Shifts from 1 to 2 but no higher

[James]

1980 750k

bike shifts from first to second and back down to first no problem. runs fine, very strong actually. but when i am hauling in second and try to shift up to 3 there is nothing there. the bike just stays in second.

i think that also tonight while I was out on a ride to investigate it I got it up into third somehow but then it would only shift down to second and I couldn't get it back into first.  

the only thing I have done is check and top up the oil. I've had the bike for a while but have ridden it very little because over the winter i was slowly doing some brake/carb work.  

cheers

[Re-run]

Did it shift fine before? Or is it a fairly new bike to you and you are just really getting out to ride it?

If you have ridding it before and taken it through all 5 gears, I would say it is 1 of 2 things. Either there are plates that are not releasing as they should(stuck together) or the cable is not pulling the clutch enough to disengage it.

After that I would say there is something messed up in the tranny.

Might be time to pull the clutch basket out and clean the plates off and measure them to make sure they are within service limits. Check the 4 springs too.

Maybe someone else has a better thought.

[James]

thanks for the reply, well i rode it a few times when i first got it and it seemed to shift fine. but then it was off the road for a year while i fixed it and got busy with other things and now the bike is running great after some repairs but this shifting issue has cropped up, or it was there before and i never noticed it or the sitting has frozen something or who knows ( not me! )   I will have to investigate further.

[TOOLS1]

Had you taken the side cover off the engine while working on it?
TOOLS

[James]

Tools ,
Yes the side cover has been off. In fact I was riding it around when I first put it back on the road and noticed it was leaking some oil from a loose bolt on the bottom of the side cover.

( i assume you mean the right hand/throttle side of the bike )

What do you think could be happening ? thanks for the reply.  

I have not really done anything to the bike in the last few weeks as time has not allowed me to. I did put a new inline fuel filter on my bike but I am having a hard time getting the fuel line on without kinking as it turns from the petcock down to the other end into the carb area.