New R3 Owner from Chicago! Advice Appreciated

Hello fellow R3 riders!

So I was on the hunt for a black R3 for a while now, and finally purchased an 05 with 20k miles recently. Due to a limited budget, I was waiting to stumble upon a deal and purchased this one for $4700. Turns out, it wasn't much of a "deal" after all since the bike has apparent gearbox issues!

I test rode the bike before purchasing it and a bolt on the shifter was loose. I figured it to be the reason it was hard to shift into 2nd/3rd and didn't think much of it. The seller did a great job throwing me off with that! I am still to blame though, for being so naive haha

After adjusting the shifter as much as I could, the issues I've noticed;
- The shift rod(the one sticking out of the engine case) has too much travel going up(into 2nd, 3rd etc)
At least an additional 2 inches than normal.
- The 2nd gear clunks while going in.

I've done an extensive search on the forum before making this post and found out my options are limited and expensive. Here's what I need some advice on; Will a heel shifter setup help with this issue, since its really hard to shift into upward gears with just the toe shifter? Also, will riding the bike with this issue leave me stranded?

Any other advice/tips/help is greatly appreciated! Thanks for having me!

Welcome from Australia
I am sure 1 of the gurus will be along shortly with the info you need

Sounds like you have a broken detent spring. There is a thread with the whole replacement procedure somewhere on the site.
Radiator off, front cover off, clutch basket off to reach the detent spring.

Mike188 said:

Welcome from Australia
I am sure 1 of the gurus will be along shortly with the info you need

Click to expand...

1K9 said:

Sounds like you have a broken detent spring. There is a thread with the whole replacement procedure somewhere on the site.
Radiator off, front cover off, clutch basket off to reach the detent spring.

Click to expand...

Thanks fellas, much appreciated!

And despite the picture you don't have to take the engine OUT! Like all detent springs...it's a 3 dollar part and 200 dollars of work. But you can do it yourself if you are handy. And you will bond with your Rocket knowing so much about it now!

rocketjohn said:

And despite the picture you don't have to take the engine OUT! Like all detent springs...it's a 3 dollar part and 200 dollars of work. But you can do it yourself if you are handy. And you will bond with your Rocket knowing so much about it now!

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm actually pretty relieved now. Thought it was a much longer process.

The wanker who sold you the bike must have known it was having a problem good hard kick in the stones might be required

welcome from arizona
good luck on repair there are a lot of threads on the spring and if u need help then u can ask and i know some one will answer up.

I haven't had it happen to me but it does sound like the detent spring that I have read about here.

Have to agree with the guys. As for the heel shifter some love, some hate, some say using them is hard on the trans because it allows you to exert way too much pressure on the shifting dogs.