KLF 300 neutral and reverse issue

[Richard Western]

Hi guys,

I am hoping someone might be able to help me out. My Kawasaki 300 4x4 has an issue where it doesn't seem to want to go into neutral and also it will shift into reverse without using the lockout knob.

If anyone can suggest what to look at it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Frank Angerano]

Hey Richard, welcome to Quadcrazy.  What year is the bike?

That lock out knob, when you turn it, is there spring  loaded pressure that returns it back?

On the left side of the engine where the shifter is there is the reverse cam lock out that the cable leads to.  Follow that down and see if anything is jamming it up the cable.   If not the problem may be under that cover where the actual reverse cam is. But I don’t know the year and some vary.   The cover that houses that part is called  the bevel gear cover. It’s a bi*** to get off but doable. Unfortunately the engine bolts all need to come off and the left foot rest  as well. 

Its possible the spring is bad or worse the shaft inside is broke. 

But before you get into all that do some simple testing first and go through all the gears etc and see if anything else is not right.

 

 

 

[Frank Angerano]

Here are some pics of what you may be looking for.  

Fist pic is the cover, second is the cover off and the neutral safety switch covering the cam and shaft. Third pic is the actual cam and the lock out lever.  

[Richard Western]

Wow, thanks Frank for taking the time to post such a detailed reply that is really going to help me out a lot.

I am not 100% on the year but I think it's around '95.

The knob still feels spring loaded but possibly not as strong as it was.

I will have a look at the things you have suggested tomorrow and post back with what I find.

Thanks again for your help.

[Frank Angerano]

No worries brother.  The 95 should be exactly as the pics I sent.  

[Richard Western]

Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to give this issue a good looking at today but I had a quick look and now the issue has completely changed to where the bike is stuck in neutral which has really confused me now 🤔

The shifter feels like its shifting but the neutral light stays on?

[Frank Angerano]

My guess is that shaft on the reverse cam is broken leaving the neutral light on. If I’m correct that means the engine gets split. 

I would start by locating that light green wire over that bevel gear cover and unplug it.  If the neutral light goes off then the problem is under that cover.  

 

When your ready to pull that cover let me know I will walk you through it. 

[Richard Western]

Thank you Frank, your help and knowledge is truly appreciated.

I feared that it would be a big job.

I will try as you suggest and disconnect the green wire and post back with the result.

Thanks!

[Frank Angerano]

The picture here is the reverse cam.   The neutral safety switch sits right over it. It’s held in by two Philips screws circled in yellow. The red circle is the spring loaded contact on the reverse cam.  The back side of neutral safety switch has two copper circles under it. That tab on the reverse cam touches the copper circles turning the neutral light on (green wire) and the reverse light (red wire) that’s all done by shifting which happens when you shift gears that shaft rotates and turns the cam into position.  So I’m thinking that that shaft is not rotating. 

[Richard Western]

That is a really helpful explanation, thank you very much!

It looks like I have a lot of work heading my way with this bike. 

 

[Frank Angerano]

No worries. Decide which way you want to go and take it from there.   

[Richard Western]

OK so I unplugged the green wire and the neutral light did go off. When I reconnected it with the key in the on position there was an audible click from the relay on the battery box  is that normal?

I assume that the oil needs to be drained before pulling the cover, is that correct?

Thanks again for your help.

[Frank Angerano]

Yes the relay should have clicked. That completes the starting circuit.

The bevel gear cover when unbolted will not slide off because the shifter shaft prevents it from sliding off due to the close proximity to the frame.  So two ways to do this. One way is to pull the engine out of the bike and make the repair. This may be the best way to go for you since the problem may be deeper inside the engine. 

Second way: The oil does get drained, the engine mount bolts all need to be taken out including the bolt/brackets on the top and front of the engine. These are triangular shaped brackets that are bolted to the frame and the engine.  They both have to come out for clearance. The left foot rest needs to come off as well.  The exhaust silencer gets taken off so when you raise the engine it does not twist the exhaust or put pressure on the pipe coming from the engine. There are four nuts 12mm holding the rear axle shaft to the engine they  come off as well but not until the last minute  and see if the engine moves up without taking them out. If not then take them off.  

Once thats all done the engine should be pried up gently, have some wood wedges ready to stick in between the engine and frame to keep it up.  Just don’t force it. The engine should move up freely and only need to go up about two inches max. 

After thats done you should be able to take that cover off. 

Make sure all the bolts are off the bevel gear cover and tap it with a rubber mallet to loosen it. 

Lastly I want to mention one important thing. Take a big piece of cardboard, as you remove bolts put a hole in the cardboard, stick the bolt in and write on the cardboard with a  marker where it came from. 

Good luck. I will be checking in to see how your doing.  Take pics.  

[Richard Western]

Thank you yet again Frank for taking the time to help.

I will have to tear into this as soon as I have enough time to dedicate to it, it sounds like one of those jobs where if you stop and come back to it later you will have forgotten where things go.

I am sure I will be back with more questions to get me through this process.

I cant thank you enough for your assistance buddy.

[Frank Angerano]

It’s no problem brother really.  

 

[JacobSlabach]

Make sure that little lever that the reverse cable goes to isn't jammed with crap potentially causing your issue before taking the bike apart.  I had a Kawasaki and the reverse lever got a stick in it and I could not for the life of mr get it into neutral.  Took the stick out and works great

[Richard Western]

Thank you for your reply Jacob, much appreciated.

I will check that out, it would be a huge relief if it is something that simple so I will keep my fingers crossed.

I will post back soon.

Thanks again.

[Frank Angerano]

@JacobSlabach !!!! Where you been brother? Any luck selling the warrior and how’s the other bikes doing ?  

[Richard Western]

So I pulled the cover off that exposes the lever at the end of the reverse cable and it was all caked with hard mud, dry grass and all sorts of junk, cleaned all that stuff out and made a small adjustment to the reverse cable and now it seems to be working! 😁

I am happy that it was an easy fix... for now at least.

Thank you both for making the effort to help me out!  

[Frank Angerano]

That’s  great news.  How the heck did he get inside there ??

 

[Frank Angerano]

That’s a one piece cover as far as I knew.  Can you post a pic I’m curious about the one on your bike.  

[Hodadical]

So I'm having a similar problem on my KEF300 ('95 Lakota)... it will shift right past neutral and into reverse without touching the reverse knob. both the neutral and reverse indicator lights illuminate as they should, there is just no lockout. My reverse knob still has spring tension and will snap back. I've removed the left side crank cover and as able to locate the switch, spring, cam, and pin thats been discussed in this thread... but all looks a-ok, the cam is intact, the spring is good, the pin behind the switch. yet, with all this apart, I can actuate the gear shifter by hand and go straight from neutral into reverse (lights reports this) and never touching the reverse knob/lever (and with no cable tension attached)

What does this mean? I'm afraid the next steps involve removing the motor and splitting the case.

 

.

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by Hodadical

[Quadman11]

On 1/10/2021 at 6:38 AM, Hodadical said:

So I'm having a similar problem on my KEF300 ('95 Lakota)... it will shift right past neutral and into reverse without touching the reverse knob. both the neutral and reverse indicator lights illuminate as they should, there is just no lockout. My reverse knob still has spring tension and will snap back. I've removed the left side crank cover and as able to locate the switch, spring, cam, and pin thats been discussed in this thread... but all looks a-ok, the cam is intact, the spring is good, the pin behind the switch. yet, with all this apart, I can actuate the gear shifter by hand and go straight from neutral into reverse (lights reports this) and never touching the reverse knob/lever (and with no cable tension attached)

What does this mean? I'm afraid the next steps involve removing the motor and splitting the case.

 

.

 

 

 

Hi mate, Did you end up figuring out what was wrong? I just got a KLF300 and the initially shifting gears was extremely hard and stiff, then it started doing exactly what you have described. It will shift into reverse straight past neutral without using the reverse lever. Also the neutral light and reverse light stopped working so perhaps the switch is faulty so i bridged out the green wire to ground so it will start now. 

 

When the bike is off i am able to get it into neutral but when it is running it just goes straight past neutral into reverse. 

 

Thanks. 

[Quadman11]

On 9/7/2022 at 1:58 PM, Quadman11 said:

Hi mate, Did you end up figuring out what was wrong? I just got a KLF300 and the initially shifting gears was extremely hard and stiff, then it started doing exactly what you have described. It will shift into reverse straight past neutral without using the reverse lever. Also the neutral light and reverse light stopped working so perhaps the switch is faulty so i bridged out the green wire to ground so it will start now. 

 

When the bike is off i am able to get it into neutral but when it is running it just goes straight past neutral into reverse. 

 

Thanks. 

Hi mate did you sort this out? Mine is doing the same thing.