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Transmission help.

Discussion in 'Motorcycle Tech Talk' started by Tomflhrci98, Mar 7, 2012.

  1. Tomflhrci98

    Tomflhrci98 Active Member

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    The last few months I have had some trouble getting into 2nd. This only happens in the morning. After I pull it a few times it will go in and I usually shift into 3rd then back to 2nd and 1st a couple of times. Going back and forth loosens it up and then I don't have any problems with it the rest of the day.

    I figure something is wearing out. This trans has 100K trouble free miles on it. The question is - can I remove the drum and all the linkage from the top, without taking the trans out of the frame? I would like to do this to inspect the wear and then replace what ever is needed. Or is the trans going to have to come out?

    Any help is greatly appreciated as always.
    Thanks,
    Tom
  2. charlie46

    charlie46 Well-Known Member

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    Nope. You can dissassemble tranny in the bike. But primarry has to come off,cluch pack,right side tranny cover,top cover. Better have a service manual handy. Or spend about 500 to have a good indy do it fer ya. pay attention to the C-clips on right side of tranny shafts under the cover,bevelled side inwards. My Indy screwed that up and had to rebuild & replace almost every gear and shaft in her. Cost him big$$
  3. cardboard

    cardboard Well-Known Member

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    I'd hate to tear one down.
    During the time you had to git parts and gaskets you might forgit how everything goes back exactly.
    And not know how to check things with it being apart so make sure it don't have too much play.
    I'd gladly pay 500.00 to a indy dude to tear it down repair it and put it back together.
    Got better things to keep up with myself.

    My 08 tranny got tore down with 2 months left under warranty and it was down for a couple months.

    But it's yer pet monkey, and you know what you want to do.
    Looks like it was a pretty good one with that kind of milage on it.
  4. charlie46

    charlie46 Well-Known Member

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    Shift forks and cog collars are pretty cheap.If you have the time,tools and a good lift it could be fun D I Y. C B is right , gettin parts is a real hastle. before you start order alll the arts you may need. 'Could take weeks to round them up.Harley's wanted $ 745 + parts to do my 6 spd. Indy offered $ 400 + parts. After all my woe I've got 3K mi. on it now puurrrin.
  5. cardboard

    cardboard Well-Known Member

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    Till he tears into it, no telling what has wear and what all will need replaced.
    Unless you have a spare bike to ride. It might be fun but might be a pain in the butt too.
    And no telling what all else might be wrong.
    If the bike has 100,000 on it , when was the last time you replaced the clutch and throw out bearings ?
    Or the clutch cable.

    Have you looked at what Harley wants for a whole new tranny ?

    Search Results | Harley-Davidson USA
  6. charlie46

    charlie46 Well-Known Member

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    You brought up a good point CB. It very well may be clutch troubles causing shifting problems, Very very often it is.
  7. tweaked1973

    tweaked1973 Member

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    I know that there are lots of possibilities on how to fix it. Have you considered getting an entire low mileage gearset from a trans that the owner decided to do a 6 speed upgrade? Then you are just looking at the gearset, gaskets and maybe the output bearing. I would also replace the shifter pawl if I had the gearset out, since they can break all of a sudden. Baker makes a nice upgrade pawl.

    I would check my clutch and make sure it all worked OK, if so I would continue tearing into things and replace the gearset. Personally at 100k if I had the primary off I would install a new drive belt as well. But the extra parts are because I hate to go back into something later on. Just my $.02
  8. baggerpaul

    baggerpaul Well-Known Member

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    you can pull the shifter drum and forks out the top no problem sounds like a fork or slider shaft has a little wear on no bigge in and out in about fifteen min !
  9. hotroadking

    hotroadking Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Yes you can pull the top cover, remove shift drum, forks etc
    at 100 K you might just need as said a new clutch plates and adjustment
    if you have the stock clutch. Wouldn't hurt to replace bearings, seals etc
    however you'd need some special tools to pull the maingear and bearing.
  10. Tomflhrci98

    Tomflhrci98 Active Member

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    OOps, been a way for a while. forgot I posted this hehe.
    Thanks for all the replies.
    The thing is the trans runs and shifts perfect all day long. It's just in the mornings it hangs up on the up shift from first to second and again into third, but once I shift once or twice it's good for the rest of the day... weird..

    I don't know when I'll break into it, but I think it has somtin to do with the drum from the feel of it. Thanks for confirming that I can remove the drum if I need to without taking out the whole tranny. I'll let you know if I ever do.

    The bike and clutch have 98,500 miles on em. I'm playin a game with the clutch.. I'd like to see how many miles I can get out of it but then again, I don't want to get stranded :p It feels good so far.

    I will look into this myself tho. I hate paying people to do stuff I know I can do myself.
  11. charlie46

    charlie46 Well-Known Member

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    As HRK says, Look into clutch first. Freshen that and your problems may very well be over, assuming you've kept up the trans lube changes and don't abuse it too much. Definately start with the clutch.

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