Variety of posts here on this great forum solved my problem on my normally reliable 87 FXR (35,000 miles)
The problem? After a bad mechanic changed my belt, he left me with a leaky primary. So I tightened up the cover and changed the primary oil and tranny oil -- using HD F+ in the primary and the tranny.
Following owner's manual directions, I topped off the primary at the inspection opening with bike vertical and not leaned over on the jiffy stand.
Well, that's when the shifting problems started. Tough from first to second, mainly, and neutral difficult to find at these warm Southern Cal stop lights.
After reading the forum I did the following:
* Drained the tranny and went with Mobil 1 75w90 gear oil. I used a nylon washer and pipe tape on the drain club, by the way.
* Went with HD Syn3 in the primary.
While the shifting eased up a bit, I still had the problem, and also noticed some clutch slippage at the top rpm when I really wound it through the gears. Then I rememberd a post saying that the primary fluid -- unlike what the owner's manual says -- should just be to the bottom of the clutch.
With the bike on the jiffy stand, I removed the inspection cover and let the excess primary oil drain out. When I did put the bike vertical, I noticed this gave me the exact level at the bottom of the clutch as the post had recommended.
I closed the cover and tightened everything back up and eureka! It's shifting better than ever. Like butter. Neutral no problem.
I hope this helps solve any problems others may be having with this issue.
And again, thanks for the posts.
The problem? After a bad mechanic changed my belt, he left me with a leaky primary. So I tightened up the cover and changed the primary oil and tranny oil -- using HD F+ in the primary and the tranny.
Following owner's manual directions, I topped off the primary at the inspection opening with bike vertical and not leaned over on the jiffy stand.
Well, that's when the shifting problems started. Tough from first to second, mainly, and neutral difficult to find at these warm Southern Cal stop lights.
After reading the forum I did the following:
* Drained the tranny and went with Mobil 1 75w90 gear oil. I used a nylon washer and pipe tape on the drain club, by the way.
* Went with HD Syn3 in the primary.
While the shifting eased up a bit, I still had the problem, and also noticed some clutch slippage at the top rpm when I really wound it through the gears. Then I rememberd a post saying that the primary fluid -- unlike what the owner's manual says -- should just be to the bottom of the clutch.
With the bike on the jiffy stand, I removed the inspection cover and let the excess primary oil drain out. When I did put the bike vertical, I noticed this gave me the exact level at the bottom of the clutch as the post had recommended.
I closed the cover and tightened everything back up and eureka! It's shifting better than ever. Like butter. Neutral no problem.
I hope this helps solve any problems others may be having with this issue.
And again, thanks for the posts.
