Missing 2nd Gear

Hello All,

Having an issue slipping past second gear. To begin opened up the gearbox covers and replaced the gaskets. Reassembled the outer and inner gearbox covers, then adjusted the kick start while in second. Engine started up fine in neutral. Turned the key off to run through the gears. Got into one, neutral, slipped pa st second, with some rolling got into third and fourth. Ran down the gears from fourth, to third, slipped into neutral, lastly first. Did this a few times with no change, slipping over second each way. Any suggestions where to start and how to get second back?

Legos

I'd suspect worn bushes not mentioned renewing and reaming, mis aligning shifter dog engagement and maybe the clothes pin pawl spring hanging up on seeking 2nd. Don't forget triplex tension can mess with shifts though usually trouble to snick N or 1st. Maybe just maybe the gaskets allow too much end play in lay shaft to take up dog motion on 2nd engagement. Some shim but I just leave gaskets out now.

It is the shifter paul and spring. Have a look at a Norton manual on getting the shifting spring in place correctly and setting the clearance between the spring and paul.

Sorry if this is a dumb answer but are you rotating the rear wheel forward while trying to select all the gears? The transmission needs to be turning for it to shift gears. (Wasn't too sure if you were turning it except for 3rd and 4th.)

If pawl spring which is most suspects, I finally found main trick is to get both legs parallel in the pawl swing zone with about any clearance, just so pawl can swing free. I did not find the gap of pawl clearance made any difference, so stopped worrying with those measure that caused me headaches trying to follow manual as usual.

Dances with Shrapnel said:

It is the shifter paul and spring.

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Quite possibly but it seems odd then that they are working normally for the other gear changes AND that it fails to work when operating in the opposite direction, also only on the one change.

batrider said:

are you rotating the rear wheel forward while trying to select all the gears?

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My thought too. Do you have a center stand? I ask because you mention "rolling" to find 3rd and 4th. I would get the rear wheel off the ground before I did anything else (if you haven't already) and carefully rotate the wheel forward as I hunted for 2nd by working the shift lever with my hand. We're assuming, of course, that the problem didn't exist before you worked on the trans?? In other words, make absolutely sure you have a problem.

If you didn't disturb anything with the quadrant/camplate/shift forks/etc., and are getting all the other gears, then you must be "getting" 2nd as well in that the camplate is moving the shift forks in such a way as to engage 2nd but it isn't positively stopping at the point where the 2nd gear notch on the camplate gets to the spring loaded cam plunger. This would explain why it happens in both directions (shifting up and down). Final analysis, obviously, if it simply doesn't work, is to take it apart again and see why.

VintAge said:

but it seems odd then that they are working normally for the other gear changes AND that it fails to work when operating in the opposite direction, also only on the one change.

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Yes, it is odd but that is the nature of the beast. It is not readily apparent until you experience it and remedy it.

Too often its more than one thing doing the same thing, fix one fault found put back for same symptom so take apart again, after some internal conflicting dialog of course, to hunt again then try again til fixed or till you quit this hobby horse.

hobot said:

Too often its more than one thing doing the same thing, fix one fault found put back for same symptom so take apart again,.................

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So you are saying one problem is too often due to two (or more) faults?

I can just see this turned into a Monty Python skit where a bloke pulls into a service station with a problem.