it breaks.

[belfastguzzi]

The easy thing to do is take the cover off and measure the parts. If the boss is oversize, I'd suggest taking it down to the proper diameter. Better to lessen the likelihood of a break that then leaves the bike stuck in one gear.

[belfastguzzi]

And, not to encourage more paranoia, but if your rear wheel bearings go bad, be aware that there was a supply of rear axle spacers fitted in and around 2002, that are undersized, so causing premature bearing destruction.

[JoeV11]

I'm starting to get funky things happen while downshifting. Occasionally coming to a stop, when I pull in the clutch and down shift a couple of gears, the lever doesn't return. I release the clutch slightly and then the lever comes back and I can continue going down the gears. I never noticed what gear was the culprit or if it was the same one every time.

Is this a sign of impending spring failure? Changing the tranny oil over the winter didn't seem to affect it.

Thanks

Joe

[scottybee]

Well I'm finally getting around to trying to repair this thing, and I'm stumped already. I've taken the statrer off and have all the allen head bolts out. But the two 13mm nuts right in the center of the cover are turning the bolt or stud and not coming loose. I can't see anyway to hold those bolts to get the nuts off.

How do I get this thing off to see what's going on inside?

 

I'm talking about the two nuts in the center of the pic

 

Thanks

[Guzzi2Go]

I'm starting to get funky things happen while downshifting. Occasionally coming to a stop, when I pull in the clutch and down shift a couple of gears, the lever doesn't return. I release the clutch slightly and then the lever comes back and I can continue going down the gears. I never noticed what gear was the culprit or if it was the same one every time.

Is this a sign of impending spring failure? Changing the tranny oil over the winter didn't seem to affect it.

Thanks

Joe

Linkage joints are of poor quality and tend to stick. You may try oiling or replacing them with better ones.

[belfastguzzi]

Well I'm finally getting around to trying to repair this thing, and I'm stumped already. I've taken the statrer off and have all the allen head bolts out. But the two 13mm nuts right in the center of the cover are turning the bolt or stud and not coming loose. I can't see anyway to hold those bolts to get the nuts off.

How do I get this thing off to see what's going on inside?

 

I'm talking about the two nuts in the center of the pic

 

Thanks

! Only undo the allen bolts, then lever/shock the cover off.

 

Don't fiddle with the adjuster.

[Tom M]

It looks like you've already removed the acorn nut and lock nut on the adjuster. It's the shaft with the slotted end next to the shifter shaft. If you moved the slotted shaft you'll have to adjust it when you get the bike back together. You can search past threads on this to find out what the adjuster does and how to set it. I remember forum member Ouiji Veck posting about his adventures with the adjuster. Search his name and "adjuster" and see if anything helpful turns up.

 

The shifter plate will come off once you've removed all of the M6 screws around the perimeter of the casting. Mine was pretty stubborn the first time I removed it. I found a spot toward the bottom rear of the trans where the shifter plate doesn't exactly match the shape of trans housing. It provided a surface that was large enough to catch with a wooden dowel from the other side of the bike. I put the dowel on there, gave it a tap with a hammer and the plate popped free.