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Since I've managed to get my '72 R75/5 back on the road again, it's popped out of third gear into a false neutral twice on a couple of long rides. Once while overtaking on the highway and once while just puttering along into town. I know I've read about this before on the forum, but a search didn't turn up anything. My questions are these; I know it's a sign of a transmission that will be needing a overhaul soon. Is it something I need to consider fixing right now lest it lock the TX and throw me over the bars Major Softie style? What would be the cause of this; broken shift dogs, worn gears, or...?

The good news is that this is NOT likely to put you over the bars "Softie Style." The bad news is that you could get struck from the rear when trying to shoot into traffic, the bike pops into neutral, and fly off the back of the bike putting your head through the windshield of the car that behind you.

Worn dogs can do this, not shifting deliberately enough can do this, and having your shifter lever adjusted too high can do this (or rather, result in this happening by causing you to not shift deliberately enough). Someone with more transmission expertise will chime in and tell us if there's a way that bent or maladjusted shifter forks can do this, which I believe is possible, but can't remember for sure.

OK, I took another long ride yesterday and made a conscious effort to shift firmly into all gears. The transmission didn't pop out of gear once! Thanks for the input, Major.

An old motorcycle mechanic friend of mine once remarked that when riders came in with missing shifts he would lower the shift lever. Seems this method forced to you to lift the shifter higher, ensuring proper engagement of shift detents.

My beloved old R60/5



popped out of second and third when hot. I discovered that it would only happen on an upshift but not a coming down into second or third. When it got bad, I would upshift twice and then down into the gear I wanted and all was happy, except for the cage behind me whom almost ran me over. It also seemed better when overfilled with really heavy gear oil, but we all know where that led.

This was in the dark days before Boxerworks, so I had no one to tell me to get it fixed before I got run over, and not to overfill the gearbox.

My '76 R75/6 pops out of 2nd or 3rd gear. Can't remember which right now. Luckily it has only happened during slow speed deceleration at parking lot speed. So far there has been no problem under power.

From long ago postings on Boxerworks I've supposed that a bent shifter shaft is the culprit. The tranny oil has been free from anything resembling granules or slivers of metal. So, since safety is apparently not a problem (and I've put lots of miles on that bike) I've decided to let the problem go until I need to do something else significant to the transmission.

So why am I telling you all this? Hell, I don't know. I think I felt an urge to post and had to say something.


Ken