Ended a great day of riding on the back of a tow truck. Here is what happened.

99 , Barnett's, SS cables, single arm shifter, Royal Purple, recall done, upgraded oil pump gear

Riding down an absolutely perfect NC country 2 lane road I noticed that my shifter range changed. It was almost touching the floorboard on downshift and resting way to high when shifting. After 30 min or so the shifter was very hard to move.

After fueling up and taking off I could not shift through the gears correctly and the shifter got even stiffer. Soon I could only get into first gear; coasting into the lot of a business (funeral home, bad sign). It was also hard to find neutral then the shifter was almost frozen. Ideas?

Throwout issue?
Oil (I was scheduled to change it tomorrow, scheduled)?
Spring?
Stuck plates?

Funny thing happened while waiting for the tow. 5 min after we stopped an unmarked sheriff's car pulled into the same lot gushing fuel (yes, funeral home lot). He ran over a tool and it punctured his tank. Another unmarked narc sheriff pulled in and soon we were swapping stories, talking bikes, and hearing tales from beat. Soon the canine unit was there along with another marked sheriff. 15 gallons of fuel from a sheriff's car also brought 2 fully dressed fire units to handle the spill and stand ready just in case. Within 45 min the funeral home lot was transformed by:

3 bikes
3 sheriffs
1 local canine unit
2 fire trucks and teams
2 wreckers

All capped off by the most awesome sunset NC had to offer.

Hope you made some friends

bearing in pressure plate


the replacement NSK 7003B with std 15 degree compact angle will take care of those extra forces on the throw out bearing

Erbman02 wrote:
bearing in pressure plate


the replacement NSK 7003B with std 15 degree compact angle will take care of those extra forces on the throw out bearingerb, do you have a website where you bought it from? Most of what I'm getting is China manufacturing sites plus a vxb site

If the shift lever seems to be frozen, I would remove the shift linkage and see if the shift lever is frozen on the shaft or if the problem is on the trans side. I don't see how anything with the clutch/pressure plate could have anything to do with the shift lever being hard to move.

That is no way to have a party. Good luck on your problem.

cumminsman wrote:
Hope you made some friends
I certainly have a lot more folks to wave at in that town!

Erbman02 wrote:
bearing in pressure plate
the replacement NSK 7003B with std 15 degree compact angle will take care of those extra forces on the throw out bearing
Thanks Erb,

A couple of Q's..
- Besides the bearing, what else is on the parts list? I am thinking new gasket and oil. Other?
- Will I need the clutch tool (or equivalent like the strap technique)?
- Any idea why good bearings go bad (sounds like a new reality series)?

Thanks again.

davej wrote:
If the shift lever seems to be frozen, I would remove the shift linkage and see if the shift lever is frozen on the shaft or if the problem is on the trans side. I don't see how anything with the clutch/pressure plate could have anything to do with the shift lever being hard to move.
Thanks Dave, I am going to look at the linkage and shift spline first. Like Fireman had posted on similar issue, "start with the simple stuff."

It would be great if it were something easy. I'd feel like a wasted a tow but would be back on the road faster and on the cheap. After this quick check I'll disassemble my way to the bearing.

Thanks again.

Curt wrote:
That is no way to have a party. Good luck on your problem.
Thanks Curt!