OK, I finally got a free afternoon, had the parts, and thought I'd take a run at it. The last couple of months, I've been riding a bike to work (it's close and southern California weather is pretty good) and I've been working six to seven days per week. Anyway, I didn't get started until around 3:30pm which I was worried was not enough time.
I couldn't figure out how to remove the pin from the shifter connection up by the gas tank (where the forward and rear shift rod meet), nor was it clear how to best remove the pin from the cup. So I did neither. I simply dropped the brace which holds the shift rod bushing so I could remove the shift lever ball. Once I dropped the cup, it was apparent
exactly what had happened. Take a look:
As you can see, the plastic supports failed, allowing the ball to be pushed up. I suspect the failure was not as immediate as it felt. It's never been easy to shift, which leads me to suspect that this was an earlier failure that was incremental, and then finally, catastrophic.
Took me about two hours to remove the old shift lever ball and replace the two boots, then put it back together. The original cup didn't seem like it had any obvious wear points, so I risked leaving it in. I still have the replacement, and we'll maybe try that sometime in the next couple of months when I go back in for some other shifter stuff I need to check. Another nod, then, to Colin for giving me the training and self-confidence to attempt this late on a Sunday afternoon.
The shifting isn't perfect, but then I did very little. I still need to adjust the shifter plate up front (I moved it when this problem first appeared, hoping that was the issue ~ it follows that the shift plate is not in the optimal position). I also need to check the front shifter alignment guides. Apparently they wear down over time, and I have no idea what mine look like.
I've also been spending some time on my other project: bring this little beauty back to life for my daily rider to/from work...
Enjoy the week all,
ML