I replaced all the final drive seals in my 09 soft tail heritage. Bike will not go into neutral light comes on bike not in neutral. Rock acts like neutral then stops go other direction same thing/. Remove trans cover remove shift barrel I can put bike in neutral. Put back together same thing. Help will be appreciated.
transmission problem
- Thread starter nitrodog1
- Start date
dolt
Well-Known Member
Having a hard time following. First, what "final drive" seal did you replace? Unless I am missing something, replacing those seals did not require doing anything to the tranny. Having said that, the problem sounds like the shift forks may be in the wrong grooves in the shift drum but if you didn't go into the trans; that shouldn't be an issue. More detailed information on what work was done and a clearer explanation of the problem would be helpful. You have my sympathy though any trans work on a softail is a real pain with the oil tank getting in the way.
Never did anything to transmission just replace seals. Took top off transmission when I had no neutral. Removed barrel to check fork movement and put trans in neutral. Never had forks out. Could I have a bent shift fork? If bent fork can I get forks out without removing transmission?
dolt
Well-Known Member
You could have a bent shift fork but I don't know how it got bent during the R/R of the seals.
Yes, you can R/R the shift fork without removing the transmission. The shift fork rod will slide out after removing the shift drum and the side (trap) door. You will need to drain the tranny first or you will have gear oil all over the place.Check the movement of the shift pawl while your in there to make sure it is operating properly and matching up with the shift drum. Did I understand from your OP that if you remove the top cover, you can find neutral and shift up and down through the gears using the foot shifter without issues? Do you have the rear wheel off the ground so you can rotate it? If the rear wheel cannot move and rotate the main shaft, the trans can sort of lock up and shifting by hand, using the foot shift lever is difficult. If the rear wheel is not off the ground, get it up and try using the foot shift lever, by hand, while rotating the rear wheel.
dolt
Well-Known Member
[QUOTE="nitrodog1]I remove cover the barrel and move forks by hand into neutral. Rear wheel is off ground turns freely. Put barrel back on, no neutral rock wheel no neutral wheel turns freely for half revolution then hits something with a solid sound.[/QUOTE]
I am trying brother, believe me I am but I am having some difficulty following. So, if I understand correctly, you remove the shift drum, place the shift forks in neutral and the rear wheel rotates freely, as it should? You should also be able to position the shift forks and put the trans in all the other gears and rotated the rear wheel as well (with spark plugs removed). Of course the wheel will require more effort to rotate but that will verify that the trans is functioning as it should.
Now put the shift drum back in, make sure the shift pawl is adjusted properly and you should be able to see what happens when you manually operate the shift lever to put the trans in neutral. If you can put the trans in neutral that way, the wheel should turn freely as it did without the shift drum in place. If you cannot put the trans in neutral that way, then something is wrong with the drum, shift pawl, shift forks or shift fork rod.
I assume that the trans was functioning properly before you replaced the seals? Which seals did you replace?
I am trying brother, believe me I am but I am having some difficulty following. So, if I understand correctly, you remove the shift drum, place the shift forks in neutral and the rear wheel rotates freely, as it should? You should also be able to position the shift forks and put the trans in all the other gears and rotated the rear wheel as well (with spark plugs removed). Of course the wheel will require more effort to rotate but that will verify that the trans is functioning as it should.
Now put the shift drum back in, make sure the shift pawl is adjusted properly and you should be able to see what happens when you manually operate the shift lever to put the trans in neutral. If you can put the trans in neutral that way, the wheel should turn freely as it did without the shift drum in place. If you cannot put the trans in neutral that way, then something is wrong with the drum, shift pawl, shift forks or shift fork rod.
I assume that the trans was functioning properly before you replaced the seals? Which seals did you replace?