Sportsman 500 HO, stuck in reverse

Solution#1 worked perfectly. It only took about 15 minutes all together.
the side panel removes easily. It just slides out of the other panel. Once you have removed the handle (Shifter) and the other two bracket bolts, just place it back into the shifter housing and move it around. I was amazed at how easy this was to repair. I also turned the ignition to the on position to see if it was changing gears and it was.
Solution #1 repost originally posted by Jpach
I tried this today and it worked. Pull the sideplate from the ATV so that you have access to the gear shifter assembly. Unbolt the gearshift assembly from the mounting bracket. There are two bolts at the rear near the two rods that exit the assembly and three on the bottom. When the bolts are out, remove the assembly from the mounting bracket. Hold it in your hand and move the shift lever through all of the positions. This won't actually shift the transmission, but it should free up the rods in the assembly. Remount the assembly with the five bolts and it should now be able to shift out of reverse.

I tried this today and it worked. Pull the sideplate from the ATV so that you have access to the gear shifter assembly. Unbolt the gearshift assembly from the mounting bracket. There are two bolts at the rear near the two rods that exit the assembly and three on the bottom. When the bolts are out, remove the assembly from the mounting bracket. Hold it in your hand and move the shift lever through all of the positions. This won't actually shift the transmission, but it should free up the rods in the assembly. Remount the assembly with the five bolts and it should now be able to shift out of reverse.

The previous answers do get the transmission shifting again. However, it isn't a fix. It will happen again. Adjusting the shift rods helped slightly. Seems to be the shifter housing. The bores for the shafts that the shift rods bolt to are worn. Appears that is allowing too much space between them and the shifter gets jammed and can't get back in the notch. Haven't messed with it much. But none of the other parts show much wear. Not much of a way to repair the housing bores other than replace housing. Was a bad design. Should have had a Steele sleeve instead of just the soft aluminum. Was bound to wear out.

Thanks so much guys, worked PERFECTLY. Takes hardly any effort to fix when done as outlined above. I think the problem has something to do with the rod adjustments being off a little, and there are adjustment screws, but getting it unstuck was easy, thanks again!