My 2007 Heritage has the 5th gear noise and it is driving me crazy. I live in Virginia and am on the Blue Ridge Parkway often and 5th gear is the gear of choice for the 45 MPH speed limit (no I don't go that slow). Is there a solution other than a new bike? I love this bike other than that noise, Please help with any suggestion...my sanity is at stake.

 

I also have noticed the 5th gear noise on my Softail 2007.

 

normal noise cause 5th gear is straight cut gear instead helical cut..did that to make room for 6th gear..

 

Nothing in the works far as I know. There is a fix for the touring bikes. Think it's called the IDS (isolated drive sproket). But for some reason nothing for the rest of us. Absolutely biggest complaint about my bike.

I have found that there is a sweet spot where you can barely hear the noise. Steady throttle somewhere between 50-55 for me.

Some say heavier gear oil helps some. I haven't found it to be the case with the 75-140 I'm using. It does make for smoother shifting and finding neutral.

 

There are a couple of reasons and fixes for the noise. For some reason the engineers at Harley decided to use a set of gears with straight cut teeth. They are stronger and so will take a lot more 'abuse', however the down side is the whining noise they are well known for.
There are several fixes for it but only one sure way to get rid of it. Unfortunately its also the most expensive and that is to contact Baker Transmissions and get them to send you their gear set for your tranny. It uses all helical cut gears and doesn't make the same noise.
Another and cheaper way to at least make it less noticeable is to change the oil for one of the better and heavier synthetics like Amsoil, Mobil 1, Red Line etc. in 75/90W or 75/140W. They will reduce the sound and as a bonus because they are better lubricants they will make shifting a bit easier to boot.
The other way is to get rid of the stock exhaust, louder pipes will not cure it, but in combination with the better oils will at least make it much less noticeable.

BTW Windshields and fairings make that noise seem a lot louder because they muffle the wind noise that would mask it and as a consequence funnel the sound to your ears.

 

I hear about the 5th gear noise all the time. I wonder why mine doesn't do it? Is it only 07's?

 

Citoriplus is right on. Straight cut gears make more noise but that does not mean a problem. Us a good synthetic gear oil. I use Lucas 75/140 and it helped quiet the trans quite a bit.

 

Honestly I have one of the 'supposedly' noisy tranny's but I never noticed it on mine. All of the Softails since 07, and Dyna's since 06 have the same tranny, and also the noise. But the odds are that synthetic oil and your pipes, like the Big Radius pipes on mine do quite a bit to cover up the noise.

 

Mine has the noise, but it's not bad. And it's not loud enough it bothers me.

 

I actually have that same noise in my 06 street bob, but its very faint and I really have to put my ear down to try and listen to it.