[Osmium]

Preface: I am not a wise individual. Not even a little.

I got an '03 for a low price in rather weathered condition. Never rode before, but had it demonstrated to me, and it seemed quite functional, if a little leaky. Possibly a lot leaky. The oddity, it seemed, was that this particular one shifted a little differently, being Neutral at the bottom and gears all the way up. Took it home, gave it a few days, then checked over the fluids, topped up, and set to learning.

Getting into first gear without stalling the thing took a little work, but trial and error eventually won the day. Heady with newfound confidence, I attempted to bring it into second, which briefly seemed to work, and then tried to shift it back down in time to stop at the end of my small stretch of road, while applying copious amounts of break and suitable clutch.

This, apparently, kills the bike. Surely, nobody could have seen it coming.

So, I find myself with a problem. The bike won't start, and it won't get into neutral. The usual solution seems to be to rock the bike back and forth while shifting it down. It doesn't seem to work out. I can punch the shifter down as low as I can, but it doesn't seem to reach neutral even when the clicks run out. No light, no wheel mobility. I can shift it up all the way, too, it seems. The bike makes wonderful, clunking, hey-I'm-a-gearbox-and-I-hate-everything-you-are noises, but I can't really say if that means it's shifting, or just irate.

Is there a step by step method for complete fools on how to resolve this? Have I accidentally murdered the poor thing? Did I post in the entirely wrong section?