Stuck in First Gear 83 VF750F V45

I am the proud new (less than 1 month) owner of a '83 VF750f.

The bike is stuck in first gear. I was rounding a corner and pulled in the clutch to shift, clicked up, and when I let out the clutch it felt like a violent downshift - I was still in first and didn't realize

The shift pedal now will go down as if it is in first, and up as if it were in fifth, that is, it still moves up and down.

It has ~24,000 miles on the clock.

I've heard from some friends with ATVs that this is likely to be a bent shift fork or something similar. If it is, I notice bikebandit.com only has the center fork in stock.

I haven't opened up the transmission to do any exploring to see whats going on, any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated. I' not sure If I have to drain the oil or not when opening up the transmission case. I recently changed the oil (less than 100mi) with honda brand 10w-30 fully synthetic.

Thanks

 

I'm responding to my own post but I thought it would be worth it to other people who have had a similar problem. It turns out the problem was just a small spring had broken in the shift linkage, a $2.34 part that is replaceable without dropping the engine. I got my information from a helpful fellow rider and this website here.


http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~rblander/V4_info.html

 

Roll the bike onto a 2X4 and use the sidestand. This puts a greater angle on the bike and you won't have to drain the oil. You may need a clutch cover gasket though. Get the OEM as the thickness is important.