reverse gear

[icedad]

I have a 98 Goldwing gl 1500 CSC. I have a heck of a time trying to use reverse when I have to. I can have it in neutral and activate the lever until the lighted R comes on and nothing happens. I have to keep the starter/reverse button pressed and play with the lever until it moves. It's 50/50 whether it works or not. I AM CONFOOSED! I never ever intentionally park in a bad spot because of my arthritic knees. Is there some kind of adjustment that can be done to fix this?

[hbrogan57]

I have a 98 Goldwing gl 1500 CSC. I have a heck of a time trying to use reverse when I have to. I can have it in neutral and activate the lever until the lighted R comes on and nothing happens. I have to keep the starter/reverse button pressed and play with the lever until it moves. It's 50/50 whether it works or not. I AM CONFOOSED! I never ever intentionally park in a bad spot because of my arthritic knees. Is there some kind of adjustment that can be done to fix this?

You might want to try cleaning the contacts on the inside. I have a 2001 and the button kept getting stuck and wouldn't engage/disengage so I simply cleaned things off and it works great now.

[Cavetuna]

I had/have a similar problem with my 1800. I sprayed the switch with tuner cleaner. It seems to have fixed it or helped but since it is winter here now I haven't had the trike out enough to test how reliable this fix is. I would take the switch apart (though I was warned about loosing the spring inside) to clean it if I knew exactly how it comes apart.

[John Luciano]

There is a way to adjust the lever throw, I will have to locate it..

[icedad]

Well, I guess I no longer have this problem with reverse, mine is worse. According to the mechanic, the gear in the motor is stripped and causing the problem. This does not make any sense to me. Why would Honda design the gear in the motor to fail before the gear in the starter? They could have made the starter gear out of a softer metal IMHO. Heck of alot cheaper repair I'd say. They told me that in order to fix it, they'd have to pull the motor. I Don't know, I'm not a Goldwing mechanic. We'll I guess I just have to use the arthritic knees to back out if needed and make sure I park where I can drive out.

[Konrad]

Well, I guess I no longer have this problem with reverse, mine is worse. According to the mechanic, the gear in the motor is stripped and causing the problem. This does not make any sense to me. Why would Honda design the gear in the motor to fail before the gear in the starter? They could have made the starter gear out of a softer metal IMHO. Heck of alot cheaper repair I'd say. They told me that in order to fix it, they'd have to pull the motor. I Don't know, I'm not a Goldwing mechanic. We'll I guess I just have to use the arthritic knees to back out if needed and make sure I park where I can drive out.

And what happens with all those pieces of metal rattling around in the motor if you don't fix it? That's a real bummer!

[John Luciano]

I think it is an adjustment. If the gear were to break the bike would make a very strange noise when using it. If it is just failing it is out of adjustment. Find another mechanic . Yes the motor must be pulled the case must be split. Requires a full gasket kit to repair . Ruff estimate $800

[87Trike1200]

I have a 98 Goldwing gl 1500 CSC. I have a heck of a time trying to use reverse when I have to. I can have it in neutral and activate the lever until the lighted R comes on and nothing happens. I have to keep the starter/reverse button pressed and play with the lever until it moves...

My 1500 has always done the same (or similar ) thing. If you pull the lever up to it's normal reverse position and hit the starter button, the bike only moves a few inches. If you pull the lever up about half way, everything works normal. Rather than trying to find and repair (or adjust) the lever, cable, or whatever else may be involved, I just use the "pull it up halfway" method and everything works fine. I've had the bike since it had only 4,000 miles on it (now just under 50k) and it has always done this - never got better worse.