I just picked up my second shovelhead, a '79 FLH 80. The guy said it ran and indeed when I got there it did fire right up. I quick loaded it up and got it back home. I didn't have any time to ride it for a few days but I did fire it up a few times to quick listen to her purr. When I finally got a chance to ride it a few days after picking it up she again fired right up and I rode it up and down the long straight street I live on. Wound it up and down through all the gears (having the rocker type shift lever was annoying at first) and everything seemed great. However when I pulled into the driveway it stalled. I went to put it in neutral but suddenly I couldn't get it in neutral. The linkage is horribly sloppy so I tried grabbing the lever on the tranny and shifting by hand. It doesn't feel like its really going into any gears. If I rock the bike back and forth I can maybe get it into a gear? Hard to tell. At no point during all this attempting to shift does the bike ever get in neutral nor does the neutral light ever come on. ALSO hitting the starter button does nothing. Kicking it over just jolts the bike forward even with the clutch pulled in OR it'll just not catch. I tried jumping out the starter solenoid just to see if I could make it start and the sarter drive gear just whizzes away.
So before I start cracking things open does anyone have any ideas? Did I bend or break something in the tranny when shifting? Like I said it was weird at first having to shift up with my heel on the rocker style shift lever. Maybe I shifted to hard? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

You need the bike on the level to easily get it into gear when the engine is not running. If you are on a slope, you are fighting the weight of the bike and loaded up gears inside the tranny. The source of the problem is probably a dragging clutch. That may either be poor adjustment, or the clutch, if a dry one, has become wet with oil.

I had a 74 shovel, which had a dry sump chaincase. That is to say the oil pump fed oil to the primary chain, but also emptied it back to the oil tank, so there was never much oil left. However it depends on an air-tight chaincase for that to work and if there is an air leak, the chain and clutch will get smothered in oil.

I recommend you get a factory service manual if you don't have one (NOT a cheap aftermarket one), before you start digging.

 

The bike is and has been on a totally flat surface. No tension or stress on the drivetrain.

I have yet to see whether or not it is a wet or dry clutch.

Thanks

 

I have a 73 and the clutch being adjusted properly is very important as to how my bike feels,starts, behaves,...I isolated the primary and **** canned the chain oiler.. you need to check out this site and book mark it.Lots of good info.
http://www.shovelhead.us/resource.htm

 

So I pulled the derby cover expecting to see a wet clutch like my old FXE but instead I see this. My shovelhead knowledge is limited to the one I had and nothing else. So how do I know the difference between a wet setup and dry? Is this a really low wet setup or a wet dry setup?

 

Thanks for the link. I will do some serious reading

 

So I adjusted the clutch to spec hoping that would help but still the same. Starter won't start. When I jump it the drive gear just spins and I still can't get it into any gear.

Remove the primary and crack open the cow pie?

 

As far as starting the bike, I would look into replacing the solenoid or starter clutch(if you have one). I think your shifting problems would go away if you can get your linkage straightened out. If not, check your shifting pawls and springs for any damage.