The Hodaka Club Forum

Need some advice for my 1973 Combat Wombat 125. In a previous post I had issues with the o ring on the kick start shaft, Well I finally put the motor back together and it started 2nd kick! my issue or advice needed is with the shifting. I have adjusted the shifter shaft with the 10mm nut and elongated bolt on the shifter arm like the manual stated, however when ever I test ride it it pops out of first gear and couple others as well, not sure what to do next? the shifter case and internals were rebuilt to specs so I don't think that is the issue. Any suggestions? that don't include splitting the cases again. Thanks for any advice that my help. P.S. the shift pattern on the combat wombat 1 down four up right?

It probably needs new control shaft springs and they can be replaced without splitting the cases . I dont have time to go through this right now though but I believe there is an old post describing this.

Rich

You probably need to keep adjusting the shift mechanism in the case. If you can get it to shift in and out of 3rd gear every time you try it should work ok unless the shifter case has some worn parts. Try going 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th and back down to 3rd. If this works each time you should be good.
Terry

Tell us more about how you did the shifter adjustment. What convinced you that you had it properly adjusted prior to putting the shifter case back on the machine?

Per Rich's comment - when you did the re-build, did you replace the control shaft springs? What about the ball receiver?

IF your control shaft springs are old (and damaged) no amount of adjusting will make it shift right. On the other hand, if the control shaft springs are new - it is apparent that some more adjusting is in order.

Yes, the proper shift pattern is down for 1st, up for the rest. (IF the shifter cover you have on the machine has HODAKA molded into the side - which is the correct shifter cover for the Combat Wombat)

Ed

When a Hodaka shifter is adjusted correctly and all of the moving parts are in good working order, they function really really well. Anything other than that can be really frustrating. So, how do you narrow it down to fix it? There are primarily 4 things to look at. Adjustment, shift cover bushing wear, shift cover internal parts and the control shaft springs and ball receiver.

The easiest way to isolate the problem is to swap the whole shift cover with a known working one. Is that an option? Where are you located? Maybe you are close enough to have someone help you out with that assuming that you don't have a second one.

If that is not an option, then work on your adjustment some more. There are a number of postings here on this forum that go into detail. The workshop manual covers it pretty well too. There is also a great posting by Danny Cooke showing the detail that he goes to when rebuilding the shift covers. Here is that link: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=846 This will give you some good info about the internals of the shift cover.

If it is determined that your contol shaft shift springs are bad, that is a pretty easy replacement provided that you have the special tool for the snap ring installation for the end of the control shaft. Like stated, there are other postings covering that.

Keep us posted.
Dale

As Dale mentioned, go to my post and see if that will help you out. If not I have some time available in my schedule and can adjust or rebuild it for you.

Danny Cooke

The shifter case was rebuilt by George Cone, so I sure the case isn't the issue. The control shaft spring might be the problem but I do not have the snap ring tool, I currently live in Texas and will be moving to Georgia around the 7 September. I will look at the post by Danny and see if that works. Thanks I will keep you all posted.

Just read the post by Danny and I noticed one area where I may have a issue; is when the shifting arm is in first gear position it appears to hit the case where that groove is placed. I have a question, will the control shaft spring cause the shifter to pop in in out of gear when trying to ride it. Again Thanks for every ones suggestions.
Mike

Yes , since an acurate adjustment cant be made with bad springs , the ball receiver isnt being held centered

Rich

My experience with internal shifting problems has been the shifter ball, I have seen them broken yet functioning poorly. There must be a distinct dip or groove in the middle of the ball. I have seen them flat with excessive wear and they cannot function. The only spring problem I have ever seen is when the end of the spring gets distorted and it will not allow you to go into first gear.------------- Clarence

While this is "long distance diagnosis", it seems the pieces are coming together to point towards a solution.

1. Since George Cone rebuilt the shifter cover . . . and I'm 99.9% sure that George "pre-adjusts" re-built shifter covers before shipping them out . . . you should not have had to adjust the shifter cover to achieve good shifting.
2. Since something incentivized you to adjust the shifter cover . . . possibly bad shifting? . . . there is the implication that the control shaft springs and/or ball receiver need replacement. (replace 'em all when you go after the project)
3. And since you seem to have confirmed that you did not replace the control shaft springs or ball receiver during the engine rebuild . . .
4. It seems pretty clear that it is time to replace the control shaft springs and ball receiver.

Once those components are replaced, you'll have to adjust the shifter mechanism again.

NOTE: Do NOT continue to ride the machine with the poor shifting, you could really damage the transmission due to the high shock loads generated when it pops in and out of gear.

Ed

Thanks to all of you for the help. I will replace the control shaft springs and ball receiver, I marked the shaft arm and nut with a black marker before I adjusted so shouldn't be that hard to get it back to were George had it. Thanks again to all of you.
Mike