Shift Lever Question

[CajunRider]

My shift lever has a decent amount of play in it (more than I consider normal... if that means anything coming from a dirt bike guy). 

I checked the bolt... is quite tight... but still lots of play.  (Maybe a 1/4 - 3/8 inch of slack at the toe??)

No oil leak from the seal, so that's good. 

Am I missing something?? Or is this just normal??  Should I remove the header so I can get a good wrench on there and give it a good torquing???  Or just leave it be?? 

[R J]

Does it shift gear OK?

If so leave it the Fork alone and ride it like ya stole it.

Everyone is babying one of the toughest bikes I've ever ridden or owned.

If it ain't broke don't mess with or worry about it.

Are you this teskie of your cage?

[CajunRider]

Are you this teskie of your cage?

Quite honestly.... yes.    

My truck has a rattle in the brush guard that annoys the snot out of me...   

However... the Valk is MUCH more fun to power slide.    

As long as the wiggle ain't causing pre-mature wear on the shift lever shaft, I'm not worried about it.  I just don't want the darn thing to fall off like it did on my KLR.    

[GOOSE]

cajun....believe me- nobody is more anal than i am about stuff.  as long as the bolt is tight (you don't have to wring it off- just good and snug- if it worries you, then put a drop of blue locktite on each thread.), the shifter is not going to fall off.  there has to be a little play in it or you would have trouble.  just ride it and enjoy. 

[Jess from VA]

Besides play from the internals, it could be that the splines on the shaft or shifter have degraded a bit.  The spline grooves of the soft aluminum heel-toe shifter on my FXRD got so bad at 90K I had to replace it; the teeth were so rounded off, it didn't matter how hard I tightened the clamp screw.  You could try to chase the splines on the shifter (not the shaft), or take a wrap or two on the shaft with plumbers tape (under the shifter), or maybe locktite blue.

[CajunRider]

Loc-Tite or plumber's wrap sounds like a good fix.  Next time I have the bike down, I'll do that.  It should be pretty soon as it's time for a new front tire and rear spline lube. 

Thanks all!!   

[Ricky-D]

Simply ascertaining that the bolt is tight on a loose shifter is doing nothing.

You ought to find out where exactly the looseness is occurring.

A close inspection, you know, with a flashlight and lying down getting you eyes real close to everything and observing what's happening will reveal the truth of this matter of looseness.

Failure to correctly identify what the problem actually is may and could lead to greater problems down the road and that might occur where you would least want that to happen.

The only looseness you won't be able to address is where the shifter rod exits the motor case, you know, where the oil seal is located. There should be very little looseness (wobble) at that point!

All other reasons for looseness needs to be addressed as they occur and promptly.

***

[chip]

I am guessing you are talking about play on the shaft area of the shifter,I too was surprised by the sloppiness in the shaft. Thought there may be a problem ,so I called a fellow valk rider had him check his. Same thing. I later checked myself comparing it to a few others ,same thing.

[CajunRider]

Simply ascertaining that the bolt is tight on a loose shifter is doing nothing.

You ought to find out where exactly the looseness is occurring.

It's loose in 2 places.  The worse of it comes from the shaft wiggling around in the case.  There's no oil leaking, so the seal is good.  And from what others are saying, that seems to be normal.

There is also a little slack on the ever where it connects to the shaft.  I'm worried the splines are going to wear like that, so I'll be putting something on there to tighten it up a bit (loc-tite or something of the like) as mentioned above. 

I am guessing you are talking about play on the shaft area of the shifter,I too was surprised by the sloppiness in the shaft. Thought there may be a problem ,so I called a fellow valk rider had him check his. Same thing. I later checked myself comparing it to a few others ,same thing.

That sounds good.  If the shaft itself typically has a little play but doesn't cause problems, then I should be good with just a little tightening of the lever connections on the shaft. 

Thanks to all for the input!!