New Seals on the Push Lever Comp and now it won't shift past 3rd gear?

[tjchung65]

Hello everybody, new member here posting his first question.
I hope you all can give me the benefit of your knowledge and experience.

I have a 2001 Vmax 1200 on its center stand and drained of fluids.
The previous owner had the carbs professionally cleaned and adjusted but everything else is rough.
At least the bike could shift thru all its gears when I rode it home and started work.

Replaced the clutch and brake lines with Galfer stainless steel lines.
Replaced the wierd Alibaba front brake and clutch master cylinders the previous owner had on with original Yamaha's.
Bled and topped off all brake and clutch fluids.

But after I replaced the seals on the push lever comp with the K&L kit (#32-0128) and reinstalled it, I can't shift past 3rd gear.
Its like there is no gears after 3rd, the shift pedal just stops after moving up a bit.
Checked the shift rod distance, and it's within limits.
The clutch lever feel is firm and I can hear the seals working inside the push lever comp.

I've read thru the other threads about how this could be a shift segment problem, but how could it when I haven't worked on any part of the transmission?
Granted, there is no oil in the bike and I'm just dry shifting the gears without the engine running.
Does the bike need to be running to shift thru all the gears?

Also, while I had the push lever comp off the Clymer manual said to apply lithium grease to the exposed clutch pushrod and surrounding seal.
I did this with a pair of long nosed pliers wrapped in pieces of cotton t-shirt. (those of you who've done this know its a tight, deep fit!)
While doing this I accidentally grabbed the exposed pushrod and pulled it out about 1/2 inch.
I was surprised it pulled out with no resistance so I pushed it back in again and reinstalled the push lever comp.
Could this be the cause of the shifting problem?

So long story short, I need some advice from all you Vmax veterans.
I don't have any impact tools or special clutch removal pliers or a 30mm socket so I'm holding off removing the clutch basket to check the shift segment.
I'm hoping someone can give me some idea of what to do.
Many thanks in advance.

 

[MaxMidnight]

If you have had the push lever out then it is possible to fit it back to front but that affect the feel of the clutch so probably isn't the problem.

If you are trying to shift without the engine running then it is most likely that the dogs are butting against each other.
Try rotating the rear wheel back and forth which will turn one set and allow them to mesh together.

 

[tjchung65]

Thanks, I'll try that.
I assume I should rotate the rear wheel while in gear?

 

[Fire-medic]

I should rotate the rear wheel while in gear?

Yes. There will be resistance from the engine compression.

You have a '01, it should have the updated shift segment, making the early design's loose/missing shift segment event a 'rare event.'

I doubt your clutch lever greasing caused any issues.

Ever sit on a bike, and while stationary, rock the bike back & forth to get the shifter to go to another gear?

 

[tjchung65]

OK, tried rotating the rear wheel in gear.

The good news, the bike shifted up all thru to 5th gear.
The bad news , I couldn't shift back down to 3rd.

So rotated the wheel some more.
Again the bike shifted up fine, and then even down to 1st.
But had a heck of a time finding neutral.
At least it looks like the shift segment is not the problem.

So I'm thinking Fire-medic is right in that the gear dogs are not meshing properly.
Perhaps the cause is that there is no oil in the transmission, and the engine's not running?
I confess I left it sitting dry of fluids all winter, but in a climate controlled garage.
Maybe the bike needs a full sump of oil and the engine needs to be rotating the gear axels in order to get proper shifting?

 

[Fire-medic]

While in concept the bike should shift w/o oil, adding the oil and getting it onto the relevant rotating parts should help to make things mesh better.

 

[one2dmax]

These engines do not have syncro's like a car. You can't simply shift it with it at a standstill. You have to rock the bike back and forth or roll the wheel to get it to move through the gears. Sometimes you can get some of the gears to align depending on where the shafts and gears stopped from it's last movement.

To me it sounds like you have no issue to be concerned with at this time (with the limited info we have from a few posts).

 

[MaxMidnight]

To me it sounds like you have no issue to be concerned with at this time (with the limited info we have from a few posts).

Agree with wot 'e said

 

[VMAXXIMUM]

I’m certainly not going to add anything new but I can pretty much gauge when I’m due for an oil change when neutral gets harder to find and shifting a bit rougher. Fresh oil and the smooth shifting and easy neutral return.

 

[tjchung65]

Ok, thanks to everyone for the encouraging posts.

 

[tjchung65]

Just a final update.
Filled up the bike with oil and coolant, rode it around the block and now it shifts just fine.