+1 Just loosening the bolt will not allow the shifter to slide off the shaft. The bolt must be completely taken out. There is a groove around the shaft that the bolt passes through.
Dan

 

I had never thought of that!

Will do that tomorrow morning...

Going on a bit of a road trip if the weather is nice... 440km each way.

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Mine hits neutral sometimes between 1st and 2nd - or pops out of 2nd right after I shift. You just have to make deliberate shifts, no half-assing it. Now that I'm used to it, I hardly ever miss a shift.

Maybe the old shift star will make things better, I don't know. For now, I'm ok with it.

 

I remember my little 2-stroke 80cc dirt bike.. I'd never miss a shift on it.

But that was years ago...

I'll let you guys know if simply adjusting it down a notch or two does the trick.

 

This is my first kawi since my 1978 KE125. I've been riding several Hondas for decades.

The KLX is not a nice shifting transmission. It sort of sucks. Little things like coasting to a stop from 4th gear and then trying to click down to first it will get the trans stuck until you let the clutch out. Don't expect perfection and do expect to have to make deliberate shifts.

It's fine and works okay but it is not quite "right".

 

My KLX now shifts better (09 with the star replaced) than my Honda CB919. The KLX no longer gets stuck from high gears when coasting down, but, the CB sure does. It's no big problem to just let the clutch out a bit, then resume downshifting. But, I can't remember any of my bikes not having this characteristic at times...except for the Hardley's I've owned.

Oh, you know, my KLR650 doesn't do this either...but, it's clutch sort of drags a bit...maybe that's the key. If the clutches aren't perfectly released when pulled in, it makes sense that there is always some input to the transmission, which allows everything to rotate into place more easily.

 

Since the clutch only disengages the trans from the crankshaft, the trans is always spinning so long as the bike is moving unless you somehow slide a shift fork between gears and then only the driven side would be spinning.

Maybe the old shift star would help with the coast down shifting. I've had to start out in a real high gear because of this issue coupled with stoplight timing.