I went out in my car to the South Birmingham Locost Builder's group meeting which was a good night out except that a problem developed half way there.

My gearbox doesn't want to shift into 1st. I first discovered it when pulling up to a stop sign. road speed about 5 MPH and engine speed prety much at idle. After couple of attemts to put it in gear (now stationary) I had to pull the lever back and ram it in.

Once in gear it will go in and out without fuss so when I removed the bonnet and looked at the shift cable and linkage, I found nothing wrong.

On the move it was like this all the way home. Every time I stopped I had to ram it into 1st but once in, it will shift in and out without problem.

6th - 5th - 4th -3rd - 2nd - N no problems.

What are likely causes and fixes?

Hi mate,

It sounds like this and the other problem you had shifting from 1st are pointing towards a worn or damaged fork. I would have said cables/linkages but if that all looks fine (ie no different) its more than likely an internal problem.

Have you dropped the oil out and had a look to see if there is anything in it which shouldnt be?

It could be a damaged fork causing the problems by not picking up the dog cleanly. IIRC the R1 has a fork for 1&N so if thats rounded off, it will struggle going into and out of gear (depending on which side the damage/wear is; possibly both). A sure fire indicator of this would be that it would jump out of gear too, so because yours isnt doing that its not as straightforward.

Im sure therell be some good advice with other things to check, but Id be looking at pulling the box to bits and having a look see.

Good luck, keep us posted

Rgds
Rich

[Edited on 7/2/06 by RichieC]

Yep, with this and your previous problem I'd say you have a bent selector fork. You need to take them out and check against a flat surface and for excessive blueing. Don't try to straighten them - replace with new....

Sorry it's not fantastic news!

Fixed. It turns out that the problem was that the hole in the tunnel cover was not quite long enough and the stick was bottoming out on the fibre glass. I have filed the hole a few millimetres longer at either end and it now shifts into 1st beautifully. It shifts into 2nd much better as well.

I guess that as you have to go through neutral to get between 1st and 2nd you have to turn the selector drum a bit further than between other gears. while the hole was big enough for other shifts, it was a bit small for 1sts and 2nds.

So this was just that the slot needed making longer?
Pleased its sorted

Smashing!