ST4 - stuck in first The bike had been stood up for 3 years unused but the engine was run last year , though not driven . I had to remove the starter motor for repair ..... but everything seemed good . After I put the alternator cover back on , I clicked it into first with my hand It went in easily but now it's well stuck and it won't come out ..... .... benefit of hindsight , maybe I shouldn't have left it in gear over the winter ? I've tried the easy stuff .... bumping the rear wheel back and forward , letting the engine idle long enough to get it up to a high temperature ( until the fan came on at about 104 deg ) I tried a few more heating / cooling cycles .... no joy . Does anyone have any suggestions or tricks ? Any tips would be much appreciated ......
A copy and paste job here but I hope its of some use... Transmission stuck in third gear There are two causes for this I am aware of (there may be more). First is a cheap fix. Second is not. First cause: Inside the alternator cover is a selector arm which sometimes loses the plot. It looks like a pair of fingers (apparently). And it can (apparently) be put back into place. Getting the alternator cover off is the big part of the job. Second cause: This is the one I just had. It is due to the internal gearbox selectior getting jammed up with shrapnel because a bearing has shat itself. Drain the oil - if the magnetic plug looks like Queen Elizabeth's crown you have a bottom-end re-build ahead of you. If not, it may just be the first cause.
Change the engine oil. It sounds like it's long overdue so you've nothing to lose. Perhaps use some engine flush as well.
Had similar with my 1198, although I had been adjusting the gear level linkage. Cure (advice from on here) remove the linkage ( from the lever pivot) and see if you can then get it out of gear by pushing/pulling the linkage. Hope that makes sense
Thanks for the suggestions folks .... I recently changed all of the fluids in the bike , including the engine oil , so no probs there . All the hydraulics were bled well , and the clutch action is good . I've adjusted the linkage rod ( a lot ! ) and tried again , and I took the clutch plates out , just in case there was some drag ( but that was really a long shot for being the root cause ) I'm thinking that the problem was caused when I refitted the alternator cover .... or maybe I just didn't notice that something was already wrong .... ? eg. the lever that passes into the gearbox , or the spring behind the flywheel ? I was hoping to avoid pulling the cover .... dropping the oil and coolant , and all the palaver ..... but I'm thinking that now I might have to do it ..... Bugger ! Drat and Double-Drat ! Anyway , thanks again for all suggestions ....
From what you’ve said I think the selector arm/return spring inside is the culprit . Before you do, however, (although it sounds like you may have tried this) disconnect the linkage from the pedal and then see if you can change gear just by pushing/pulling the linkage rod when it’s not attached to the pedal (you need to use the linkage rod to give you the leverage you need). It is possible that when the linkage rod is connected to the pedal there’s just, ever so slightly, not enough movement to overcome the full required travel of the selector arm inside the crankcase and have it move the gears.
@West Cork Paul ... thanks for that , but I've already tried without success . I've done a fair bit of trawling and I saw quite a few posts across several bike forums where that was the exact problem .... usually because the lock nuts on the rod hadn't been done up . I reckon I'm out of options as far as sorting the problem from the outside goes , but I'm still open to a bit of Voodoo if anyone here does that stuff .... .... that would be fine with me .... I found this useful picture , which you had posted a couple of years back in this thread - https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/748-stuck-in-gear.69800/ It's much better than the photos in the Haynes , and the drawings in the Ducati manual .... I've highlighted where I'm thinking ( hoping ! ) that the problem might be , and keeping my fingers crossed that it's not the spring ..... which I'm sure needs the flywheel pulling off to replace . -
My gosh, I’d forgotten I’d gone that far in on that one . Yes, that’s how it should look if all is working perfectly and hunky dory. I’d removed the alternator cover to strip and repaint it, mechanically all was sound
maybe this helps https://lnx.desmodromico.com/revisione-arpionismo-del-cambio/ https://lnx.desmodromico.com/arpionismo-del-cambio-regolazione/
Can be set up without it, but i found this useful. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gear-Sel...v-88713-1091-Engine-620-750-748-/363274575487
Just in case anyone finds this thread in the future , this fix worked for me , it was my last attempt before draining down , and taking the alternator cover off . I'm always wary of using too much force when something is stuck ..... but in this case .... I got the link rod out of the way , then moved this part of the linkage ( see photo ) to about the 3 o'clock position , wrapped it in cloth and put mole grips on it ..... rocked the rear wheel back and forward while working the clutch ..... and bingo .... it popped back into neutral , and now I can easily go through all the gears again . I'm posting this just for completeness , and maybe someone who is having similar grief will land here and get happy
Thanks .... it's appreciated .... If you don't mind , I'm going to edit the title a little bit more . I wouldn't want people to think that it was the fix for the problem .... just that it's a possible fix Is that OK ?
