Transmission shift forks

[barryadam]

I am reassembling my 2001 cases and the Kaw shop manual for the identification of the shift forks for the output shaft seems to be wrong.  In fact, it only seems to go together by swapping the two shift forks so that the shift fork with the offset pin goes on the 4th output gear and the shift fork with the pin in the center goes on the 5th output gear!
I have checked this over and over, and want to confirm it is wrong in the  book before I seal up the cases.  My manual includes suppliments through 2003.

Can someone with KX500 transmission experience confirm this.

I've tried manually shifting up and down the gears and it seems to work.  It's a bit hard to tell with only  the RHS case, while trying to shift, spin the shafts, hold the two fork pins in, keep the gears on the shafts, and protect the crank all at the same time.

I find it hard to believe that a factory manual that has been around that long with several supliments would have a major error like this.

Please let me know if you have an opinion as I need to button this baby up tomorrow.

Thanks, Barry

[Krider]

Barry,

I just put my engine back together and I too had the same problem you had. I?m on a business trip right now and I don?t have my manual in front of me, but I had the same problem. I wish I took pictures of the transmission but luckily, I have two friends that are motorcycle mechanics. I kept telling them the book says it goes in this way but both said it won?t shift correctly, if I followed the manual. I listened to my friends and thank God it shifts perfectly.
I just put my engine back together (1999) and I put a post about my engine kicking back when starting. I didn?t have anytime to find out the problem before I went to work. So please don?t think I don?t know what I?m talking about, it?s better to learn from someone else?s mistakes instead of making your own.
I hope this helps?yes my book was also wrong.

[barryadam]

Krider,

Thanks for the response.  As you know, once you fit the case halves over the bearing and seal it all up, and mount everything else, and put it in the frame, it's a LOT of work to go back in there.  I just wanted to make doubly sure that the book was wrong.

I ended up completing the lower end last night, and it seems to shift great by hand.

Thanks for the confirmation that I had it right.  Still can't beleive this is the first notice of that problem in the book.

Did you solve your kick-back yet?

Barry

[Krider]

Barry,

Yeah I had a flywheel / woodruff key move on the crank! Make sure you get that nut on there tight. I can?t believe it moved. I did a follow up post to let everyone know what I found out. Did I mention make sure you get the flywheel nut on there tight.
My bike hauls butt and super smooth power?.balancing the crank priceless !!!