A top cover assembly for a manual transmission having a plurality of gears and a reverse gear is provided. The top cover assembly comprises a shift rail assembly, a reverse biasing assembly, and a shift housing assembly. The shift rail assembly includes a sensing device that interacts with a contoured surface for producing a first electronic signal in response to the shift rail being in a neutral position for range shifting. Another contoured surface acts to center the shift rail and an operatively connected shift lever. For reverse biasing, the shift lever has a first lower shift force when moved to shift at least one of the forward gears. An interlock supported by the shift rail and shift sleeve rotates with the shift rail and acts to lock out other gears during a gear shift. In one aspect of the invention, the interlock is also used for reverse biasing. A detent engages the interlock for creating a higher shift force than the first lower shift force when the shift lever is moved to shift the reverse gear. Additionally, a shift housing assembly comprises a shift housing having a channel and a shift fork for engaging the plurality of gears. A shift bar interconnects the shift lever and the shift fork and slidingly engages the channel such that when the shift lever and shift sleeve actuates the shift bar, said shift bar moves along the channel causing the shift fork to engage and shift into a desired gear.