My Blackbird had horrendous shifting problems when I first got it -- crunching, grinding, popping out of gear and almost impossible to shift from 1st to 2nd. I thought the shift forks were buggered . . . turned out the area under the front sprocket cover was so filthy that the clutch lifter rod was jammed solid in hard-packed dirt and old chain lube. I cleaned it out, removed the lifter rod and buffed some burrs off, and it shifted like a brand new bike. Or so I thought -- until later when I flushed the clutch fluid and cleaned half an inch of greasy sludge out of the bottom of the master cylinder reservoir. Now it shifts like a brand new bike