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1st gear shift problem

T

ttrumbull

Member
Help!! I am very confused here. Seems once my bike warms up first gear does not fully engage. After stopping in nuetral, drop into first and the bike rolls off as the torq increases it slams into first. I have adjusted the clutch and it seems to be in good shape. Where do I go from here? Any ideas would help. Help me if you can. Thanx.
 
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Thanx for your reply glide, here is what Ive done. It was doing this just minerly. So I changed the fluid in it with HD sythetic. It was still doing it so I broke out the service manual ( I had only worked on and road my dads old sporters before its simaler but not the same)and did just what it said. remove lock nut turn adjustment screw counter clockwise till it stops and turn back a 1/4 turn. then it did not engage at all so I countinued turning the screw a 1/2 turn at a time till it moved. test drove and readjusted 2 more times. And I am still having the same problem. How do you know when it is right? Is there some trick to check without riding? I got the links you sent me Ill try that and let you know. Thanx.
 
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First of all, you said...

"So I changed the fluid in it with HD synthetic".

Hope you didn't install HD Syn 3 in the trans, if you did, that's not a good choice in the trans. It's not a full synthetic either and it's 20/50 MOTOR oil. There are much better choices in GEAR OIL that are better for your trans than this choice.

Now getting down to the clutch, you said...

"remove lock nut turn adjustment screw counter clockwise till it stops and turn back a 1/4 turn".

Unless I am misunderstanding you here, you are supposed to just loosen the locknut and turn the adjuster IN until it lightly seats and then back it out from there the 1/2 to 1 full turn and lock the lock nut down.

It seems as if you had the direction of the adjuster back wards. The adjustment that you do now with the engine cold will vary slightly where the clutch grabs on the handle when it is warm. It's a trial and error thing to get it exactly where you want it with the final adjustments.
 
Alright Glidder I finaly had time to do all that with some help from someone who knows how to do all this. I am still having the same problem? We are both stuped. Where do we go from here?
 
Assuming that you did the clutch adjustment properly, did it have a shifting problem prior to the adjustment?

The oil....do you have the proper level and type for the bike?

From what you say, it sounds like the trans isn't going fully into first when you shift it from neutral...Is that's what happening here?

Then when you start off, it slams into neutral then?

Still sounds like a clutch adjustment is out of spec. unless there is a shifter fork problem in the trans.
 
Clutch feels good and strong. fluid levels are good. And I still dont have the problem till it warms up. And yes only happens after stopping and sitting in nuetral. Shift into 1st and as torque increases it slams into first. I am not letting it slam I can feel it coming. What should be the next thing to look at?
 
If everything is in speck with the clutch, It would appear that the transmission shifter forks could be causing the problem and that gets a bit involved.

Why not try one thing before getting into the trans. The clutch is supposed to be adjusted cold, are you doing it before riding the bike, if so, try readjusting it with some heat in the bike after a brief ride to see if it helps any. There's a possibility that your clutch plates may be warped causing this problem also, which would require replacement.

How long has it been doing this? Has it always done it or did it start after some type of maintenance/adjustment?
 
It started doing it just around 10,000 miles. I will try to reajust with a little heat in it. I did nothing to the bike between the 5000 mile service which was done at Harley. I am not real hard on the bike if that helps you any.......
 
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