QuestionI just purchased a 1996 honda rebel 250 and it runs well, but I
have been having trouble with a sticky shifter. It is very difficult to
shift back into neutral and sometimes it takes a lot of pressure to
shift from 1st into 2nd. People have speculated that there may be
an internal problem with transmision. do you have any
suggestions?
AnswerAloha, Jessica.... Shift problems related to having issues with getting to neutral and between gears often stem from the clutch not disengaging all the way. When the clutch is dragging, then you will have difficulties like that. Does the bike tend to creep and lurch into gear when you shift from neutral to 1st gear?
If you have a lot of free play at the clutch lever on the handlebar, you will need to tighten it up, using the cable adjuster. If you can't get all the adjustment from the handlebar adjuster, then loosen the cable adjuster at the handlebar all the way. Then get some wrenches to loosen the cable adjuster locking nuts at the bottom end of the clutch cable, where it attaches to the right side clutch cover. Once the nuts are loosened, you can adjust them so that the cable slack is minimized for the most part there. Tighten the locking nuts, then go back to the handlebar adjuster for fine tuning.
For some illustrations of your bike go to:
http://www.powersportspro.com/partsfish/login.asp
Sign up, sign in, select HONDA, CMX250C2, then the year. That will give you a menu of the parts involved.
Once the cable is adjusted so you only have about 1/8" of free play at the lever and the clutch is still acting up, there could be damage at the gearshift drum components, either damaged or the bolts backing out. If the bike has a lot of miles on it and/or it has been abused by a previous owner and has transmission damage, then you are facing an expensive repair bill. Cheaper to try to find another motor with low miles or another bike....
Bill Silver
www.vintagehonda.com
