Gear selector says, "Adios!"

[Mikep328]

It tried to escape but it couldn't! 

On my 50 mile ride today after slowing down/speeding up I went to change gears and...nothing!  My left boot hit "air;" there was no gear selector lever!   WTF?   Turned out that the circlip that holds the selector lever on shaft had abandoned its position and the lever slid out/dropped off.  Fortunately, of course, the connecter that links the lever to the gearbox shaft kept the lever from disappearing in the dust.

I slid it back into position and kept my foot pressed sideways against the lever to ensure it stayed in position for the remainder of the ride - about 15 miles.

I'd like to claim that the circlip failed due to old age but I suspect that although it might be old age related, it's not circlip old age that was the problem.  A couple of months ago I had pulled the selector lever to clean/grease the fitting.  I THOUGHT I had ensured that the circlip was correctly installed in the groove when re-assembling but when given that the two possibilities are:  1. Failure to install correctly or, 2. Steel circlip failed due to old age...well, what do you think? 

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

General advice here is to not re-fit old circlips when putting the gearbox back together.

[Mikep328]

 Sounds like good advice!!!   

[Athame57]

The part you seek is available here!  https://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/parts/by-part-number/partnumber_9451112000/ Dont forget the washer!

[Green1]

Could be worse. I once made the mistake of using a second hand circlip to refit my front sprocket on the Aprilia. Needless to say that was a bad move. The sprocket made a brake for it and locked the rear wheel solid.

[Nurse Julie]

400/4 circlips are very prone to falling off for some reason, even new circlips. A lot of us drill a small hole through the shaft and put a wire through in front of the circlip for extra peace of mind. I was going round a tight bend much too fast on Hettie, went to change down and the gear lever wasn't where it should have been, it was dragging along the tarmac...scary moment indeed 

[Mikep328]

Thanks NJ!  I'll drill/add wire.  I've used plenty of safety wire on my Norton Commando(s) but never realized I would need something similar on a Honda!  I would have thought Honda would have used a washer and cotter pin in that application, rather than a washer/circlip. 


Old Brittbike Q/A:

Q Do I need to use safety wire?

A Only on the items you don't want to lose!

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Could you not put wire through the ends of the circlip and twist them up?

[Mikep328]

I thought of that but was a bit concerned that it might cause some abnormal wear because the wire would protrude a tiny bit where the washer bears against the circlip and cause the washer to not be "square" against the circlip and/or the gear lever.  Though I guess it would, at worst, just wear a groove in the washer at that point.

I might try it because I'm not comfortable using a hand drill at the bike to drill the hole in the shaft.  If the shaft was out and I could use my small drill press, I wouldn't hesitate to drill it.

Other issue is that I don't have any safety wire and I don't care to buy as spool of it for the 25mm (or less) of wire needed to do the job! 

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

A blob of Silicone Sealant on the outside,
a smear of Honda bond?

[Bryanj]

So use a small split pin

[Mikep328]

Just to update - got the new circlip and washer from DS last week.  Installed it and tried really hard to get it to pop free, yanking/twisting/pulling/pushing the gear lever and it SEEMS firmly attached and not likely to fail.  SO I didn't make any further effort to secure it. Whether that turns out to be smart or dumb...time will tell.   As I said, if I had that shaft on the bench, I'd drill it for a split pin as others have described.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I did wonder if SS would be better - mine is a DS clip as at the time I was not familiar with clip sizes.

[Mikep328]

The new (DSS) circlip is much "tighter" than the original based on the amount of pressure it took to open it with the snap ring pliers.   Of course, the original might have been weakened by removal/replacement some number of times in the bike's past in addition to the one time I did it.  I was careful to only open the new one just barely enough to enable it to slide onto the shaft/snap into place when it got to the groove.