Why nuetral so hard to find?

[manco]

I have a 1998 KX500 with problems getting into neutral. Shifts through all gears fine. Moving out of 1 or 2 into neutral is a pain. Seems like by the time enough pressure is put on the lever to get the bike out of gear it blows past neutral into the next gear. Doesn't matter whether the engine is running or stopped. Doesn't matter if I try to shift with boots, sneakers or even gently with my hand. Neutral is always a pain to find. In the end the bike always does get into neutral. It just takes a few flicks for it to find the right spot.


The engine is high hours though great shape and recently rebuilt. Racers Edge in CO did the bottom end work and installed a new crank. He said the tranny looked great. Finding neutral before and after the rebuild was the same problem.

Any idea what the issue might be? or are KX500 all like this?

[KXDINO]

i have had older kxs do this , didnt think much of it at the time ,now i would change the detent spring check detent lever roller and star gear , put it threw it motion and see what it doing, spring might be getting weak.

[manco]

Those are some good tips. Thanks. I was leaning towards whatever mechanisms catch neutral. Now I know where to start looking.