[Unlucky_soul]

So just a few days ago... my Bullet (RH Gearbox) wouldn't engage in 1st gear until i moved it a bit in 2nd gear then it would go in 1st. Disappeared for a few days and then started acting up  like that... Any idea why it's happening?

[Adrian II]

Have you checked your clutch adjustment?

A.

[Unlucky_soul]

Clutch seems fine... Doesn't move forward in 1st gear while holding down the clutch lever... and kicks easily without any resistance in neutral while holding down clutch.

N.B: Did a little test today. while on center stand... it wouldn't go to 1st gear but when i moved the rear wheel by hand... then it went into 1st gear.

[Bilgemaster]

Mine likes to be rolling a bit to find neutral, or I might need to edge up a foot or two, but then I've got a 5-speed lefty. I just figured it's a quirk. Otherwise she's smooth as butter. I too might first suspect a clutch adjustment issue in your case...maybe goobed-up or worn clutch plates.

A few details might be helpful: Is yours running grease or oil in the box? What's in your primary? When was the last time you checked it or its level? Does she seem to slip at all in top gear, like when you're really charging up a hill? (insofar as that's possible on an Enfield) Lots of false neutrals recently?

[Unlucky_soul]

I got a mixture of gear oil(viscous oil... pretty thick) and grease.... No slippage at all... i haven't check the levels for a while but i do top it up time to time. no false neutrals so far.

[ringoism]

Is it a high-miler? 

Are there any adjustments within the gearbox itself (don't know if Pete Snidal gets that deep into them)?

Here in India I've very rarely found a 4-spd unit that shifted properly, just all kinds of weird problems - they might upshift fine but downshifting goes from 3rd to 1st (then you gotta upshift to 2nd if you need that gear), or can't find 1st at all, or false neutrals everywhere, or the neutral lever has to be used to catch 1st, or else the neutral lever just doesn't work at all... and more problems I can't remember!  I've never had one open and not sure about wear items, they can be made perfect but IMO they're definitely lacking in material quality and maybe design, it's not unlikely they're sometimes run dry here when the grease (what the???) hardens/leaks out.  I suppose it requires a good shop manual / technician.  Most people here learn to live with them, the rider/machine special relationship and rare joy of right-foot shifting... personally apart from that rare joy, I hate the 4-speeds, the 5-speeds are relatively trouble-free and the ratios tend to work out better for most people.  Here they're probably not too hard to find second-hand for upgrades, since they came along with the AVL's that most people here dislike, and some of which are probably getting junked by now. 

Sorry I couldn't do more helping and less griping... :-)

-Eric

[longstrokeclassic]

If you get good gear changes going in the direction of 1st to 4th but not 4th to 1st then moving the adjuster plate just off of centre to compensate for the foot being stronger pushing down than pulling up leaves you with a lot less chance of being dealt a bad gear.

[Vince]

The old 4 speed has an adjuster plate under the right cover. Properly adjusted, they shift decently up or down.
Any motorcycle transmission shifts better when the bike is rolling. This allows the side dogs on the slide gears to mesh with the side dogs on the pinion gears. At a stop one transmission shaft is not turning, so the dogs butt against each other rather then meshing. When rolling they will slip into engagement.

[blasphemous]

Open up the gear box cover and see if the ratchet mechanism engages when you put into gear. For this you need to be on the center stand and use the hand to rotate the back tire as you engage the gear. You don't need to hold the clutch for his. Go through the gears and see if it engages each time and returns to center.