Hello all. New to the forum.

Bought a 2020 KLX250 a little earlier this summer.
2 weeks after I got it, I lowsided it off-road. The shifter got bent, and I've had some shifting issues since.

Based on some threads on this forum, I figured the problem was the part 92150 (bolt, return spring) being bent and keeping the shifter from going down quite as far as it should, and preventing it from returning fully after an upshift. If it I give it a little tap after upshifting, I can shift up again no problem. Looking at the pic below, what happens is that the spring loaded upshift pawl doesn't quite slide back down past the pin for the next gear.

So I ordered that part, and meanwhile disassembled the bike and verified that that bolt was indeed bent (a bit). Put it back together in the meantime. What a pain in the *** it is to take this apart, what with the nut obstructed by the frame and the two-step process required for removing/installing the shift cover/mechanism.

Got the part today and installed it this evening. Screwed something else up in the process of re-assembling, but that's not the main problem.

The shifting mechanism still isn't centered correctly over the pegs on the shift star. The bottom pawl (upshifts) is pretty much touching the lower peg, while the upper pawl (downshifts) is some distance from the upper peg.
Same in all gears. Now, since as far as I know the shifter star can't be misaligned (the cam follower controls that, and the shift star and drum are pretty solid pieces and pinned together), I'm guessing the shifter mechanism itself is bent. Part # 13161 - Lever-Comp-Change Shaft.

I guess another possibility is that the boss the return spring pin threads into has actually been bent? That would be part of the crankcase.

I should have just taken it to the dealer and let them handle it, sigh.
Any thoughts?

 

Did you check if you bent the shifter shaft? If that is bent, all the new parts in the world will not work until that is addressed.
Always run the weakest shifter lever you can find, I assume you were running the stock one?

 

Yes, the stock one. I don't think the shaft is bent - everything goes together reasonably smoothly. But it is part of this unit: Part # 13161 - Lever-Comp-Change Shaft, which I suspect might be damaged in some other way.

I could just go ahead and order one, but don't want to spend money on replacing parts that aren't damaged. My other idea is to create a "custom" spring return bolt with a deliberate bend in it, downwards, to get the shifter mechanism centered properly (and allow the proper range of motion).

Yeah, I'm really stumped. And annoyed that I haven't managed to fix this yet.

Thank you

 

Your saying the part #, which is very difficult to discuss. The part I'm talking about is bike bandit 13161, the part is the shifting shaft that the claw/ratchet thing is mounted on. Take that out and roll it on some angle iron and see if the shaft is bent, you might be able to straighten it?

 

Yes, 13161, that's what I'm talking about. The claw/ratchet thing is welded to it (at least the backing plate for the ratchet pawls is).
I've replaced the stud circled in red. The part that goes around it is part of 13161 assembly.
The arrows are pointing out the larger gap between the upper pawl and the shift star nub, and almost none on the lower.

 

OK, I think we are on the same page. Did you check if that shaft is bent? I know guys talk about bending their shifter, I would look at that. I never bent mine... yet (07).

 

I would complete the disassembly of the shifter pawl.
Inspect the shaft for any bending. Look closely at the attachment welds of the plate on the shaft(I've snapped those before.)
If all of that looks good, loosen the center pivot bolt and see if it wobbles as you unscrew it.

 

In as much as I can, yes. The shaft doesn't look to be bent.

 

I've replaced the center bolt with a new one already, so no problem there.

I'll have to look at the shifter shaft/pawl mechanism more closely. I should probably just order a new one already.

 

So, I've disassembled the shifter pawl as far as I can, and can't see any visible damage to it.

Still, it clearly doesn't center where it's supposed to. So either the center bolt/stud for the return spring is still not straight (despite being replaced with a new one), or there's something not right in the shifter pawl mechanism.

I guess I will order a new one, but in the meantime I'm considering trying to take the old bolt and deliberately bending it down a bit (I would put it in the bike, torque to spec, index (mark) it, and then remove it and do it in a vice), to allow the mechanism to center properly. It seems like that would resolve the issue.

I'd go straight to replacing the shift shaft/pawl mechanism if I could actually find any clear visible sign that it is damaged in any way. Maybe the fact that it doesn't center properly (or allow quite full movement on the downshift, judging by its reluctance to shift from 2nd to 1st) is all the evidence I need.