How difficult is it to replace a shift shaft?

ledue

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My friend just bought a 1980 XS650 that has been turned into a bobber. Once he got it home and took it on the first ride the shifter fell off. Upon inspection it appears that it was sort of welded on to the shaft somehow as the set screw has been ground down smooth. It wouldn't surprise me if the guy he bought it off of did this to make it look "clean". Inside the shifter it took about a quarter inch of the end of the shaft with it. Looking online it appears that the if you just take the right side cover off you can access the shift shaft and just pull it out and slide a new one in. I did a little forum search but found nothing about this particular job. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks in advance.
 
XS650 Forum > General Discussion > The Garage
> shifter shaft replacement (spline worn off)

Q:
Hello everybody, I need to replace my shifter shaft. I looked at the Haynes book and really dont know any more than before. What I want to know is, Can you swap them out without splitting the case? It looks like you take the covers off both sides but I am not certain. If anyone has done this before I would appreciate their input.

Thanks

A:
both left and right side (case covers) need to be removed. Drain oil before removing right side.. The clutch will also need to be removed ( need a clutch holding tool such as from Mikexs (...)

Remove a clip on the left side and it comes out from the right side. This is also an excellent time to replace the shifter shaft oil seal if needed.

Pay attention to the washers that you remove from the clutch, so that you can replace in the same order. (...)
 
That's one version of holding tool. If you have access to a welder, a cheaper alternative is to acquire an extra steel plate and weld a handle to it .....

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.....or simply put the bike in first and hold rear brake on while removing the clutch nut with an impact gun.

Of course, that would require that you are able to shift into first.....
 
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