Last summer when I would shift into forward or reverse it felt a little rust almost boat was consistent and after going from TRS drives to Bravos I knew it was going to be tougher. This spring they are very stiff and not going in or out of gear very easily. The motors are off and the drives are up, but assumed that doesn't matter. How hard is it to replace the cables if thats most likely what the issue is or is there a way to grease them.

Thanks.

It is not good to shift a bravo drive without the engine running.

I wouldn't put it in gear with out running it is not good for it. Run it on the hoes and then try it and see if it still stiff.

Not sure if I am reading your question right, but if you have Bravos and motors are out the input shaft has to,be turned while trying to shift. Check the inner cable where it comes out of the helmet make sure it's not bend. They can get bend when removing drives if they were not released from shift lever on drive. look at cable routing inside boat if not in right place can cause shift problem. There are many posts about the detent ball behind rear cap if water gets in or lack of grease. You can't grease the cable, it is not very hard to replace cable. There is an adjustment that needs to be made when replacing cable and requires two tools. Hope some of this will help

Well crap, I didn't know it was bad to shift when it's not running. Hope I didn't screw anything up. I better run it on the hose soon to be sure. Thanks for the help. What should I look for when I start them to see if I did any damage?

I dont think doing it once will really hurt any thing. But just check for tightness and how smooth it gos in and out of gear

cone clutch outdrives it is not wise to shift them without internal rotation.

Also it not good to shut your engines off while the outdrive is in gear. this even includes reverse

No too bad other than lifting the drive.

Here's a decent how to article:
http://outdrivetools.com/replace_bravo_shiftcable.html

Bup, what bad effects are there to shutting it off in gear? I've always heard the shifting while they aren't running. Thanks, for all the advice you give in these forums. Sure it helps a lot of folks out.

Your welcome, sometimes the engagement will be stuck in gear and can not come out of gear that easily. And then of course the boat owner tries like hell to put the shift handle back into N and can not. I have seen them even break the control and or control box trying to get it back into N. Of course depending on what you have for controls and how old it is. . It also adds extra stress on the control box / shifter, linkage and the shift cables as well, stuck in gear and you are trying to get back into N.

Volvo Penta's sometimes can really get stuck even worse than Bravo's..