I was downshifting to go into work this morning and the bike shifted hard into 1st gear so I pushed it a little bit and the shifter fell to the floorboard. Any Ideas since I won't be able to look at the service manual until this evening. 1996 FLHT
Assuming you have looked over the obvious like the linkages from the shifter to the trans and they are intact and working properly, It sounds like you may need to get into the trans like the shifter drum or return spring.
You didn't strip the shifter shaft splines did you?
I just removed the outer shift lever and turned the rear one around. I now use just the one with a shaft cover. You can also replace the shaft that goes to the linkage. It's easy to replace!
Thanks for the replies. I finally got the bike home this weekend and was able to find the problem. The shaft seperated from the shifting pawl weld broke. I have a service manual and everything I read it looks like the transmission has to come apart to get the shaft all the way out. Do either of you know any shortcuts for this or am I left with using the manual and pulling the left side apart and removing the tranny guts?
TIA
Steve