Can't change into 3rd?

[bizzywizzy]

So I went out for a Boxing Day ride on my 3 1/2 this morning. Starts and ticks over beautifully, ride away from home and shift from first to second no problem, then just will not go into 3rd. Shifts back down to 1st OK, and back to 2nd no problem. It has always been a pain to find neutral, I just cant get it above 2nd now.

Any ideas of what to look at and where to start?

Thanks,

Mike

[mbmm350s]

Hi
Is this a new fault that has developed.
One thing that is overlooked is that after shifting the lever must be able to return to it's normal position I.e don't ride with huge boots that prevent the lever returning back down after an upshift.
I have also seen poor or loose linkages that can prevent shifting as the full lever travel is prevented though this is usually down shift where the lever hits the exhaust.
AND never ride with continous pressure on the gearchange.
You should be able to engage all gears with engine off and bike stationary on the stand by rotating rear wheel an d operating the lever and strap clutch to disengage engine.
Hope this helps.
Mark

[bizzywizzy]

Thanks Mark,

This is a new problem. I'll take a look at the gear linkage when I get back from my post Christmas trip north to see my parents. The bike odes have rearsets, so not standard.

Thanks again for the suggestions,

Mike

[George 350]

I hope it's something simple with your rearsets.
Is it an earlier (Pre 76?) model? If so, I'm pretty sure these had less robust selector forks. If yours is, and is relatively low mileage it may still have the originals and a bent fork might be the issue. Later motors are much more robust. Unfortunately if it is, it means a full strip of the motor to fix, as all the selector assemblies are within the crankcase.
Good luck, George.

[Sicxtyone]

Hi, as Mark and George say have a good look at the rear set. Does the lever move freely and in particular the route of the linkage. When I got my 500 with tarozzi rear sets, the previous owner who put them on, had oriented the kink in the linkage to foul the casing. This caused intermittent shift problems as the lever couldn't move properly, as Mark points out.
Hope it turns out to be an easy fix.
Graham.

[Vitesse]

+1 on rearsets. The Tarrozzis on my Guzzi (never the easiest gearchange anyway) added so much slack as to give me a false neutral on every shift. I had to add plastic shims on the pivot (from a coke bottle - I was at Le Mans) to get any semblance of control.

[bizzywizzy]

So I had time today to remove the gear change linkage, clean it all and adjust it. I now have all the gears shifting more smoothly than they did before. Neutral is still a pain to find, but I am glad to have all the gears back.

Thanks for the suggestions,

Mike

[P&S]

You can try this to make neutral easy to find.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4700&hilit=jumping+clutch&start=30