Motorcycle Repair: 85 FXSB Shift Lever Sticks in 3rd, alignment problem, broken spring

Question
My shifter stays in the 3rd shift posistion. It makes shifting to 4th almost impossible. If I pull the shift lever back to the center it downshifts everytime. I can force 4th gear but, half the time I end up in between gears or neutral. I replaced a broken shifter pawl spring six months ago. It work fine for awhile before acting up. I wonder if there is an alignment problem, another broken spring, or bent shift fork now. Fourth gear works fine when engaged and downshifting is normal. It is a strange to have the shifter stay engaged shifting into third gear only.

Answer
there are several things that can cause your problem, another broken spring, bad bearing, bent shifter fork, just to name a few. What you are going to have to do it pull the trans and tear it down to locate the problem.
Good luck and happy riding
Mike