I think I did a stupid thing. I may have burned out my clutch. I loaded a very heavy 8 foot Christmas tree and dragged it up the hill hitched to the back of my bike a Honda Shadow 750. The hill is pretty steep. When I got to the top of the hill, my bike failed to go any further. The engine still ran but it was no longer in gear. When I turned off the engine, it started back up, but when I tried to pop the clutch into first, it immediately stalled the engine. The bike is a 2004, shaft driven.

Any ideas on what might have happened?

 

I'm not sure but if you burnt the clutch out to the point of not being able to put it in gear you should of been able to smell it. I can' think of what could have happened from just pulling a tree up a hill. What does everyone else think because I'm not to familiar with how this could effect the trans.

 

What is confusing me is that first you say the engine ran but the bike wouldn't move in gear, then when you started it back up, it ran but stalled in gear.

If you burned out your clutch you would get the effect of the first thing you said. The clutch plate would not engage he fly wheel fully and in gear/clutch out would leave you sitting in place.

However the opposite occurs when you restarted the bike, put it in gear, popped the clutch only to have it stall. A burnt clutch wouldn't make you stall because if the plates aren't engaging, there is nothing to slow/stop your engine.

Since this is confusing me, do a couple of things... and this may sound obvious but it happens, be sure your kick stand is up. I don't know much about the Shadow though so not sure if it has a sensor.

- start it in neutral, rev the engine a bit, does it run/rev fine?
- pull clutch IN, put it in gear, anything happen?
- very slowly clutch out, anything happen, does it start to grab at all?

Just recreate the situation and clarify on what happens.

 

I just got to ask why were you dragging a massive Christmas tree in March??? lol
Its the same as with a manual car- you burnt the clutch I think. good luck

 

Ok, so the reason I'm dragging this tree up, is that my wife wants me to plant this live tree, and I didn't get around to it, until the snow melted. The tree is very heavy as you can imagine with its rootball attached. I thought by dragging it up the hill I'd save my back from the work. I got it up the hill, but as I was going up, my bike would no longer engage in gear. When I shut off the bike, it restarted without a problem. However, as soon as I tried to engage it into first gear, the bike would stall. The engine turns over fine. However, as soon as I pull in the clutch, try to switch it into any gear outside of neutral, the bike stalls. This is shaft driven. Thanks for all your insight.

 

I was able to get the bike into first gear without stalling, but the bike moves like 5 inches per minute. It's as if something is not catching

 

if your bike goes in first and no matter how much power you will give it will only do what you are saying....... your trans is slipping. and im not sure how it is on the bikes but with a car, you would need a new transmition. that might be the case, but just wait until someone with more knowledge about bikes will agree with me.

in this case good luck with it. i sincerely hope that im wrong.

 

Adjust your clutch cable accordingly. Very simple fix

 

than y is the bike hardly moving (if you can call it moving) when in first gear??? that sounds like transmission problem.