I can hear the shift motor try to shift to reverse. It just can't. I tried the emergency foot shifter and it won't either. Is there some adjustment that needs to be made? Occasionally it will shift, but very occasionally. TIA

Tschatt

 

Correction, the issue is most dominant going to reverse, but happens occasionally on all down shifts.

 

Ok, additional information now. If I remove the shift motor, the foot shifter works just fine. I have taken apart the shift motor and cleaned it up (some debris from brush dust/etc). Reinstalled and same issue.

 

Sorry but your symptoms are all over the place. Firstly, the reverse is stopped from operating by a lever inside the engine. The handbrake lever with red button is pulled to disengage the stopper lever via a cable. On ES models there is also a switch worked by this stopper lever so reverse won't work electronically until the stopper is disengaged. A badly adjusted cable or faulty switch will both stop reverse from working but the bike won't try to change. The downshift button can get intermittent causing problems with downshifting, but again, it won't try to, because the switch hasn't signalled anything. If it won't change on the emergency lever there is a selector problem inside the box. 350s were prone to this and cracked or broken components in the clutch housing were once common. I have also had two where the shaft that the selector forks slide on had broken through the case and wobbled about. with these mechanical faults it will try to change but jams up. Finally, the once common "faulty angle sensor", may stop the gearchange partway through. I would make sure the cable is adjusted properly. Then check if it really does try to change, but fails to. If it does and you are sure the motor is OK, then try a new angle sensor, if that doesn't work, the problem will be with the mechanical mechanism.

 

Merryman,

Let me summarize everything. Since the shift motor is engaging when I attempt to downshift, I don't think the problem is in the angle sensor or the reverse lever since both of these conditions would keep the shift motor from receiving power, right? I am getting the downshift issue at various times on all gears now (shift motor running, but not completing the shift... -- on dash and shift sounds like a lug and not a "clank"). When I have the issue with the shift motor not being able to down shift, I also cannot foot shift the transmission to downshift either. If I physically remove the shift motor from the machine, the foot shift works 100% of the time and sounds clean on the shift. I have cleaned the shift motor armature/bushings and no change in the actions. Hopefully I summarized everything more clearly.

 

It can be the angle sensor as this is there to stop the motor when the selector has moved far enough for the change to have happened. If it senses too early it will stop the change partway through. However your problem with shifting by the emergency lever indicates a mechanical fault, but I don't see how removing the motor would make any difference, though it does make manual changes easier,. Normally you are spinning the motor the wrong way through the reduction gearbox when using the emergency lever, which makes the movement slow and stiff. Check the reduction box, on rare occasions I have had gear teeth brake off in there, but it looks like you are going to have to remove the clutch cover and check the mechanism inside. One point I forgot to mention earlier is the star wheel coming loose, this is another common problem inside the clutch housing.

 

Honda ATV 2001 OEM Parts Diagram for Gearshift Fork | Partzilla.com

 

Photo number 7 is stopper arm Honda had recall on this item in all 2000 and 2001 model the arm would crack from power shifting an would make shift pattern wider causing the shift drum star not rotating enough to select the next gear shift also photo 10 gear shift plate would crack also making a wider shift pattern you can detect this if hard to get to take gears with hand backup shifter.Also honda has sorry lube they use to lube the reduction gear inside shift motor cover which causes sticking motion this sound like could be your issue I would remove the electric shift motor and the reduction gear clean and relube I make my own I take grease and gear oil put in wd40 cap an blend it together then put on the gears an reassemble the gear oil will keep the grease wet and deluted helping to lube the gears while shifting

 

Never had a problem with arm 7. Had a lot with cracked or broken 15 and 10, also that bolt 25 coming loose. Rod 4 is the one that breaks through the case that it sits in.

 

@merryman , I have some additional insight. I left the foot shifter attached to the peg while diagnosing the issue and it shared some insight. When the unit fails to shift correctly, the foot lever goes all the way down but does not return to the original position. After it goes all the way down, it slowly returns to partially retracted state. Sort of like the return spring cannot pull it all the way back (I don't know if there is a spring or what does the return effort). When it is in this state and I remove the shift motor, the shift lever pops back to the original position. I am guessing that I have too much friction in the shifting reduction gears, so I am going to pull them and apply some fresh white lithium grease. Hopefully this provides some additional insight. This has been one heck of a machine for 20+ years and I want to keep it going.

Thomas