I took the beast apart and here's what I did. First drain the oil, then take off the chrome cover and you'll see this shift cover: Take off the linkage (10 mm bolt) and let it hang. The star gear and detent arm are in the neutral position as seen in photo #2
Take out the 5 bolts 8mm head, they're all the same. Pull off the cover and shaft and you'll see this.
Remove the 10 mm bolt that holds the arm, and take out the spring
Either replace the spring with one from Factory pro or do as I did. I squashed a spacer on the end of the straight part of the spring to act as a spacer. Crimp it real good. It can't go anywhere once assembled anyway.
Put it back together. It takes a little while to figure out how to hold the spring just so you can get it back in there. I used a flat blade screwdriver, and a needle nose pliers.There are several thin washers that must go back in the same place you found them. A little wriggling and bending and you have this: You can see the end of the spring is now 2-3 mm away from the case, putting a preload on it. I couldn't get it back together until I took out the spring and hooked the J part over the arm, pushed the bolt through, and pushed it all in there as a unit, putting pressure on the end of the bolt, and easing the spring in with a screwdriver. This is the hardest part, I struggled with it for 15 minutes.
Then this:
There is a thin washer on the inside of the arm, very important so it does not bind.
Assemble the detent mechanism without the case, 2 thin washers to watch out for, one sticks to the case when you pull out the shaft, the other is the first thing on the shaft. It fits into the 1/2 inch hole in the case, can't miss it. I hooked up the shift linkage without the case to make sure it shifted before I bolted it on. I used a flat bladed screwdriver the spread the "legs" of the big detent spring, they go on either side of the fixed peg.
Now just push the case back on and tighten the 5 bolts. My gasket looked fine and did not leak. Hook up your linkage pointing straight down. Use locktite on the 10 mm bolt.
Please use blue locktite on all the bolts! Did I mention Locktite? I used a 1/4 in ratchet with a short handle so I can't strip the bolts. Add oil and go for a ride.
Mine shifts much better now, especially from 2nd to neutral or first, no more bang/clang sound. I can downshift into first at 20-25 mph, snick, snick. It was hit and miss before. I went from 2nd to neutral at 30 mph, silence. Before it would clang into neutral as it was eating my shifting dogs. Too much of this will bend a shift fork (inside the cases) if you get unlucky.
I only have 4100 miles on mine, so I hope I fixed it before too much wear occurred. This works for me, I hope it helps you too. I did something similar on my 1500 Intruder and rode it for 5 years after, so I'm confident in this fix.
Take out the 5 bolts 8mm head, they're all the same. Pull off the cover and shaft and you'll see this.
Remove the 10 mm bolt that holds the arm, and take out the spring
Either replace the spring with one from Factory pro or do as I did. I squashed a spacer on the end of the straight part of the spring to act as a spacer. Crimp it real good. It can't go anywhere once assembled anyway.
Put it back together. It takes a little while to figure out how to hold the spring just so you can get it back in there. I used a flat blade screwdriver, and a needle nose pliers.There are several thin washers that must go back in the same place you found them. A little wriggling and bending and you have this: You can see the end of the spring is now 2-3 mm away from the case, putting a preload on it. I couldn't get it back together until I took out the spring and hooked the J part over the arm, pushed the bolt through, and pushed it all in there as a unit, putting pressure on the end of the bolt, and easing the spring in with a screwdriver. This is the hardest part, I struggled with it for 15 minutes.
Then this:
There is a thin washer on the inside of the arm, very important so it does not bind.
Assemble the detent mechanism without the case, 2 thin washers to watch out for, one sticks to the case when you pull out the shaft, the other is the first thing on the shaft. It fits into the 1/2 inch hole in the case, can't miss it. I hooked up the shift linkage without the case to make sure it shifted before I bolted it on. I used a flat bladed screwdriver the spread the "legs" of the big detent spring, they go on either side of the fixed peg.
Now just push the case back on and tighten the 5 bolts. My gasket looked fine and did not leak. Hook up your linkage pointing straight down. Use locktite on the 10 mm bolt.
Please use blue locktite on all the bolts! Did I mention Locktite? I used a 1/4 in ratchet with a short handle so I can't strip the bolts. Add oil and go for a ride.
Mine shifts much better now, especially from 2nd to neutral or first, no more bang/clang sound. I can downshift into first at 20-25 mph, snick, snick. It was hit and miss before. I went from 2nd to neutral at 30 mph, silence. Before it would clang into neutral as it was eating my shifting dogs. Too much of this will bend a shift fork (inside the cases) if you get unlucky.
I only have 4100 miles on mine, so I hope I fixed it before too much wear occurred. This works for me, I hope it helps you too. I did something similar on my 1500 Intruder and rode it for 5 years after, so I'm confident in this fix.