Hi Desmobob,
From new these shifters always play up, tight, difficult to shift and sometimes they stick in gear after a run.
Here are some solutions which I hope will help:-
1. You can rock the quad back and forth whilst stuck in gear, handbrake off, this may then help to release a stuck shifter, in the ideal world one person rocking whilst the second is trying to disengage the locked/stuck shifter. Or just wait and hang around until everything has cooled down, not ideal of course in the snow and the cold but at least the ambient temperature should speed up the cooling down process.
2. It will get better at shifting and will not stick after you have put more miles on it.
3. Long distances on a brand-new quad will exacerbate the issue, you have a brand-new box everything is slightly tight and manufactured to close tolerances, combine this with long drives in 4X4 wheel drive and there may be the issue of transmission wind up. Transmission wind up is created when driving in 4X4 drive on tarmac, on loose surface the transmission unwinds as the wheels are spinning/unwinding automatically on the loose surface. If transmission wind-up is the issue jack up the quad, if the wheel spins then it has unwound, do this on both axles front and rear because there is no third diff between the two axles. A third diff is a diff placed between the front and rear axles and prevents/reduces transmission wind-up. Third diffs like all diffs also required to be locked under certain conditions i.e. when all four wheels are spinning under loose surfaces. They tend to be fitted to serious 4X4 off road vehicles, mainly military vehicles. For an ATV quad bike it is assumed that because it will be used most of the time off road under loose surfaces it will automatically unwind the trans and therefore to keep costs and complications down a third diff is not fitted to ATV’s.
4. Resetting/adjusting the shifter mechanism: -
• A good place to start, I have reset, modified and adjusted all my shifters on all my X8 quads.
• Yes, check the foot brake release cable pin at the shifter, i.e. that the pin is moving and disengaging to allow the shifter to move. I put stronger springs down on the pedal end of the cable as wells as making the cable tighter.
• The shifter lever always hits the aluminium mounting bracket that mounts the whole shifter to the engine. I remove this bracket and file out sufficient aluminium so that when the shifter is placed in “P” it does not hit the bracket, likewise when shifted to “L” at the top I again check that the shifter is not hitting anything. If so I modify my removing metal.
• There is a rod that adjusts the shifter i.e. it shortens it or lengthens it, it is good to check this as well to the specs in the workshop manual.
• Finally, I strip out the shifter unit and pack with high melting point red grease.
Even with the above modifications and checks with a new quad the shifter will tend to be tighter when new.
Always make sure your foot is hard and fully on the foot brake, that you are stationary, and the engine is most definitely on idle, now you can shift.
Take Care….Have fun…..Live Long…Grandmaster Splash & his Furious Ride