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Michael
I read an excellent article by Mark Frost on Mike Martin's website, documenting problems that Mark had encountered with his shifter assembly. Based on what I read, I decided to take the shifter assembly off my moto (2001 ST1100A) and have a look.
Sure enough, I had the same problems that Mark described - bone-dry bushings and linkages, considerable abrasion and fretting due to the lack of lubricant, and tons of crud (road grime)inside places where it should not be.
Mark's original article is here: Shifter-Tune-Up. I won't repeat what he has written, because he did a good job the first time around.
I have posted some pictures below that might make his original write-up easier to follow (Adam subsequently added my photos to the original Mike Martin article). It is not difficult to remove the shifter assembly - you will need two 12 mm box end wrenches to remove the bolt and nut on the left side of the bike (sockets won't fit in there, and you can reasonably expect the bolt and nut to be corroded and difficult to remove). The connection to the transmission comes off easily with a 10 mm socket. It is simplest to remove the transmission connection first - with a helper pushing down on the shifter, to make access to the bolt easiest - then remove the pivot bolt second.
No recalibration of the linkage is needed, you just clean everything, lubricate everything (I used the Honda Moly 60 paste everywhere), then put it back together.
Shifter Assembly - the bolt I am holding onto was badly corroded. The other bolt that needs to be removed to drop the assembly off the bike is at the far left.
Close-up of components that need lubrication
Michael
Sure enough, I had the same problems that Mark described - bone-dry bushings and linkages, considerable abrasion and fretting due to the lack of lubricant, and tons of crud (road grime)inside places where it should not be.
Mark's original article is here: Shifter-Tune-Up. I won't repeat what he has written, because he did a good job the first time around.
I have posted some pictures below that might make his original write-up easier to follow (Adam subsequently added my photos to the original Mike Martin article). It is not difficult to remove the shifter assembly - you will need two 12 mm box end wrenches to remove the bolt and nut on the left side of the bike (sockets won't fit in there, and you can reasonably expect the bolt and nut to be corroded and difficult to remove). The connection to the transmission comes off easily with a 10 mm socket. It is simplest to remove the transmission connection first - with a helper pushing down on the shifter, to make access to the bolt easiest - then remove the pivot bolt second.
No recalibration of the linkage is needed, you just clean everything, lubricate everything (I used the Honda Moly 60 paste everywhere), then put it back together.
Shifter Assembly - the bolt I am holding onto was badly corroded. The other bolt that needs to be removed to drop the assembly off the bike is at the far left.
Close-up of components that need lubrication
Michael
