Nuetral hard to find
- eastkytriker
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:37 pm
- Location: grayson, ky.
- Motorcycle: 1990 Goldwing 1500-motortrike conversion
2008 Goldwing 1800/ Roadsmith HTS 1800
Nuetral hard to find
1990 gl 1500, I replaced the clutch with a kit from Barnett and everything great except shifting to nuetral. With the engine running it just goes from 1st to 2nd skipping nuetral. Could it be something with the clutch change or something unrelated
- virgilmobile
- Posts: 9087
- Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2010 5:39 pm
- Location: Denham Springs,La.
- Motorcycle: 1988 GL1500 I
Previously owned
78 GL1000
81 GL1100
82 GL1100 I
83 GL1100 I
83 GL1100 standard
84 GL 1200 I
Re: Nuetral hard to find
Do you have the shift lever stabilizer installed?
A loose shift lever due to inherent design or loose pinch bolts on the lever does make for poor gear selection.
A loose shift lever due to inherent design or loose pinch bolts on the lever does make for poor gear selection.
- eastkytriker
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:37 pm
- Location: grayson, ky.
- Motorcycle: 1990 Goldwing 1500-motortrike conversion
2008 Goldwing 1800/ Roadsmith HTS 1800
Re: Nuetral hard to find
No stabilizer but replaced shifter oil seal and everything is tight. I never could seem to justify the price of the stabilizer it seems very inflated. 139000 miles without one
Re: Nuetral hard to find
Its normal for a new clutch to be a little on the sticky side. Run it hard for a few miles and it should wear in. It happened to me on a couple of bikes
- eastkytriker
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:37 pm
- Location: grayson, ky.
- Motorcycle: 1990 Goldwing 1500-motortrike conversion
2008 Goldwing 1800/ Roadsmith HTS 1800
Re: Nuetral hard to find
It should be well seated in I’ve put about 3k on it since clutch change including a 1000 mile ride to Florida. Problem didn’t seem to start immediately after clutch but soon after
Re: Nuetral hard to find
Thats a different issue then. It should have settled in after a couple hundred miles. I would run it a little longer just in case but you might have a defective clutch. You could try to wear it down some just by letting it slip. It might give you that extra thousandth of an inch you need.
I know when i let my roadstar sit through the winter the clutch gets sticky from sitting. After a few miles it goes back to normal.
Just something to try before you tear it apart again
I know when i let my roadstar sit through the winter the clutch gets sticky from sitting. After a few miles it goes back to normal.
Just something to try before you tear it apart again
- eastkytriker
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:37 pm
- Location: grayson, ky.
- Motorcycle: 1990 Goldwing 1500-motortrike conversion
2008 Goldwing 1800/ Roadsmith HTS 1800
Re: Nuetral hard to find
Thanks Rodzim for the reply. That might be something to look at but it seems to be disengaging completely because I can run through all the gears setting with the engine running and it will roll easy in gear with the clutch pulled. Can find all the other gears just hard to find neutralRodzim wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 8:10 amThats a different issue then. It should have settled in after a couple hundred miles. I would run it a little longer just in case but you might have a defective clutch. You could try to wear it down some just by letting it slip. It might give you that extra thousandth of an inch you need.
I know when i let my roadstar sit through the winter the clutch gets sticky from sitting. After a few miles it goes back to normal.
Just something to try before you tear it apart again
- aussiewinger
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Tue May 23, 2017 7:10 am
- Location: Castlereagh,NSW, Australia
- Motorcycle: 1988 GL1500SE
2013 Kawasaki zx14r
1984 Kawasaki KR250a
YAMAHA XS1100 J
YAMAHA XJ650 turbo
Re: Nuetral hard to find
Hi all, I also replaced the original clutch on my 88 1500 as it was creeping forward when engaged, slipping under heavy acceleration and almost impossible to find neutral with engine running. The bike had only 45000klms on the speedo, but had been sitting unused for 20+ years prior to my ownership. The new Barnett clutch fixed the creeping and slipping but its still difficult to find neutral unless you ride for at least 1 hour, any ideas?
- eastkytriker
- Posts: 99
- Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 6:37 pm
- Location: grayson, ky.
- Motorcycle: 1990 Goldwing 1500-motortrike conversion
2008 Goldwing 1800/ Roadsmith HTS 1800
Re: Nuetral hard to find
Sounds like my problem except mine didn't start until after the clutch change. You will probably be told that you need the shifter brace but mine shifted fine for 29 years without one so i don't know it's a lot of money to trial and erroraussiewinger wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:59 amHi all, I also replaced the original clutch on my 88 1500 as it was creeping forward when engaged, slipping under heavy acceleration and almost impossible to find neutral with engine running. The bike had only 45000klms on the speedo, but had been sitting unused for 20+ years prior to my ownership. The new Barnett clutch fixed the creeping and slipping but its still difficult to find neutral unless you ride for at least 1 hour, any ideas?
- wingdings
- Posts: 497
- Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 12:48 pm
- Location: mells , England, United Kingdom
- Motorcycle: Honda Goldwing gl 1989
Re: Nuetral hard to find
MAKE SURE !! - THE DOT IS LINED UP !! ON THE SHIFTER - TO THE ARROW - SEE THIS VID -
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- Don't matter if you have a shifter brace or not if the shifter is not lined up to the arrow and the dot the whole thing will be out of wack

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- GlimWas
- Posts: 172
- Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:31 am
- Location: Netherlands
- Motorcycle: 1994 GL1500 SE Canada Edition, Carbon Candy Blue
2014 NC750X DCT - Contact:
Re: Nuetral hard to find
If you think the shifter pivot is too expensive for your taste you can always produce one for yourself. I did it and am using it for 20000km without problems.
Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle
GL1100 '80
GL1200 '87
GL1500 '94
GL1100 '80
GL1200 '87
GL1500 '94