Gear selector question

Greetings, I just joined this forum. I am rebuilding an '81 engine and have a '78 parts engine. Some years ago I bought the whole mess and was told that there was something wrong with both transmissions. I tore them both down and could find nothing that appeared amiss with either tranny except that the star wheel in one had only 2 pins And the other had 3. Can someone confirm, as I assume, that it needs all 4 pins? It could be all that's wrong with either engine, though I'm glad to be doing it as the crank bearings on the '81 were badly worn but the '78 is good - so I'm using the best parts from each engine.
In the 90's I had an Indian-made Royal Enfield which I spend endless hours rebuilding and modifying - it was a big mistake because it was indeed: "polishing a turd". By contrast, this XS seems to be incredibly well designed and engineered. Thank You, Dejan

Yes you need all the pins. That's what the gear selector uses to rotate the drum that moves the forks in the transmission..

Welcome to the forum, Dejan.
I'm from the Syracuse area.
There are many of us CNY'ers here.
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Thanks for posting this! I am also rebuilding for the first time and had the same question because I am missing one of the pins. Does anyone know where you can buy them or can you just make them yourself out of steel rod?

You can use the shaft part of drills (of the right right size) for the pins.

toglhot said:

You can use the shaft part of drills (of the right right size) for the pins.

Click to expand...

Yeah, drill bits are my go to for all manner of pins. There's an almost unlimited size out there to choose from.
Keep in mind that drill bits are pretty brittle because of their hardness. I generally take a torch to 'em and heat 'em until they start to change color. That'll usually take enough brittleness off 'em so they don't easily break.