S1B gear selection

[Slug]

Hi I have an S1C which has a gearbox problem.

It selects 1st gear easily back into neutral then won't go into 2nd gear no how much force is applied, any thoughts please before I tear the engine apart?
Thanks.

[scouse]

You have nothing to worry about, there's 3 ball bearings in one of the gears to stop you accidentally selecting 2nd while stationary.
When the bike is moving centrifugal force retracts the bearings allowing the rest of the gears to be selet.
With cases apart you can spin the shafts quick enough by hand to select the rest of the gears

[skub]

Kawasaki still use that on their bikes today. I have a 2020 Z1000 which is exactly the same,I've always found it very useful,stop in first and you can't bang it up beyond neutral while stationary.

[Slug]

Thanks for the info guys but I was screaming the thing up the main road frantically trying to select 2nd with cars up my arse....

[Mitsui Spy]

Could be a number of things in that case:
Gear lever/linkage fouling casing
Selector drum location plate come loose
Selector drum broken
Selector forks worn/broken
Neural finder mechanism faulty
Endplate of selector drum loose/missing pins
Gears shafts missing shims
Selector mechanism damaged etc., etc.

It's a case of working through it all starting with the most easily accessible parts first. Has it previously worked? Has anything changed. Just remember if you're bench testing you'll need to spin the mainshaft to go into second from first.

[Smartbear]

Have you worked on anything before this problem started?
Rob