Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

Hi all,

I'm trying to replace the gearshift drum on my '74 CR250. The problem is, I can't get
the pin out of the countershaft fork so I can remove that fork from the old gearshift drum.
I've tried rapping on the fork with a rubber mallet, compressed air, contact cleaner
(in case of hydraulic lock). The only thing I haven't tried that I can think of is a strong
magnet (which I would have to get). Does anybody know the trick to getting this pin to
drop out? Any help would be appreciated.

dogger

_________________
1973 CR250M
1979 CR250R
1993 CR250R
2008 CR500R
2009 CR250R

Not real clear on what you are calling what. Maybe a little more details. The shift forks slide on shafts that fit in the case. I think there might be a screw that holds on one, but if not they should slide out of the case and the forks will be free and you can remove them. Sometimes you have to jiggle them a bit ( the shafts) to free them because the are a close fit and need to be taken straight out.

There are three gearshift forks, left center and right. The left and right
forks are mounted on a shaft like you said. The center fork is mounted
on the gearshift drum itself. All three shift forks have small pins that ride
in grooves in the gearshift drum. The pins on the left and right shift forks
are fixed. The pin on the center gearshift fork is removable (supposedly).
The center gearshift fork encircles the shift drum and would slide right off
if the shift pin could be coaxed out of it's mounting hole.

Update. I picked up a magnetic probe from Sears and was able to get the
pin out of another center gearshift fork I had. The first one must have a burr
or something in the mounting hole because it refuses to come out but the
magnet idea does work, sometimes at least.

dogger

_________________
1973 CR250M
1979 CR250R
1993 CR250R
2008 CR500R
2009 CR250R