tranny main seal leaking . . .

I guess this is the year of leaking seals for me, and I've had bad luck with them all. Some of you may recall when I replaced the main fork seals a while back and they still weep some. Tried the Sealmate and it helped some, but there is still weeping from both the seals and me LOL.

Well, I replaced my tranny main seal last week (left side of the 4-speed) and I'm still seeing oil on the frame roughly below the seal area. Funny thing is, Tattoo and I looked underneath and it appears there is no oil coming from where the seal is located. Can't figure out where it's leaking from . . .
I used a James seal and even called the company to make sure I put it in correctly. I'd just hate to have to do this job over again. Hmmm . . .

Clean the area around the leak and then spray the area with a spray powder deodorant...This may help isolate the leak area...

I took a ride this morning and still have oil seeping. I checked the torque on the mounting studs and found that the front one on the left side is stripped. (Crap!) I believe the stud goes all the way through the case, so I figure this is where the leak has to be. I did discover some oil residue around the stud and nut, and it lines up perfectly with the bottom rail, where the oil leak shows up. I checked with cotton ear swabs around the area near the new seal and it was dry, so I think the seal itself is fine (PTL for small victories). All of this leads me to believe that the leak probably did not originate from the seal, as the stud was fairly loose when I checked it this morning.

Of course, this presents another set of issues. I can get to the stud from below if I get the bike up on a motorcycle jack, which I will have to borrow from Tattoo. After draining the tranny oil, I should be able to drill straight up (after careful depth measurements and very carefully!) and install a helicoil without taking the tranny out of the frame - OR - redrill the next size up and tap for an oversize stud. Which of the two would be best?

Yup, I leaned the sickle over until the grip rested on the benchtop and made the repair with a helicoil. It's what I had. If it ever gives me trouble down the road I'll go with a Time Sert repair.

Well, there's no oil coming out the stud any longer, but I detected oil coming down from the shifter mechanism. When I took the outer cover off it was filled with oil. So I took it apart all the way down to the lid. New gaskets, regreased all the springs and pawls, retimed the lid according to manual, put it back together and now I have a hard time getting it to downshift into 1st. All other gears shift fine up and down.

Before all this work, the tranny was beginning to grind slightly going into 1st anyway, only now it's worse. Sometimes I can't get it into 1st at all. It says in the manual to time the lid with the tranny in gear, any gear, so I timed it with the tranny in 1st. When it still chattered, I retimed it again with the same result.
When I move the bike around the shop to turn it around, the tranny makes noises I haven't heard before.
Wonder if I may have bent a shifting fork somewhere down the line. I hate to have to tear the tranny out of the bike because I wouldn't have a clue what to look for. I've been on the shovelhead forum and they said to retime the lid, and if it still grinds, to remove transmission and check for bent shifter forks or whatever. Problem is, neither I nor Tattoo knows enough about trannies to work on them. He always sends his transmission work out, which takes months and months to get repaired.

This problem has been further complicated because I just switched to a rocker clutch, which so far I do not like. Tattoo thinks it may be a clutch problem, so I may try and limp over to his shop and see what's what.

Looking for a little advice here, guys, and thanks . . . looks like my riding season may be done as well.

Time it in second gear !

We went through the clutch HRK, and thanks for chiming in. I put in a new set of Barnett friction discs and a new set of Alto anti-rattle steels. No more noise from clutch when shifting. Amazing. Although it's a bit trickier adjusting the clutch with the rocker pedal, I think the clutch is fine. But Tattoo still thinks it's a clutch problem. I don't see how - I mean, it shifts up & down in all the other gears fine. I have been fooling with it for a week or so and it has been hell getting the rocker clutch to the point where it's useful - had to grind here and there and redrill the return spring hole to get it in the proper position. Made a new stud for it and moved it forward as far as I could. Cut the old one off because the spring would sometimes slip off. It works now, though I still don't like it much. One advantage is that I can release the clutch without taking my left hand off the bars and it will lock in the disengaged position if I depress it all the way to the peg, which acts as a stop. Another advantage is that I would also be able to put my left foot down. This would be for stops when I can't find neutral. But I wish I had a longer spring (about 4 1/2") as the pedal is still too straight up for me. Chinese junk, bah! Nothing fit and nothing worked - I even had to drill out the mounting holes to 3/8" to match the holes in the mounting bung on the frame.

As for retiming in 2nd. I will try that today!! Thanks Paul. BTW, how are you healing? I hope you are well.

The manual says to time the lid in any gear, but not neutral. I may have timed it in neutral the first time because I didn't consult the manual. Duh. I've done it three times already, so I should be pretty good at it by now LOL. I really, really hope this works!

Well, retimed it in 2nd - same thing. I re-retimed it in 3rd - same thing. It could be internal, maybe a shifting fork got bent or came loose, I don't know. If the fork got bent or loose, I've been told by a guy on the Shovelhead Forum it imay be touching 2nd gear and that is where the clicking sound comes from when I push the bike around the shop. When riding it, the fork won't move 1st gear into gear without forcing it and sometimes not at all - then I just take off in 2nd. If both gears engage at the same time, (has been known to happen), it could lock the wheel and cause lots of damage to both tranny and body (mine). So, I'm not going to ride anymore until this issue gets resolved . . .

It seems to only engage 1st when the bike is sitting still with the motor turned off when I'm in the shop.

I think I'm going to have to pull the thing out of the frame and send it off . . . to where, I don't know. The nearest transmission guy is far, far away and would take months for him to even get around to repairing it.