I finally found out how to remove the shifter/throttle control. 1st - remove the large knob from the front of the shifter. 2nd - remove the set screw on the bottom of the chrome housing that has the shifter handle on it (access is through a hole in the bottom of this piece). then pull the chrome shifter housing off of the shaft. 3rd- remove the nut that holds on the outer flange of the shifter mechanism. You have to use a spanner socket - I made a home made spanner out of a 3" piece of pipe that I cut notches into so that I had four flat tabs that mate with the four notches that are around the circumference of the nut. I sprayed the nut with some penetrating oil and then worked the nut back and forth until it finally unscrewed. Once the outer flange is off the shifter you can remove the shifter mechanism. I found that all the grease inside my shifter had dried up and there was some corrosion on some of the shafts. Once I cleaned everything up and regreased everything the shifter worked great.
