Hi gang,

I took a mild fall on the left side of the bike (not unlike many other "get offs") and to my surprise broke the shifter shaft right at the case.

I was relieved to find an old post here that assured me that I did not have to split the case to replace the shift shaft assembly! (For reference - https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...r-shaft-32762/ )

Upon opening up the shifter cover, I found that the pin, that the springs used to return the shifter to center when you take your boot off the shift lever, got bent upward by the falling force upward on the shift lever too.

My question - with the durability history of the Shift Star, should I replace it while I am replacing the shift shaft assembly and pin, in case if was weakened or damaged by the upward force that broke the shaft also bent the spring pin?

The broken shift shaft did leave me stranded 29 miles from Ellensburg on Umtanum Ridge so I would hate to risk a damaged shift star strand me again - not a nice feeling!

TIA,
TC

 

I would replace any parts in question just to be sure. But that's just me.

 

The older shift stars didn't have a durability problem. It was their shape that caused a shifting problem.

Ride on
Brewster

 

I think I recall hearing that the newer models (2012+?) are using the old design again - but I'm not sure.

It's cheap and easy to replace, the worst case scenario is that OP will have a spare.

 

When you pull that shaft out, with your finger, roll that outer shaft bearing around feeling for a notch or flat spot. The bearing may have been stressed enough to dent. Had enough stress to break the shaft. Unlikely, but I have seen this happen before. If so, your seal will wear and may start to leak sooner than it should. Just something to check while your at it.

 

Thanks for the pointers guys!

According to the Sticky on the Shift Star, i am pretty confident the 2012 had the strong star design when it left the Kawi mothership. It is the stress or force sufficient to break the shifter shaft (Werloc mentions regarding the bearing) that may have been imposed on the shift star too that is the unknown for me. The star looks fine but I wouldn't see stress or fatigue so I think I will replace it while I am in here just for the Peace of Mind.

Thanks for helping me work through the thought process, your points are all valid!

Thanks again!
TC

 

Oh, i think I will also reinstall the factory shift lever. The longer MSR shift lever I used did not bend at all in the crash that broke the shifter shaft.

I think I would rather be adding to the list of guys posting about the cheap shifter bending like a pretzel, than breaking another shifter shaft... I can ride off Untanum Ridge with a pretzel-shaped shifter!
TC

 

Hey guys,

I finally received all my parts and replaced the shift shaft assembly (complete), the return spring pin (which was bent), and the shift star (just in case).

No first gear! The visual alignment of the whole shift shaft assembly looks like the new return spring pin is causing the mechanism to be biased towards the "upshift" direction.

Has anyone had to finesse or tweak a new return spring pin to get first back?

TIA,
TC

 

Oh, and all six gears could be manually selected by turning the shift star and rocking the counter shaft...

TC

 

You've probably done this already, but make sure you have everything in there correctly. Been awhile but it seems like there was a collared washer that needed to fit just right. The whole works could be re assembled with that washer in the wrong location.