[Canadianatver]

I ride the sportsman 850 touring

Went out for a nice ride on my way out fishing. No problems on the way out, I drove about 20km on a gravel road, pretty routine ride.. I hit some high speeds at times, but nothing extreme.

We got to the spot and were about to hitch up the boat...and I went to put the bike in park from high...couldnt do it. I met major resistence..and after that point I was only able to shift from Neutral to Low. I couldn't shift to High, Reverse or Park. I did force on it a little hard, and eventually popped the plastic piece that holds the shifter in place. Probably wasnt the smartest things to force it Im sure...the shifter was then all floppy and loose, so there i was in the middle of nowhere, taking the bike apart

I wasnt impressed to say the least...I was able to eventually get the plastic piece that holds the shifter back in place. Still at that point I could only shift Neutral and low, back on forth...major resistence when trying to shift to the other gears.

Soon after the bike stopped shifting altogether, and was stuck in low, and when trying to shift there is absolutely no grab with when moving the shifter..its extremely loose/...

Not sure whats up here but its seems serious..?!?!? any input would be great!

 

[mscldawg]

How does it shift when off? Can you move it between gears? Did you check where the lever attaches to the gearbox? That piece had been known to strip out right at the shaft that goes in the gearbox.

12 850EPS Short bus edition

 

[StarRider]

I would disconnect shift linkage and see if you can shift at the bell crank. With the machine off, give it a try. It may be a little difficult with out the lever action of the shifter but it can be done. Check the splines on the bell crank and shaft to make sure they have not striped and moved. If not the shift fork may be damaged, jammed or broke. Is there any noise from the gear box when you run on low?

 

[Canadianatver]

How does it shift when off? Can you move it between gears? Did you check where the lever attaches to the gearbox? That piece had been known to strip out right at the shaft that goes in the gearbox.

12 850EPS Short bus edition

When the problem first occured I was able shift even with the machine off. now it is all loose when off and running. I havent got that far as far taking it apart, as I am waiting to see if my extended warranty is still valid. Not sure if they would even warranty something like this.

 

[Canadianatver]

I would disconnect shift linkage and see if you can shift at the bell crank. With the machine off, give it a try. It may be a little difficult with out the lever action of the shifter but it can be done. Check the splines on the bell crank and shaft to make sure they have not striped and moved. If not the shift fork may be damaged, jammed or broke. Is there any noise from the gear box when you run on low?

When the shifter broke off with the plastic piece popping out I was able to shift it by hand....it was difficult...and hot on the hands...but yes I could shift...I dont recall trying to shift all the gears..and eventually I got the shifter back on but soon after shifting became loose and floppy...and it makes no difference when off or running.
Another strange observation I made was that we were able to push the machine back while it was stuck in low. I could be wrong but I think that is not normal.

 

[polman500]

For future reference... anytime a CVT machine doesn't want to shift while running just shut it off, shift into the desired gear and then restart it. Never try to force it into gear while running or you will likely break something as you have found out.
A CVT machine will roll in any gear selected except park. The clutches are not engaged with the belt until a certain RPM is achieved. The transmission is only locked when in park thus making it unable to roll.

 

[Canadianatver]

For future reference... anytime a CVT machine doesn't want to shift while running just shut it off, shift into the desired gear and then restart it. Never try to force it into gear while running or you will likely break something as you have found out.
A CVT machine will roll in any gear selected except park. The clutches are not engaged with the belt until a certain RPM is achieved. The transmission is only locked when in park thus making it unable to roll.

I did try shutting off the machine and shifting, this was to no avail. It was jammed either way when trying to reach park, high and reverse.

Turns out my extended warranty covered me for another 5 days, so I whipped the bike over to the dealer, they had a look and it turned out to be a stripped part inside the tranny. Not much to fix it, but was covered nonetheless. BONUS! thanks for all the valuable input everyone.

 

[InRBigness]

I bet it was the bell crank. It was likely loosened up with vibrations and then just stripped out. Glad you got it fixed.

 

[polman500]

I'd like to know exactly what it was they did to it. The info could be valuable to someone else in the future.

 

[Canadianatver]

I'd like to know exactly what it was they did to it. The info could be valuable to someone else in the future.

Good call polman. It was the BELL CRANK ASSEMBLY. I called the dealer this morning for an update and they are ordering one of those, it should be in today. (Oct 7)

Then they went on to tell me that they need to install the new bell crank assembly to "diagnose things further" and that "there might be something wrong further inside the tansmission, but we can't tell until the bell crank is installed" "even with the stripped bell crank, things just didnt seem right"

This worries me. Because I brought my bike in 4 days before my extended warranty expires. When they " diagnose things further" If they find something major wrong, it will be past the Oct 4th expiry date of my warranty. NOT GOOD, Im not sure how this would work, as I did bring my bike in on time...but now they are dragging things out to get to the bottom of the issue....

I doubt anyone has encountered such a unique situation, lemme know if you have....or if a dealer mechanic/worker reads this...whats your input?

 

[RVS Performance]

You will be fine in the warranty. Now is a good time to think of anything else that might not be quite perfect on it too so they can take care of that as well under warranty.