REPLACE SHIFTER SEAL WITHOUT REMOVING ENGINE FROM FRAME 

This is for all of those A, C, SE, & L models out there with the forward shift linkage shaft seal leaking oil. I was told that the engine needed to be removed to replace this seal and this would run $300 on up to ???

I decided to live with the leak for a while. Then after looking at this more closely, I determined that the shaft and seal can be removed and replaced without moving the engine at all. The following procedure will only cost you the price of the seal, the rotor cover gasket and a couple of spring clips.

So here we go. You will probably want to get the bike on a bike lift or what I did was put a piece of 4X6 under the right side of the bike under the rear master cylinder and lean the bike over to the right onto the block of wood. Next remove the left foot peg from the frame. Remove the bolts holding the side cover and pull the cover off. Remove the bolts on the round cover of the stator and remove the stator. (This will seem as though it is stuck or pulling back because of the magnets.) Put it to the side out of your way or tie it up to the right. Next remove the center nut holding the rotor with an impact wrench or breaker bar & rubber mallet. (Take note that this will only go back on the shaft one way but must be lined up with the mark on the balance gear.) Once this is removed, the shaft is visible inside the casing.

Views of engine.  Shifter location and view inside engine after removing alternator rotor.

There is one 5/16 or 8mm bolt on the case, just below and to the rear of the shaft that also must be removed to allow you to rotate the shaft as it is being removed so as to clear the frame. split-ring pliers are necessary to remove the clips easily and a stick magnet is wise to attract any of the washers that develop a desire to run away from the area. I found the clips to be under sized and stretched too far open which I felt could be the reason they didn't stay in place as intended. I think they are 12mm and should be 13. I used 1/2 " clips and they are working well. I also used a double lip 12 X 22 X 6 mm rubber encased seal instead of the stock one and I am confident it will never leak again, because of the seal anyway. One last thing I did which may or may not be necessary, was to put a spacer between the clips. For this I used the collars that came with my Progressive shocks to adjust to different sized mounting bolts. They must be the thinnest ones to clear the gear on the balancer wheel which is very close to the shift shaft. I slid the thin one on first and then cut a thicker one to the remaining distance between the clips.

Views of shifter arm, seal, spacer, washers and circlips.

My reasoning here was that the cause for leakage around the shaft is the movement of the clips allowing the shaft to slide out just past the lip of the seal. The better seal may take care of this but if not, the spacer between the clips make it necessary for both clips to dislodge from their slots and slide together for the shaft to be able to move outward. This is much more difficult than just one under-sized, stressed clip to move. All of these things together may be a bit of overkill but I don't care to repeat a repair if it isn't necessary so I tend to over do rather than half do. I hope this will help some save some time, money and grief.  Vern "Dutch" VanDiver v1009 1500A8