we have an 04.5 sportsman that we use for transportation up at the lake. bike has been great for the 3 summers we've owned it.

the problem is its near impossible to shift, both when running and not.

it is the single shift rod type with park, lever simply bolts to pivot on end of shift rod that goes back to the trans. those pivots are both fine..

probable causes my dad and I have thought up:
-milky oil due to being parked in a tent garage.
-some type of internal damage.
-sticky bushing of some sort.

is there some part of shift linkage that isn't soaked in the trans/ diff fluid?
is there some type of common problem with the newer sportsman shifter setups?

help much appreciated. Thanks

 

Might wanna check for a possible broken motor mount..

John

 

Had problems on this type transmission with shift gears behind the gear selector cover. This area is packed in grease from the factory,but I've seen them dry and rusted from water.Might want to take a look for any gear damage behind this cover. Item #3. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

To add to OPT's suggestion, if water gets behind that selector cover it could also possibly freeze and prevent shifter from moving..I see you are from Canada..Is machine stored outdoors in very cold temps...If so if you could get it to a heated garage possibly or carefully use a heatgun in that area to try to melt any ice ..Use caution of course...

 

I figured there was some type of linkage drenched in grease under there. machine isn't in the best of shape. was a dirt cheap fixer upper and luckily its ran great. perhaps grease is all milky and NFG for the purpose of a lubricant if its there at all. moisture freezing is reasonable as it was worse when real cold out. and not so bad now that we've had a few nice days, and used it some. will take a look, its bloody damp in those tent garages on a decent day. my dad is a former car mechanic that now is a forklift mechanic so we have tools and knowledge just need guidance on what could be the matter, just like this

thanks gentlemen

 

simply sprayed the linkage down with penetrating oil last week, and used it today and it was much better. maybe the seal where the linkage enters the cover was tight on the linkage for some reason. didn't even pull the cover but will get around to it as its still stiff into park, but if that grease or the oil in the rearend is all milky the warmer temp would've helped. the diff fluid was milky when we changed all fluids when we bought er'. will do again.

thanks for the suggestions. gotta fix our 05 KQ 700 first, she ended up with a leaky valve.