I'm purchasing an '86 and the owner says that you cant get it into neutral. He says it shifts normally through the rest of the gears though. Any ideas what to look for and replace?

 

The clutch may NOT be dissengaging all the way, which will make it hard to get into neutral. Even the other gears engage fine, it still MAY be the problem.

 

If its not going into neutral thats completely clutch no tranny involved. It prolly just needs adjusting or some new plates and springs. No big deal at all.

 

Well this sounds encouraging! Hopefully the engine just needs a top end too, that would be nice and cheap too! Thanks for your help, Aaron.

 

I picked up the quad last night and I'm just not seeing how having no neutral gear can be caused by the clutch. Its like its not even there. The '86 has 1 down and 4 up. If I go up 1 while in 1st I should find neutral but it pops right into 2nd (its a smoothe transition). The tranny sounds pretty bad (its not running, I'm observing this by just pushing it in gear), kind of grindy sounding. If I'm missing something please fill me in, I really dont know much about it yet. I got a Clymer manual with the quad and will be doing a tear down pretty soon.

 

Tear it down, and see if anything is broken or bent in it. Take the shift fork shafts, and roll them on a flat piece of glass, if it clanks, then it is bent. Also, make sure the gears are not missing teeth, and make sure the shift forks aern't bent either. These may be causing the problems. Aslo, the Clymer manuals have a lot of useful tips when tearing down and installing the engine/ transmission. Hope this helps.

 

Ok, I just thought I would fill everyone in on what the problem was in case somebody inadvertantly does the same thing. Whom ever was working in the tranny before I got a hold of the quad had installed the stopper plate upside down on the bottom of the shift drum. When installed in this manner in essentially turns the stopper plate 180 degrees. If you look at the stopper plate neutral has a special valley in it that locks in between 1st and 2nd gear, if its 180* you cant access this area. Flip it over an everything is fine. With it backwards it will still shift from 1st to 5th like normal, there just isnt a way to get it in to neutral.

Everything works fine now in the tranny at least. I'm waiting on a few parts (primary drive, balancer, and water pump driven) and a right side crankcase and then will be reassembling. Thanks again for the help, Aaron.