Riding season is finally back for me, got out yesterday for a few hours. A number of times when I went to downshift the lever didn't pop back into place right away, but when I would give it an extra bump with my boot it would pop up again. I have read about the spring that can break inside, but I would think that if it does pop back up the spring couldn't be broken? I have also read about taking the shift lever off the shaft and cleaning the shaft really well, guess I should start there? Never had this happen before.

 

This happens more than most people kow. I've experienced it on my 14 SGS. If it Pops up then the Spring isn't broken. Remove, clean (might need to sand the rough spots) & lube the shifter shaft & oil the shift rod joints F & R. I fixed mine that way.

 

Review the allen/hex bolt at lever located on transmission shaft.
To be clearer:
Look at shift rod by left foot.
Then review allen/hex bolt on lever at end of that rod.
That allen/hex bolt clamps the lever to transmission shaft.
If that lever is loose then shaft does not move precisely.
It may cause a missed shift, difficult neutral and lever might not bounce into place correctly because lever is loose on shaft.
Is that allen/hex tight?

 

+1 on greasing the shifter shaft.

 

All above is good advice.

Question, did you pull up to a light and down shift several gears while stopped? That can do some weird things and cause it to hang a little.

 

 

Greasing the shaft, putting this on my list of things to do, probably yearly. I know I check the how tight that bolt is all the time now cause, I lost my heal toe shifter and that shaft while on vacation in Cody WY last year. Never noticed any problem shifting or any thing, just went to down shift and the whole thing was gone.

 

My Limited will do that sometimes if I'm a bit lazy about lifting my foot off the shifter.... not allowing it to "spring" up. Then I ride along fine for a while, and do it again.

I'm a slow learner.

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I'm pretty sure I ran over a shifter in front of the rodeo while there last year. Dude... you almost made me crash!

 

In the OLD days, there was a grease fitting on the cast tube containing the front shift shaft. Rather than disassembling the levers every year or two, I installed a grease fitting. Give it a squirt or two during every servicing. Not hard for an experienced DIYer. Changing the ball joints for Heim joints will eliminate future problems with a DISCONNECTED shift linkage.