Well,
I pulled off the clutch side cover, and was able to see what the shift lever problem is....my shift shaft is cracked! I can only see a certain area since the clutch basket cannot be removed with only the small side cover off, but I can clearly see that the shift shaft is cracked. I know the ratchet is working because I can shift the gears with it, bypassing the shift lever.
It appears to me that the design of the shift shaft is hollow then rides on a pin of sorts in a recessed area inside the case. I will have to be able to drop the motor down and forward some in order to pull off the left side of the engine so I can get the clutch basket out and remove the shift shaft weldment...that is what it is called in the parts manual....
I have to find out Monday what the price is going to be on the part, still debating whether or not to just fix it myself since I could just drop the motor and adjust my valves while I was at it. I am sure the shift shaft weldment would be covered under warranty, can't imagine Cannondale wouldn't take care of it since I wasn't abusing the quad, just riding it hard. The only reason I wouldn't bother warrantying the part/labor would be for peace of mind that for sure the valve adjustment would actually be performed, don't trust the local dealer to actually take the time to drop the motor to do the valves, just seems like a job they could "say" they did and the average owner would never know any different....call it paranoid.
Any opinions would be appreciated, sorry for the lengthy post, but this could help someone in the future..........JIM

 

Jim, Try to get more info. from Cannondale on this. Is it a common problem etc.? I finally got my bike back together, I also got some piggyback Ohlins on the front. I'll send you some pics of the Houser with the stainless tie rods and 400ex ends.

 

Here is a link to the pdf parts manual. The part that is broken is number 7, "shift shaft weldment". It's under the area of TRANS CART PLATE, FRONT........JIM shift shaft weldment PN 5000340

 

Jim, glad to hear it isn't anything major. I can totally understand your lack of trust in your dealer, I know you've spoken of their lack of knowledge before. Just in talking to my local Dale dealer I don't have much trust in them either. All maintenance will have to be done by me.

 

Thanks, Guy....
Keep in mind that I am looking into the side and having to look past the clutch basket; which is still in place, but I can definitely see a crack in the shift shaft. I am not sure if there is more to it, but since I can shift through the gears using the ratchet, I am hoping/guessing that this is it.
I'll be the first to admit that tearing everything off to drop the motor is going to be a pain in the rear that I am dreading, but if the shift shaft turns out to be the end of this problem, I can justify the trouble as having to adjust the valves anyway.
Thanks for your replies, hopefully a Cannondale tech can reply with some insight........JIM

 

<< Jim, Try to get more info. from Cannondale on this. Is it a common problem etc.? I finally got my bike back together, I also got some piggyback Ohlins on the front. I'll send you some pics of the Houser with the stainless tie rods and 400ex ends. >>



Jamie, looking forward to your pics of the front end........JIM

 

Well, spent a few hours dropping the motor today and removed the broken shift shaft weldment. I was under the impression it was a hollow shaft, but it isn't. It must be brittle for a solid shaft to break like it did, nice diagonal crack clean through it. I ordered the parts today and hope to have them back in time to race next weekend, but who knows......just an update, and let me tell you that dropping the motor was not as bad as I thought, even those pesky exhaust header nuts weren't bad to get to, just use a 12 point socket on 3 of them, then a wrench on the last one...........JIM

 

Jim, maybe you should delete this thread before our young Floridian friend sees it and cries foul on Cannondale! Next thing you know there'll be rumors of chronic snapping shift shafts (say that one ten times fast)[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Good to hear the motor wasn't hard to drop, the pics of the process on R&amp;S's webpage don't look that bad.

 

Guy,
LOL....Corndog has some nerve, here I have a quad still under warranty and decide to waive it and do the work myself just because I know it is something that can happen in a racing enviroment. The part is only about 70.00 and the time is chalked up to good hands on experience.
The worst parts of prepping to remove the motor was the battery removal....lol...that thing was stubborn to come out of it's tray. The rest was pretty easy, only removed the pivot bolt out enough to remove the motor, yet still hold up the swingarm. Kyle at R&amp;S Performance was a big help on the phone and even offered to just have me send him my motor and let him do the work and adjust the valves too while he had it. I figured I would just do it myself and know that ANY maintenance on the Speed from here out is going to be easy compared to this task....: ) JIM

 

Well done Jim! It takes some nerve to rip your high tech quad apart like that [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Of course we'll all be more impressed when you get it back together [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] Please post on the valve adjustment too. I'm really overdue and can see my turn coming! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]