The gear lever RGS does not spring back

Garry

Garry

Junior member
Location
Eelde, Netherlands
Hello everyone, my gear lever no longer springs back. When I push the lever down, it stays there. I don’t have this problem as often when changing up. When the engine is warm, it works more smoothly, but even then it sometimes gets stuck.
I’m afraid I may have fitted the spring incorrectly during the restoration, or that it’s now broken.
I’ll unfortunately have to take the whole thing apart to be sure.
Does anyone have an example of how that spring should be fitted correctly?
 

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The Unibals are new. I’ve disconnected the Unibal, but the drive shaft itself won’t spring back into place anymore. I’ve got no choice but to take the whole thing apart.
 
If you have to exchange the spring, it is under the clutch, you have to remove it. But it is not a big issue. I once had to do it during my vacacion in Italy. I went to a Fiat garage where I could use their tools and made the exchange in two hours. The two springs of the gear seletor always are parts of my tool set!
 
It's only behind the clutch, annoying but no big deal. On an earlier bike the centreing spring is easier but the detent spring is a split-the-cases job.
Just check before embarking that there is nothing blocking anywhere, it's odd that it's intermittent.
If you had split the cases earlier...
One trick is that if you neglect to fit the pin to retain the selector fork shaft (via bearing bore of mainshaft), the fork shaft can walk out and block the selector mechanism, causing various intermittent shifting problems. That as well is a case-split to fix, though some have invented brackets to hold the shaft and avoid the proper fix.
 
Piet, I’ve taken the whole linkage rod apart and only moved part no. 68, but it won’t spring back anymore. I reckon the only thing left could be that the spring has broken.
I’ll take it apart soon. I don’t think it’ll be a difficult job, but it’ll take a lot of wrenching to get everything loose before I can get to the spring.
 
Garry said:
The Unibals are new. I’ve disconnected the Unibal, but the drive shaft itself won’t spring back into place anymore. I’ve got no choice but to take the whole thing apart.
Click to expand...

What a pain in the arse…. had a similar issue with a 180. Turned out to be some foreign bodies floating around. Long story …. and 99% sure it’s not relevant,
 
Don`t know about the 120`s , they could be whole different kaboodle as far as I know ........ but on the 180 I had , those springs were the second most un-reliable part of the bike ... ( aftermarket clutch cables married to pattern clutch levers taking the number one spot , with dead mouse CDI ignition coils making up the top three ) ............

I got into the habit of replacing them every 12,,000 miles or so , before they got the chance to think about breaking .... outsmart the little buggers , that`s the secret .

On the 180 , replacement is something you could do by the side of the road ... ( Zen stuffs Bocchi ) ... except for losing lots of oil if the bike`s upright ........

I always managed to get home when it happened by using just two gears ...... ( second and third ) .........
 
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rocketonarail said:
On the 180 , replacement is something you could do by the side of the road ... ( Zen stuffs Bocchi ) ... except for losing lots of oil if the bike`s upright ........

I always managed to get home when it happened by using just two gears ...... ( second and third ) .........
Click to expand...
I've ridden hundreds of miles with a fractured spring, on my 180 . You can get all the gears, Tony, though neutral is a pain. Trick is, after you've changed up, light tap the lever down a touch before the next upchange. Vice versa, on the downchanges.
 
1000 3C said:
My 1975 180 has been having the same problem for a while. And yes mine needs a lite tap in the opposite direction after shifting.
Click to expand...
Does it spring-centre at all? Gotta differentiate between a broken spring and some mechanical or alignment problem which is so easy to do in the complicated 180 system with the vagaries of the mechanism traversing through a seperate cover that is not even dowelled in place.
The 120 system is infinitely superior and much less prone to issues of adjustment.
 
I think I’ve found the problem.
Another odd one, though…🤔
When it’s cold, it won’t spring back. But when the engine’s warm, it does!
I now suspect the seal on the gearshift shaft.
When the engine is warm, I reckon this seal is more supple. When it’s warm, the shift lever works perfectly well and springs up and down nicely.
I replaced this seal when I’d taken the left side off to fit a new primary chain and replace the clutch rubbers.
In my opinion, you can’t go far wrong when fitting this seal🙃
Does that sound logical?
 
Garry said:
I think I’ve found the problem.
Another odd one, though…🤔
When it’s cold, it won’t spring back. But when the engine’s warm, it does!
I now suspect the seal on the gearshift shaft.
When the engine is warm, I reckon this seal is more supple. When it’s warm, the shift lever works perfectly well and springs up and down nicely.
I replaced this seal when I’d taken the left side off to fit a new primary chain and replace the clutch rubbers.
In my opinion, you can’t go far wrong when fitting this seal🙃
Does that sound logical?
Click to expand...

“Replaced this seal” with a new one?

As the walrus said, I like a tight seal…..
 
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