The stub from my bike was directly behind the cover, and almost fell out when I took the cover off. That's the best case.

Someone else's transmission ate the pin and ground it to bits (that were fished out with a magnet). Although the bike reportedly worked fine afterward...it looked ugly and almost certainly did some damage. That's about the worst case.

In the middle, yet someone else had the pin lodged underneath part of the shift mechanism. Just a little harder to find, but no further damage.

 

Got lucky and was able to fish out the broken piece with one of them antenna magnets. Ground down the '06-07 design shift star like the '09 shape so it would have the same shifting action. Bike shifts just like normal. Great thread

 

I just pulled apart my 09, which I bought in July of 08, and it has the "bad" star in it. I guess I will go ahead and change it for the older better design and carry the new crappy one as a spare.

 

As light as you pack to ride, you're going to carry a spare star with you? I'm beginning to wonder ...

 

As industrious as you are...you might be well served to modify your replacement star to match the profile of the stock part, so as to ensure no change in shift quality.

 

Uh oh, I bought mine ('09) July '08 also. Dang.

 

I thought the early 09s might be ok. I am trying to reach McNutt to see if he still has the extra one he bought

 

Is there a difference in how the bike shifts with the 06/07 star installed?

 

Ya I thought of that, but then I got a bit paranoid thinking of using my bike like a wheel barrow for a hundred miles, or hiking in riding boots or bare feet....

 

To be honest, I can't say for certain. I didn't have anything close to a back-to-back comparison. Several months elapsed between the end of my regular riding season and when I actually replaced my broken shift star; I actually broke my star on a one-off winter ride.

That said, I tend to think that I miss 1-2 or 2-1 shifts more often now than I did prior to busting/replacing my shift star - that is to say, I 'find' neutral more often than I want to. But that might be placebo effect... or it might be a bent travel limiting stud in the shift linkage (others have bent that stud so badly that they could not downshift into first)... or it might be due to the slightly wider peaks on either side of the neutral detent position in the 06/07 star versus the 09+ (see the side by side pics at the start of the thread)... or maybe it's a combination of the above. I've just got no data to support it.

Other than the 1-N-2 area of the shift pattern, I've never had issues with either part. Whatever the case, I don't think the '09 profile is worse than the 06/07, and odds are that it's an improvement.