76 xs650 wont stay in neutral

Jacob Canada

Jacob Canada

XS650 Enthusiast
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Hey guys hope you're all having a great Friday.

So yesterday went to move the ol 76 xs650 and when I put the bike in neutral the second I roll it I hear a click and it goes into gear. I checked the cable and adjusted the worn gear and it still dose it. Even took the cable out of the worm gear and it still keeps clicking out of gear. When I kick it, it also dose it. Any ideas of what this could be. I just pulled to right engine cover to look in there but nothing looks out of place. Please help. Thanks in advance.
 
Look behind the clutch, there are two springs and a pivot that is held in place by a rivet, double check all of these.
ShiftSprings.jpg
 
Last edited:
Jacob Canada said:
Hey Jim so I just pulled the bolt and the spring. The spring good I was also able to pull the pin out with a magnet so thats not stuck and looks good as well. Any other thoughts on what it might be?
Click to expand...
Next would be pulling the clutch basket and look at the rivets Gary referenced in his comment.
 
Even without removing the clutch, you should be able to look behind it and see if the two little springs pictured above are still in place. In particular, the top spring may be your problem. It holds that wheel against the star shaped part and that's what holds it in the various positions (gears or neutral). I can't see the top spring in your video, it's too dark in that area.
 
Trying to remember what the problem was with the shifting of my 1981 work bike but I found the screw the red arrow is pointing to in this pirated picture from "5twins" to be broke, think it must have been just not shifting right, but something to check close:
screw loose.JPG


Now that I'm thinking of it that same screw on the engine from my 1982 is damaged someway, need to check but think it is bent. The last owners of that bike used it as a off-road bike on a farm so shifting may have been a bit on the rough side!

I could maybe see that if it was loose or damaged the shift cam might not be indexing good and not quite letting the detent pin circled in Jim's picture lock in it's hole. Looking a bit closer at the picture with the arrow above the back end of that arrow is on top of one of the two bolts that hold the thrust plate that controls the end play of the shift cam and if the screw the arrow is pointing at was broke or loose it would allow the cam to move end-wise and possibly not let the detent pin function as designed.

If you look at the parts diagram Jim posted you can see that item #3 is fastened to the end of the cam by that screw and item #22 rides in a groove in item #3 to keep the cam endplay in check!
 
XSLeo said:
This is a problem I have not heard of before. Most neutral complaints are about how hard it is to find it, not stay in it.
Leo
Click to expand...
Yeah... only seen it once before. Don't remember what kinda' bike... but the detent spring rusted and broke. Was sure that was gonna be his problem.
 
5twins said:
Even without removing the clutch, you should be able to look behind it and see if the two little springs pictured above are still in place. In particular, the top spring may be your problem. It holds that wheel against the star shaped part and that's what holds it in the various positions (gears or neutral). I can't see the top spring in your video, it's too dark in that area.
Click to expand...

Hey Gary both springs are in place so I dont think its those they both look good and are nice and tight.
 
kshansen said:
Trying to remember what the problem was with the shifting of my 1981 work bike but I found the screw the red arrow is pointing to in this pirated picture from "5twins" to be broke, think it must have been just not shifting right, but something to check close:
View attachment 174320

Now that I'm thinking of it that same screw on the engine from my 1982 is damaged someway, need to check but think it is bent. The last owners of that bike used it as a off-road bike on a farm so shifting may have been a bit on the rough side!

I could maybe see that if it was loose or damaged the shift cam might not be indexing good and not quite letting the detent pin circled in Jim's picture lock in it's hole. Looking a bit closer at the picture with the arrow above the back end of that arrow is on top of one of the two bolts that hold the thrust plate that controls the end play of the shift cam and if the screw the arrow is pointing at was broke or loose it would allow the cam to move end-wise and possibly not let the detent pin function as designed.

If you look at the parts diagram Jim posted you can see that item #3 is fastened to the end of the cam by that screw and item #22 rides in a groove in item #3 to keep the cam endplay in check!
Click to expand...

Perfect once that basket tool I ordered gets here ill be digging in a bit futher thanks for the pointers I will let you know what I find once I get the basket off.
 
XSLeo said:
This is a problem I have not heard of before. Most neutral complaints are about how hard it is to find it, not stay in it.
Leo
Click to expand...

Hey Leo yeah its so weird it will go into neutral but the second I kick or roll the bike it pops out of neutral for some reason.
 
Gentlemen
First I am impressed about the knowledge present here
The first thing that comes into mind ?? Clutch not adjusted ???
After that is correct I am at the spring that Jim has above
It cant be expensive.
It was a while since I worked on it -- in there ---but at present time I cannot understand what would turn the
Shift drum to push in a gear if the mentioned spring and parts are OK
 
Jan_P said:
Gentlemen
First I am impressed about the knowledge present here
The first thing that comes into mind ?? Clutch not adjusted ???
After that is correct I am at the spring that Jim has above
It cant be expensive.
It was a while since I worked on it -- in there ---but at present time I cannot understand what would turn the
Shift drum to push in a gear if the mentioned spring and parts are OK
Click to expand...


Thats what im saying! Its so baffling. First thing I did was adjusted the clutch and nothing. Then started moving down the line and here In am. Hoping to figure it out once I get the basket off.
 
gggGary said:
Look behind the clutch, there are two springs and a pivot that is held in place by a rivet, double check all of these.
View attachment 174272
Click to expand...

Does it shift properly otherwise.?
There is an adjustment on shift shaft to do for putting the " Sharkfins " that hooks on behind the starwheel
equal distance from the pins.
With the green and red circles on the picture
The red --- 6 o clock touches what is called " Change lever 2 " the one with the hooks ( Sharkfins )
The green --8 o clock touches what is called " Change lever 1 "

Lower down on " Change lever 1 " there is a lock nut with an excenter adjusting screw and a spring.
Adjusting makes " Change lever 2 " move to a different horizontal position
The hooks shall be equal distance from the pins that are hooked on to rotate the shift drum.
I am thinking in terms of that it does not index properly so that the spring with pin we believed was
broken ( Jim # 7 )
Dont seat at the right place
I am not that good at English and it might not be a problem this time but I do know that after a rebuild if that adjustment is off
It might not shift at all or poorly
And some rebuild might have happened over the years.
You will see the adjustment in there and if it is correct.

Be careful with the clutch tool .. I once made a " Substandard " performance with one cheap tool.
Expensive mistake with a cheap tool
Apologize for the description but perhaps some other gentleman better with pictures can post which one I Mean
 

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