6 speed blues

I traded my '05 deluxe for a '07 Road King Classic. Love the ride.
Question: Anybody solve the "throw out bearing" sound when in 5th gear? The squealing has me concerned. I'm taking it back to the dealer to see what the techs say.

Not sure how much of this is fact, but here is my 2 cents worth based on information from a few tech breifs I read.

When HD designed the new 6 speed they used helical cut gears in 1thru 4, and 6th gear. For whatever reason, they retained 5th gear as a straight cut gear. So not sure if this was a cost savings issue or just a less than perfect design on HD's part. Because helical gears run more quiet and shift smoother than a straight cut gear, people tend to notice the noise of 5th gear more than the others. I also read that intitially HD spec'd the wrong fliud for the new tranny, which made it even louder.

One thing I do know for sure is that in the Feb or March edition of Thunderpress News, Baker transmission had a full page add marketing a rebuild kit that will eliminate the 5th gear noise in the new HD 6 speed. Makes you wonder what they know!

I have an 07 Streetglide, about 1 month old with only about 2500klms, and can notice a small difference in noise level in 5th, but it is minimal. As mentioned earlier, it may be the oil. Hope they fix it for you

my 07 has a sound in first gear/sounds like a diesel engines turbo.no other gears have any noise.my 05 /5 speed has a 4th gear noise but i just got used to it.
if u havent tried it run 70 weight oil in the tranny/shifts smoother and is a better lube than just 20-50oil

I've not coasted with it, but regular riding single or two up it squeals. If you can remember what a throw out bearing sounds like when it was going out, that's what it reminds me of. I'm concerned to ride in 5th.
Thank you for the reply.
This site is going to be very helpful!
Thanks for being here!

My 05 deluxe softtail had no gear noise.
I do know when i had the amsoil oil in the crankcase, trans, and primary, things were quieter and smoother.
Diesel sound. mmmmmm......another good anology. its loud. I'm embarassed to ride by somebody in 5th gear.

Thanks, I'll check into that further and demand the right gear oil in the tranny.

Do you know what oil is in the tranny?
Thank you for the info.

I've been running synthetics in all cases since the 1000 mile checkup. JMO, but I never bought into the claims that you can use the same oil in all 3 cases, especially in the trans. There's a lot of high pressure gear meshing going on in there and with the trans tuck low behind the engine, there's not a lot of airflow to keep the trans cool. I don't think 20-50 is enough protection for the trans.

There's are a lot of good dino based and synthetics on the market. I run AMSOIL 20-50 in the engine and primary, and run 75-90 in the tranny. It shifts smooth and there is no noise.

The 5th gear was straight cut because it carries more of a load and a straight cut is stronger, but noiser. Regarding trans oil, 70/90 is the way to go, never understood why they were putting 20/50 in the the trans.

Not sure if it's true, but I'm told that there is an ingrediant in the trans oil that is designed for lubricating the gears. With the exception of the 3 in 1 oils, the regular motor oil does not have this.

am i caughing on yet

seems to me a if your hearing all these noises your pipes aren't loud enough. better pull them buffles:drunk:

Referee, mine is running factory oil at present but I will change it to Mobil full synthetic 70/90 gear oil. I have used it in all my bikes and swear by it. I would try Amsoil but too hard to obtain in Aust.

Hey manyanna51...i don't think you can go wrong with the mobile 1, great product. There are a lot of good products out there, Mobil1 , Redline, and AMSOIL just to name a few. I heard about a product called Royal Purple, but don't really know any details about it. So I say stick with what works.

I'M WITH U SKULL:drunk: :rocket_bike:

DON'T BE AFRAID TO RIDE IN 5TH GEAR, I HAVE THE ROAD KING SCREAMIN EAGHLE 6 SPEED 110CU. IN. WITH A LOT OF TORQUE, HAVE OVER 3,000 MILES ON THE BIKE, MOST OF MY RIDING IS 2 UP I DO NOT USE 6TH GEAR UNTIL ABOVE 70 MPH, WE DO A LOT OF RIDING IN THE MOUNTAINS WHICH MEANS A LOT OF GEAR SHIFTING, BESIDES IF IT COMES OUT ITS NEW LET HARLEY FIX IT AND PAY FOR IT

LIVE EASY, RIDE HARD:rocket_bike: