I just recently purchased a 2010 Harley Street Glide w/ approx 6,000 miles on it. Yesterday I went for a nice ride and put about 200miles on it. While riding after about an hour and a half I noticed while shifting both up or down it was making a louder clunk noise vs a smooth shift sound. Idk exactly how to explain it.
So 2 minutes ago I started it up and just rode around my neighborhood shifting through the gears and didn't notice it at all.
I am curious if this noise was from the fluid being so warm that it looses some of the viscosity and therefore I hear a louder noise. Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
It's typical with the breed, I've actually found the clunk to get quieter as the fluid gets hot. I can tell if someone hasn't properly warmed up their bike before putting it into first by the loud hard clunk. It's normal, don't sweat it.....just enjoy.
Congrats on the new ride. Welcome to the noises of Harley. I have come to terms with most of the noises and consider it a song that the bike is singing. Yeah, the clunk goes with the territory. You can do a search and find what others have done to minimize the noise.
Ok just making sure that it's fairly normal. I figured so. I heard about redline something that was suppose to make it shift smoother,quiter and run cooler. 20w60
The harley tranny is stout but archaic on todays standards. Clunk means it's working. It's much clunkier than my 71 triumph was if that tells you something. My rk is an 07. Mine get louder as it warms up.
I believe the brand of fluid helps. My 08 Fatboy would clunk into 1st (which I still think is such a cool noise - Soooo Harley!) but my 01 RK doesn't clunk hardly at all. RK has the Redline, the FB would be the Revtech synthetic.
Did it have the 5K service? Did you check the fluids when you took possesion? When I get a new to me ride, cager or bike, I like to change the fluids and start fresh with fluids I know are fresh.
i don't worry so much about brand,type is more important gearlube in the gearbox is what i always say.any good heavy synthetic gearlube.clutch adjustment can make a world of difference,its very touchy and small adjustments make big difference.