[tinwakr]

Hi Everyone,

I took my '99 Intruder VL1500LC to the shop yesterday for an oil change.

I had been having issues with losing 4th gear whilst riding, what I mean is, while cruising along in 4th gear it will suddenly "drop-out", I then have to pull in the clutch and kick it back down into 4th and continue on my way. When shifting into 4th gear it seems to not want to go into gear at first, almost like it "clicks" into gear but goes a little further after the click. I hope that makes sense. I don't use the heel shift anymore because it doesn't seem to be a reliable means to change gears anymore, it is a more positive shift using the toe shift.
Anyway, I explained to the service manager what I was experiencing and he told me it could be one of three things, a bent shift fork, forth gear is frigged(starting to have a simialr problem with 3rd, not dropping out but doesn't seem like things are meshing properly) and/or clutch. He also went on to tell me that the engine had to be dismantled and could cost up to $1200.00!

Has anyone experiece this kind of problem and how was it solved. Does this sound like a good diagnosis?

I have read the factory service manual and although it looks quite time consuming, I may be into doing a job like this. Has anyone tackled removing the engine and splitting the case to replace gears/forks?

Thanks in advance for any and all information.

Chuck