Motorcycle Repair: 82 xj650 shift stuck, cam assembly, proverbial straw

Question
Falcon,

I've tried to read as many of your responses as possible to find my answer, some seem close.  Your expertise is impressive, maybe you can help me on this.  Here is the history of my problem:  First the shifting on my '82 xj650 Maxim would slip out of first, sometimes stick in first, as it progressed it would also slip out of second.  Then it would not stay in second at all.  Eventually it got stuck in 3rd, I pulled over and stomped on the shift lever, and of course THEN it would not come out of neutral.  The shifter would move with great difficulty but would not engage any gears.  I got to tinkering, took apart a few things with the help of diagrams you referred to on bikebandit and found that I had broken a screw that held some things together in the shift cam assembly.  There doesn't appear to be any wear on any other visible parts in the shift shaft or cam assemblies.  I suppose my questions are: Would you think boring out the screw or replacing the cam assembly would fix my problem overall, or was that screw just the icing on the abused ratbike cake?  Could it be just buildup of debris that caused all this or do I have broken forks somewhere?  My knowledge is limited but am mechanically inclined, I CANNOT spend much money, is there any hope?  Any advice you can give is appreciated, thanks.

Answer
Hi Crash.

This problem sounds like the bike is in desperate need of a transmission and clutch rebuild.

The screw that you mentioned does seem to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

I am sorry that I do not have better news, but there does not seem to be any other solution.

Dig up the repair manual and rebuild the tranny and clutch.  As long as you can follow instructions, you can do this.

Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON