by Mutt » Fri May 27, 2022 8:15 pm
all 125 and 165 , 1948 thru 1954 had splined shifter shafts and splined levers. Thank the Davidson brothers for all their "cost saving bottom line " practices. In 1955, to save money by less work needing to be done, the Factory changed to the smooth shaft/smooth bore lever. Also, 1955 went to the transmission shafts that had only 2 sets of splines (instead of 3 like the earlier transmissions) . 55 thru 66 models are notorious for popping out of gear because of this "cost savings".
The best motor was the 1953 165, Everything was replaceable, buying only the one part ya needed. If the Factory would have started making the racing gears in 53, the close 2nd and extra close 3rd, would have been the very best transmission for the entire series .