1972 SF750 stiff shifting cure

minigunz

minigunz

Junior member
Location
Ontario CALIFORNIA
I took my SF750 out for the first ride and found the shifter to be too stiff on up shift. is there a lighter shift pawl spring that is available to make it easier to shift like a Japanese model bike? suggestions appreciated.
Jeff
 
If you're getting all 5 gears, it might be the outer case cover binding on the shaft. It holds oil, so try leaning the bike left. I put a 20mm block of timber under one leg of the sidestand. Loosen the case cover slightly and try moving the cover slightly around while going through the gears by hand, engine off, till any pressure eases off. It should take an easy prod just like all bikes. Hopefully it's not fully stuck with gesket goo. If this doesn't work, it gets a bit more complicated. BTW, if it has rear sets, the links need lubing or they get sticky as well.
 
Hey, do what Vince said, and if that does not fix it, come on down to my place in Palm Desert. We will get it sorted; I am not aware of any different spring rates. When installing rear sets, it is always desirable to get the bike shifting nicely before introducing them to the equation. On both my bikes, I never enjoyed the shifting with rear sets as opposed to a standard foot-peg setup.
But then I must say I have experienced more broken legs, ankles, and foot bones than anyone I have ever met, not bragging, just a fact, or crying shame.
Just be aware of the fact that Laverda motorcycles have heavy, stiff shifters. My 78 Jota with 38,000 miles shifts sweetly,like a Honda light to the touch; my Jota America is close to that, too.
Vince said:
If you're getting all 5 gears, it might be the outer case cover binding on the shaft. It holds oil, so try leaning the bike left. I put a 20mm block of timber under one leg of the sidestand. Loosen the case cover slightly and try moving the cover slightly around while going through the gears by hand, engine off, till any pressure eases off. It should take an easy prod just like all bikes. Hopefully it's not fully stuck with gesket goo. If this doesn't work, it gets a bit more complicated. BTW, if it has rear sets, the links need lubing or they get sticky as well.
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minigunz said:
I took my SF750 out for the first ride and found the shifter to be too stiff on up shift. is there a lighter shift pawl spring that is available to make it easier to shift like a Japanese model bike? suggestions appreciated.
Jeff
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You need to go through the obvious causes of binding, they're all accessible.
One last cause is the neutral switch between 1st and second if it isn't shimmed just so.
Lastly, gear selection will be heavy compared to a Japanese machine. So will all the rest for that matter.
Paul
 
Easy way to check for binding is to remove the cover (after leaning left, as Vince says ... but sidestands don't have two legs, Vince :ROFLMAO:), and refit cover without the gasket or screws - this will tell you how much freeplay you have and then you can be sure nothing will bind when the cover is fitted with the gasket - it may be that an extra washer has been fitted behind the cover ... or somthing simple like that. A twin fitted with a short triple (3C) gear lever will obviously be stiffer than with the long SF twin lever. Also be aware that you cannot shift between gears with the bike stationary and engine off unless you rotate the rear wheel back and forth while selecting.

A sure fire way to achieve a nice soft shift is to fit rearsets, as it will allow you to play with the ratio between foot lever and engine lever length to set travel to your preferred compromise between light shift and excessive lever travel. It also offers (IMHO) a more ergonomically superior footrest position ... the SF footpegs have to be set too far forward in order to enable the foot to operate the long gear lever efficiently - and fitting the short triple gear lever isn't the answer. You can get a lovely light gearchange with a little effort and a willingness to move out of the rivet-counting hemisphere.
 
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Morning GUY'S
I think the shifter lever to the foot peg is too close and I cannot get a good lift on my left foot.
I will reposition the footpeg so I can get under the lever more comfortably.
The pivot for the shift shaft is smooth as Glass with no binding at all. So I know that's not the issue .
When I figure this out I will update my post.
Thank you for all the Humor here in the reply's as You Guy's are very funny and I get a laugh every time to read posts.
 
What length is the gear pedal? SF pedals are much longer than 3C and are generally very easy on the foot regardless of where the foot-peg is adjusted, triple ones can be fitted if people want the peg further back or high on the serrations which can cause the the toe piece to be too far from the peg.
 
Tippie said:
What length is the gear pedal? SF pedals are much longer than 3C and are generally very easy on the foot regardless of where the foot-peg is adjusted, triple ones can be fitted if people want the peg further back or high on the serrations which can cause the the toe piece to be too far from the peg.
Click to expand...

There are 2 different lengths of SF selectors.
Paul
 
chrisk said:
Designed for the Italian and Dutch markets, one for leather shoes, one for clogs.
Click to expand...
I measured my current shift lever and it is 170 mm from the center of the spline hole to
the rubber tip, But now with the issue of engaging 2nd gear not very easily, I need to adjust the cam in the cover
to engage the throw for the shifter pawl, I thought I adjusted it by the factory manual, but it will not engage
2nd gear from the neutral position. so the throw is not rotating the shift drum properly. I tried this engine running and engine off
and have the same issue, not unless I pull the lever up by hand. that's never safe going down the street. So the saga continues.
Next I will try clog's
 
Question? Why did you adjust it? Once you start playing with it you open the can of worms we have seen on here many times before. Not that that's a bad thing - it really pays to get a handle on how to get it right.

There are other factors that can cause non-shifting. One is that the leg of the heavy spring can move inward and block the required travel of the shift mech. A large thin washer behind the spring can prevent this from happening. You should always ensure you have it shifting between ALL gears, up and down, while the small outer cover is off. Many owners set their eccentric screw for clean shifting between 4th and 5th. As I mentioned earlier, you must rotate the rear wheel back and forth while checking for shift.
 
Quick question, is there always a bit of up and down on the lever not controlled by the spring, I am talking 5mm. Do we call that freeplay or a problem? I have a gap on the lug; it's slightly narrower than the eccentric.
 
What I learned from Roger from OCT is, that if the shifting is not going as it should, very often the clutch cover needs to be re-adjusted. He said that you need to push it forward (in terms of in riding direction) and upwart and then fasten the bolts. That would give the gear selector drum the most possible free-play in most cases.
 
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I used to have to lever my old 3C cover forward whilst tightening it to make all the gears select. Took a bit of head scratching way back then.
 
Laverdalothar said:
What I learned from Roger from OCT is, that if the shifting is not going as it should, very often the clutch cover needs to be re-adjusted. He said that you need to push it forward (in terms of in riding direction) and upwart and then fasten the bolts. That would give the gear selector drum the most possible free-play in most cases.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, Lothar. I hadn't mentioned that. You can move the main selector cover before tightening so that the cog on the drum with the selector pins slides easily to mesh with minimal lash when it engages with cog inside the cases.
 
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