Sometimes my xl1200 will not shift

find a tranny man,
any ASE shop works
ask em.' to CHeck it out.

It's normal for a bike to need to be moving, or "rocked" in order to shift without the engine running, both to get it out of gear, and to get the next gear to engage.

Needs to be removed and indexing on the shifter inside the trans. You could have worn or bent shift forks. Or bad gear dog wear. It's a racing bike, someones been racing it. It's 13 years old. Rebuild time

my guess is its not electric shifted, (what trans model is it)
so step 2 in the FSM book says.... and i paraphrase
step1 is stall test (my guess passes in 1st and reverse)
step 2, line pressure test?
if that fails, tranny is bad.

Hi, sometime a sign oil level requires checking

Faulty shift solenoid

Problem is in the shifting backdrop where is bad to work selection shift safety valve

bad motor, you can order a new one here www.powerwheelsoutlet.com

the mechanic should check the shifting gear and the shifting lever or the shift level and also the gear sleeve. Gear sleeve is the one that make the gear function. And lastly don't forget the transmission sensor because sometimes the problem can be found in the sensor .Then try to check the 1st. gear, 2nd gear,3rd gear,N ,R.of the trans mission to be sure .

look for transmission shift interlock solenoid fuse.or a bad brake switch will cause transmission not to come out of park.