Shifter Safety Collar Adjustment?

Hey gang,
Recently acquired a 2014 Nautique 200CB, ZR409, 1370 hrs
First water test was yesterday. I must say, pretty awesome machine.

When I pulled up the safety collar to move the shifter to shift into gear, it doesn't seem like it pulls the piece at the bottom far enough upward to easily shift into gear.

Is there a way to adjust the travel on that?
When I removed the shifter knob, the safety collar could travel farther and the problem seemed to go away.
The "sticking" also seemed worse with the boat in the water than when I was moving the shifter later with the boat on the trailer.

Thank you,
Dave

1370 Hours: It was a Promo boat in Florida. Very well cared for.

In case anyone else needs to know, to remove the shift lever in a Nautique 200:

1. At the center of the neutral button (that stops you from shifting into gear and allows you to add throttle) there is an Allen screw. Remove it.

2. Carefully slide out the neutral button

3. There are 3 Allen screws that attach the shifter to the greater throttle control. Remove them. Mine were pretty tight. I had to lengthen the short side allen key to generate enough leverage to start loosening each screw. At this point, you can gently slide the shifter arm off.

4. To access the moving parts of the neutral detent that the safety collar disengages, I loosened 2 more screws from the gunwale side of the shifter arm once it was removed.

5. The shifter knob is removed by loosening 1 allen screw on the bow side of the knob

In my case, the problem was dirt and grime gumming up the moving parts, particularly the brass round post that slides horizontally to allow shifting into gear when the safety collar is lifted. I wiped off all the grime, reassembled and it worked much better.

Dave,
Thanks for the write up. I'm sure many who have the same problem will appreciate the information. I'm going to link the thread in the FAQ thread.