I have a 94 Timberwolf 2 wheel drive, the trans goes in foward fine, but when I shift in reverse, the gears grind and will not engage. I have tried to adjust selection lever to no avail, sounds like a spring or shifter fork is gone. Anybody have a similar problem and can this be fixed by accessing trans through one side or the other, without removing engine?

 

If you are sure you tried all the adjustments first... you can take take off the middle gear case. The middle gear case on the left hand side of the motor and has Forward and Reverse located inside of it. I have not worked on a Timberwolf before but I have worked on many Yamaha shaft drive motorcycles and most of them allow you to remove the middle gear case in-frame. I would pick up a shop manual if you can.. but here are some things I saw looking on bikebandit.com's parts images. It looks like there are 4 outside bolts holding the middle gear case to the motor but the rear seal/bearing housing is bolted to both the motor and the gear case. They would be hiding behind the rubber boot. You might be able to sneak a wrench in there.. or else it might be faster to just remove the whole rear-end and swingarm as one big unit. It might seem like a lot of work but its just 2 pivot bolts, shock mounts and brake lines. Once again, the shop manual would say what all needs to be done to remove the part easy. Once its out you can check out the shift fork and the dogs.



Here is a picture i found on ebay of a removed middle gear case:

 

Hey, thanks for the pics and info. Since I posted, I have looked at parts break downs and I'm pretty sure the teeth (4 large) on the reverse side of sliding clutch dog are gone. I know my universal is gone too, looks like Yamaha thinks they are special too, $$60.00 or more!!!!! However, I think it will be easier than I thought to repair, as the housing and bearing assembly will come out as one unit as you described, my rubber boot is gone too, so I get rebuild the lower end so my daughters can return to riding the p out it. Thanks again