Replacing gear shift seal

[Tourus]

    Guys this might seem like a dumb question but when I replace my shifter seal is oil going to run out of opening. I have read all the posts about replacing and watched the youtube video, seems pretty easy but never mentions draining oil first or if oil will run out. Can't find it in my Clymers Manuel either so if it seems like a dumb question I would rather ask first then be cleaning oil off of everything. I would appriciated any help I can get. Thanks in advance and as always

Ride Safe
Steve

[old2soon]

Remove shift lever-mark position first or take a picture. Get a small sheet metal screw or wood screw started into old seal. Remove old seal. Clean the seal seating area. Press in new seal. Reinstall shift lever. Oil will NOT pour out. RIDE SAFE.

[hubcapsc]

Mine is a mess... not leaking noticeable drops on the floor,
but a slow accumulation of greasy ick on the motor and shifter.

I have a seal here somewhere and may get to it 2-day...

http://lifeisaroad.com/valkshiftseal.html

-Mike

[Tfrank59]

    Guys this might seem like a dumb question but when I replace my shifter seal is oil going to run out of opening. I have read all the posts about replacing and watched the youtube video, seems pretty easy but never mentions draining oil first or if oil will run out. Can't find it in my Clymers Manuel either so if it seems like a dumb question I would rather ask first then be cleaning oil off of everything. I would appriciated any help I can get. Thanks in advance and as always

Ride Safe
Steve

Yes a little oil comes out but not massive amounts

[Tourus]

    Thanks guys for sharing. My clymer Manuel did not mention having to drain oil or if any would drip out but its better to know before hand what to expect. It did say when installing to put all purpose grease in opening before putting seal in, anybody done that? One other thing my shifter is only on the shaft about half way and I have looked at least 1/2 dozen others and they are all the same as mine, then I have seen pictures of others and they are all the way on. It seems like all the way on would be correct. Could it be that everyone that I have looked at has worked it's way half way off, seems awful coincidental.

 Thanks
 Steve

[Tfrank59]

   Thanks guys for sharing. My clymer Manuel did not mention having to drain oil or if any would drip out but its better to know before hand what to expect. It did say when installing to put all purpose grease in opening before putting seal in, anybody done that? One other thing my shifter is only on the shaft about half way and I have looked at least 1/2 dozen others and they are all the same as mine, then I have seen pictures of others and they are all the way on. It seems like all the way on would be correct. Could it be that everyone that I have looked at has worked it's way half way off, seems awful coincidental.

 Thanks
 Steve

Steve, I'm pretty sure the shifter should be all the way on the splines. Mine is. also the shifter bolt has to fit into a radius on the shifter shaft which it will not unless the shifter's on all the way onto the splines of the shifting shaft

[Tfrank59]

   Thanks guys for sharing. My clymer Manuel did not mention having to drain oil or if any would drip out but its better to know before hand what to expect. It did say when installing to put all purpose grease in opening before putting seal in, anybody done that? One other thing my shifter is only on the shaft about half way and I have looked at least 1/2 dozen others and they are all the same as mine, then I have seen pictures of others and they are all the way on. It seems like all the way on would be correct. Could it be that everyone that I have looked at has worked it's way half way off, seems awful coincidental.

 Thanks
 Steve

Steve, I'm pretty sure the shifter should be all the way on the splines. Mine is. also the shifter bolt has to fit into a radius on the shifter shaft which it will not unless the shifter's on all the way onto the splines of the shifting shaft

OK I just measured mine and you're right the gearshift lever doesn't quite go all the way on the shaft – sticks out about 3/16 of an inch (.18"). But it's true that the bolt that clamps the shift lever splines has to fit into a radius on the shaft, so evidently that's the right amount of protrusion.

[Tourus]

    Tom you are right it has to stick out because that is where the groove in the shaft is for the screw to pass through. Also to get that shaft off the main shaft the screw holding it on has to be completely removed. I loosen it until I thought it would fall out but the shaft still would not come off so I used a pair of long needle nose pliers and once the screw was out the shaft came off easily. I also went to a flea market this morning and bought a dentist pick for $1.00 and that is what I used to remove the old seal, I had the screw and pliers ready if the pick didn't work. Now to do some riding and make sure it is not leaking. 

 Thanks again guy for the help
 Steve

[Tfrank59]

    Tom you are right it has to stick out because that is where the groove in the shaft is for the screw to pass through. Also to get that shaft off the main shaft the screw holding it on has to be completely removed. I loosen it until I thought it would fall out but the shaft still would not come off so I used a pair of long needle nose pliers and once the screw was out the shaft came off easily. I also went to a flea market this morning and bought a dentist pick for $1.00 and that is what I used to remove the old seal, I had the screw and pliers ready if the pick didn't work. Now to do some riding and make sure it is not leaking. 

 Thanks again guy for the help
 Steve

Yeah I replaced that seal on my bike soon after I bought it – had about 30 K on it at the time-- because I saw just a teeny bit of oil dripping out past the seal. I went ahead and bought a second seal just in case the replacement goes bad anytime soon, but so far she's holding good and I'm coming up on 50 K miles.

 But if you search this forum you'll see there are lots of threads about slop in the shifter shaft (which if excessive can cause oil to leak pass that seal), and there are various fixes proposed and some have been accomplished, because with that dog leg shifter sticking way out 6 inches like it does, it puts quite a sideload on the shifter shaft that goes into the transmission housing. Hopefully your bike doesn't have a lot of slop right there so it's not an issue, but in case it has excessive side play there's a good fix in the works (engineered by a guy who did the same thing for gold wings which also have a long dogleg shifter), which should soon be made available to any members of this forum who want it.

[Tourus]

 Tom, I have the slop and have felt others and there's is about the same as mine. I have felt a couple that were worse, my bike has 58,000 miles and only 5,000 by me so I have a lot to learn.

 Thanks, ride safe
 Steve

 

[Tfrank59]

Tom, I have the slop and have felt others and there's is about the same as mine. I have felt a couple that were worse, my bike has 58,000 miles and only 5,000 by me so I have a lot to learn.

 Thanks, ride safe
 Steve

 

Well you probably don't have more to learn than me  – after 40 years of dirt biking I just started this road riding thing a couple years ago. It's a lot of fun, and a bit scary, especially when I hear the horror stories about things gone south

[Tourus]

   Tom, I'm 65 and got my first bike when I was 15 a honda 50 super sport, then early 20's honda cl 450, then in my 30's cb 750 great bike, then 30 years later honda 1100 shadow for 2 years then it was time to climb the ladder again. Right now the valkyrie is perfect but I can see an 1800 in my future. The love of motorcycles is the one gift that my father gave me that has lasted a life time. Never had a dirt bike but im sure I would have loved riding but to me seemed more dangerous then riding in south Florida traffic. I have never ridden anything but a honda although there's a Kawasaki and an Indian that I really like, and then there's the GOLDWING   that's probably a must have

 Thank again for sharing
 Steve

[RonW]

I just shoved the seal back into the recess with a long flat something and that stopped the leak. It began leaking (little) a few months later but I shoved the seal back in again and it hasn't leaked in 2 years. It's definitely a temporary fix if the cause is due to a larger problem asides deterioration. Perhaps mines wasn't bad at all, just worked itself out etc.

[Tourus]

Mine is a mess... not leaking noticeable drops on the floor,
but a slow accumulation of greasy ick on the motor and shifter.

I have a seal here somewhere and may get to it 2-day...

http://lifeisaroad.com/valkshiftseal.html

-Mike

  Mike, I started cleaning my greasy gunk last week by spraying WD40 all back in that area. Mine didn't seem as much as yours and had gotten most of it clean, and it still took as long or longer to finish cleaning it than to change the seal. I'm a bit anal when it comes to cleaning grease or oil residue and can't stop until I can't get any discoloring on a Q tip. Last week it was the bottom of the engine and radiator fins. Good luck with getting it clean, it's worth the time.

 Thanks for sharing pictures
 Steve

[..]

Having just changed mine this morning I'd like to add the it helps if you have hands the size of a young child. At one point I thought my hand was forever trapped between exhaust header and engine.

[Harryc]

Having just changed mine this morning I'd like to add the it helps if you have hands the size of a young child. At one point I thought my hand was forever trapped between exhaust header and engine.

Will install seals...works cheap!!!

 

[..]

Having just changed mine this morning I'd like to add the it helps if you have hands the size of a young child. At one point I thought my hand was forever trapped between exhaust header and engine.

Will install seals...works cheap!!!