My '81 xs650 has been chopped, raked and has the swingarm stretched so everything is not exactly original. My problem is that the gear shifter that sticks out of the side of the engine has the spline stripped and the clamp can't get a good grip. I drilled a hole through it and inserted a pin but it breaks off sometimes. How big a job is it to replace the whole shifter?
Also, my battery is bad so I always have to kick start. I don't mind this as the bike starts on the 1st or 2nd kick but will running with a bad battery hurt the bike or affect performance?
Thanks... Bill

Yeah you should replace the shifter, shouldn't be hard, since they are made to be taken apart after all. As for the battery, no to all, except in the winter, a dead battery may crack open.