ST1300 Won't shift above 2nd gear

Parked Blue working fine. Got on Blue a couple days later and won't shift above second. Just nothing there. Feels just like trying to shift up from 5th gear. Please help.

Possibly the linkage ball joints are dry/corroded--see pic below for the lowest one (near oil filter on rear of engine)



There have been others reporting that same behavior and carefully lubing inside the rubber boot resolved it.

Thank you John!

That would be the most likely cause of your problems! Keep us posted on what you find.

I had this Exact same thing happen to me. I included lube on these ball joints part of my annual maintenance routine.

All greased up and shifting smoothly! Definitely adding to preventive maintenance schedule in the future.

Thank you guys!

Glad you got it sorted out and shifting good again.

I've got a fine point oiler.
Almost looks like a syringe.
Going to try and add a few drops of oil under the boot.

I had my local shop do it. They greased her good. Shifts like butter-snick. Fun on Old Maple Hill Road yesterday. Eastern Carolina's answer to Deals Gap. No switchbacks, no major elevation changes, just good clean esses, sweepers, and exiting straights. Best of the coastal flat-lands tour. Near Holland Shelter Fish Camp restaurant and Lane's Ferry Grille in Pender County black bear country.

Wow glad you got it fixed, now stay up on lubing that knuckle on that shifting linkage.

Just had the same thing. Fixed with same solution. Thanks for this and other threads about this. Mine started with finding it difficult to get neutral. This lasted for a while and then one day could only get first and second. Interestingly my 'Haynes' workshop manual says you first have to remove the exhaust to be able to remove the gear change pedal. Possibly because one of the nuts can be lined up with the exhaust on the right hand side. I could get to mine with a ratchet/socket set with an extender bar so did not have to remove the exhaust header pipes. Both the rubber boots on my gear change mechanism had splits in, so I replaced them both with new rubbers - which was fiddly. However, I filled the boots with ACF50 when I got them on, which I had seen recommended on other threads (no pun intended), and it all now works beautifully. Thanks for the helpful advice.

I had the same problem, only it would not shift to 3rd only when the bike was cold. Sprayed some lube on the knuckle and linkage and it went back to working perfectly. Thanks for the info!

Had the same problem this morning, thought something was bad wrong. Got on the forum and did my homework.
Two weeks ago did 350+ miles in the rain, which probably contributed to this. Had not ridden the bike since.
Lubed the hell out of the lower knuckle with waterproof lithium grease, fixed it right up.
My question is , what is the best way to get to the upper knuckle? I don't even see it but the bike is on the floor on the center stand, all body panels installed. TIA

Does the rubber boot pull off the knuckle? Then work it back on after lubing the knuckle?

Wow...never heard of this before. Just try to guess what just got added to the pre-Moonshine maintenance schedule.

No, you have to carefully pull the cover away enough to get the lube squirted in with whatever device you are using.

Blue4theRoad said:

I had my local shop do it. They greased her good. Shifts like butter-snick. Fun on Old Maple Hill Road yesterday. Eastern Carolina's answer to Deals Gap. No switchbacks, no major elevation changes, just good clean esses, sweepers, and exiting straights. Best of the coastal flat-lands tour. Near Holland Shelter Fish Camp restaurant and Lane's Ferry Grille in Pender County black bear country.

Click to expand...

Hmmm, may have to add that road to a ride I'm planned. No-one here rides like I do(read, they go 30 miles, call it a good ride...) So I figured I'd try to set up a nice 300-400 mile ride, to show them what they are missing. I was going to head toward Swan Quarter then follow the coastal road north through all the small fishing towns, but I see no reason I couldn't swing south first and try Old Maple Hill Rd, then head North back to my original route. I believe the route is actually listed as a scenic byway, and the small towns give the others a place to get off and stretch...... Got about 12 people interested, that will dwindle to about 3...........wussies...

Got up this morning to ride, and my starter wouldn't start. I have a steep driveway, so I bump-started it, started heading down the road, and couldn't shift above second. Looks like I need to get greasy! Last week, we had a significant rain storm, and I rode through some mountain-run-off, lots of dirty/deep water....so I suspect that (and a lack of knowing I needed to maintain this) was the reason.

.....now to research why my Starter isn't starting.