yamaha shifting troubles

[charles1961]

I am new to the forum. i have an 1984 yamaha virago xv1000. I had an accident with it and the shifter was a little bent and i straightened it out , but it seemed to be tight shifting down from neutral to first.thought that the shift lever was dragging slightly against the backside of the foot peg plus i thought maybe my ankle that was sprained was still week from the accident was part of it. anyways it was getting harder to downshift back to first until my last ride that it was not wanting to at all. i think maybe a shifting fork may be bent. does anyone know if this is an easy check or tell me how to do or what else it may be ? thanks for inputs

[Wrider]

To be honest that's not an easy check at all. It involves getting into the engine cases if I remember correctly. Your best bet is to take it into a mechanic and have them double check it.

[charles1961]

well upon further investigation i took the foot shifter off and have the bike on the centerstand. the bike shifts gears by hand okay ( bike is off of course) . the question i have is when your in neutral and your wheel turns freely and then of course when you put it in gear ( bike off ) and your wheel is in gear and you pull in your clutch, SHOULD YOUR WHEEL SPIN just as freely as if you were in neutral ? or should it drag alot ?

[Wrider]

Its going to drag quite a bit. Don't worry about that at all.

[charles1961]

thank you wrider.was concerned that my clutch could be a problem since by hand i was shifting through the gears. just checking out all my options and possible causes.

[dr_bar]

Wrider,

Possible bent shaft or shift fork???

[Wrider]

Wrider,

Possible bent shaft or shift fork???

That's what I'm thinking unfortunately.