sticken transmission

[tomale]

Terry and I took the MC 400 out today to sort out any problems and we found a few.... most of which are easliy taken care of but the transmisson keeps sticking in third gear. It does seem to shift a bit hard but when I go to down shift to 2nd it won't, the lever sticks, after fiddling with it for awhile I am able to get it out but everyonce in awhile it will stick. I notice too when it is stuck that if I try to shift up with the clutch in, I hear gears grinding. I wonder do I have a problem with a syncro's or is the shift forks out of adjustment? I noticed on the back of the motor below the swing arm is a round shaft thing that sticks out maybe a half inch with two small holed in it like it was meant to be turned with a special too, what is that and does it have anything to do with adjusting the transmission. thanks I am totally stumped on this one.
I have to leave for awhile but I will be back later and if you have any questions or ideas I will read them then.
It would be nice to know since I had planned to race it this saturday at the WORCS race in Longview WA. I may have to ride the 250 instead....
Thanks again.

Thom Green,I own and ride a 76 250 MC5 MX which I bought new.

[Rocket]

Don't remove the odd looking bolt, that is the kickstarted stop bolt.  If you do, you will be splitting the cases and rewinding the spring.  As far as the shifting problem, possibility of a bent shift fork??  Motorcycle transmissions don't have syncro's, I believe they are constant mesh.
Rocket

[tomale]

Thanks I had not planned to do any thing until I know what it is. The bent shift fork sounds prossible to me too. I am rather gun shy when it comes to motocycle transmissions. The last set of cases I split was on a radial head maico. I broke three transmissions in three races. After that I really did not care to open them up again. To be fair though, I have it on good authority that a Maico transmission is difficult to work on because the tolerances are so critical. Which is something I did not pay any attention to when I fixed it. The guy that ended up with the bike after me fixed it and he rode it for a number of years with out a problem.
If the problem with mine is a bent shift fork then it sounds like splitting the cases is the only way to fix the problem. And from your response it appears that there are no exterior adjustments to be made so I will need to find someone to help me split the cases.... thanks for the help.

Thom Green,I own and ride a 76 250 MC5 MX which I bought new.

[Rain Man]

almost sounds like your shifting bracket could have a broken spring or its bent or broke. The bracket shifts the tumbler that moves the forks inside the transmission. Wish I had prints here, could possibly suggest more ...
Raymond

[tomale]

Hmmm,
Thanks Rainman
I was thinking about it and was wonder if I would even know whether I could tell if something is wrong. How would I know if it is a bent shift fork or something. The broken spring... that I think I could tell. Well it looks to me that I will have to split the cases... bummer.
I have several manuals that cover the subject well but it is still hard to know at times what you are looking at..

Thom Green,I own and ride a 76 250 MC5 MX which I bought new.

[Rain Man]

to bad your 3000 miles away,  good thing is, I've always been a great bench mechanic!!  Id seriously look at that shifting mechanism befor yarding the whole engine apart!  maybe, just maybe its the shifting mechanism, look for shiny metal or cracks. theres always some tell tale sign, metal in your oil, try to shift it without the engine running and see if it goes in and out of that gear easy,
Raymond

[tomale]

Ray,
Wouldn't I have to split the cases to do that? I guess I can take the clutch cover off and give a look see. I did drain the oil and I saw nothing of any metal flakes. but removing the clutch cover may be more revealing. It's a good place to start. Thanks I will do that as soon as I get back from  the race tomorrow. It is late and I should be in bed Got to get up in 5 hours. It never fails I alway get to bed the night before a race around midnight.
Thanks for all your help

Thom Green,I own and ride a 76 250 MC5 MX which I bought new.

[Rocket]

You will have to split the cases to get to the shifting quadrant.  KTM motors are very easy to work on, especially if you are doing just transmission work.  Just be gentle splitting and reassembling.
Rocket

[tomale]

Thanks Rocket and Rainman, will I need to remove clutch basket to remove the shifting assembly? I have been looking at the book but could not tell if that was necessary or not. If it is a spring are such things available? I have never had to split the cases to replace parts on a old bike and so I am not sure. The last time I had spilt the cases  on a bike thhe bike was only a year old and so parts were available. not sure about now. I have not heard much about availabilty for transmisson stuff on the KTM motors.

Thom Green,I own and ride a 76 250 MC5 MX which I bought new.