Haven't heard of this one before (on a LS650 anyway)..... but you do have the first model year.....

On other bikes I would check the splines on the gear shifter shaft to make sure they aren't stripped and that the shifter linkage is clamped on to the shaft tightly.  Maybe have someone shift while you watch real closely.

Beyond that, check to see if there is any elongation of the openings/holes that fthe shaft goes thru.

Thanks. It is definetly not the shifter. For some reason the teeth inside the shifter case are coming out of line. I guess I will have a dig in the manual and see what I can find.

Thanks!

It seems that my wifes 87 has developed this same issue. In the next few weeks i'll be digging into the tranny to see what the problem seems to be. I've already done the external investigating and it is not an external problem.

Well, until S-Clay and now this one, i've not heard of it at all. My wifes bike has very low milage and she doesn't beat on it either. I dunno, at any rate, when the motor comes apart I will keep a journal of events and intensive pics. I hope to get to her bike around the end of the month. Once it's done or if I problems, i'll repost at the time with updates...

Anyone know of a good step by step outline to repairing/replacing the transmission on an 86? 4 speed.

Ok I am fixed. Didnt have to get inside to the tranny at all. Turned out being the teeth on the shifting rod.  I do still need a timing plug if anyone has one!

Ok, i've got the wifes thumper shifting again. Her's was not as easy as a stripped shaft. I ended up pulling the whole shift shaft assembly apart for a better inspection of the problem. First of all, be patient when going this route.

When I got the shift shaft exposed I found every thing to be what seemed to me to be loose. After playing with the shifter for a bit I relized that the shoulder bolt that holds the cam driven gear had backed it self out. After tightening it back up everything worked as it was meant to.After further inspection it turns out that there wasn't any loctite on the shoulder bolt. Be sure to reassemble with #271 Red loctite.

WHile I had everything apart I went ahead and disassembled everything to inspect it for worn parts. Everything seemed in order so, time to reassemble. A word of caution, when you do this be sure to take a cup of patience with you. The pawls and springs and pins are a pain in the uh huh to reasssemble. Deep breath then do it again. Thank goodness my wife has learned to be patient with me when working with such things.

Getting to everything wasn't as hateful as I antisapated anyou d if look where i'm pointing to, that is the shoulder bolt that had worked itself loose....I hope this helps others with a similar problem. I'll try to do a write up and procedure for this later.