Not in my experience. That's all I can say.

My transmission knowledge is about zilch. I know there was/is an issue with the lack of a retaining clip that held 5th gear in position, but I think that showed up in 1986 - on. Somehow, I feel inclined to recommend you contact Ted Porter at The Beemer Shop. He seems very familiar with these gearboxes. 

Thanks, appreciate the tip.

I have the same scenario.  Did you ever get info on this?

Your 1983 should not have an issue with the deleted circlip on the output shaft. That is a 1985 and later issue. It is possible to find a "false neutral" between any gear on early airheads.  I think that has more to do with the the mechanism that actuates the cams that engage with the shift forks inside the gear box.

I have learned to live with the oddities of our Airheads. If you can not live with it, or if it fails, upgrades are available from some of the shops that advertise in our Airmail newsletter. You would need to open up your transmission to install the shift kit upgrade.  

• If you are not presently using, then as a first step I would recommend changing the gearbox oil to a multi-grade synthetic, such as Valvoline 75W140. You can also use this in the drive shaft and final drive housings. General shifting behavior will vastly improve over the straight 90W gear oil you may be using.

• You've given zero details about RPM or road speed, so we need to consider everything. Along Jim's thinking, this is one of those issues that could just as easily be the rider and not the machine. Especially if you came to Airheads after riding Japanese bikes. Try making a concerted effort to change shifting habits. The bike does not need to be in top gear just because you've finished accelerating. If the speed limit is a moderate 45 MPH, then there is no particular reason to be in 5th gear; even if you're going to be cruising at that speed for the next hour. In fact, there would be a lot of evidence against it since the RT has the highest final drive ratio of any Airhead. 

Please understand, these are comments about training and habits, not the person.

Hope this helps.

Richard is correct about selecting a desirable gear for a given speed. What I like to do is to keep the motor RPMs between 3000 to 4000 RPM and the select a gear that holds your desired speed. On my R75/5 (4 speed transmission), I find myself rolling in second or third gear in town at lowers speeds. 

It helps my shifting on my 1985 r80rt to practice preloading the shifter slightly prior to pulling in the clutch at the given rpms mentioned earlier. Between 4th and 5th is where I find it helps the most. Generally once I've preloaded I then pull in the clutch  then complete the shift and that seems to help that false space the op was talking about.

Takes a little practice and getting use to but i

• Find it very effective as long as your keeping the rpms  somewhere between 3500 and 4500, though your reading may vary.