Ok. So it's after 10:30pm here in the StL and I am stuck.

I developed a transmission leak last week and I just pulled the primary and such to replace the main seal & quad seal.

Seals and spacer are all mounted (per the H-D manual) properly...or so I think.

I went to put on the drive pulley and there are not enough threads on the main shaft to get the pulley nut to 'bite'. It was just removed less than an hour ago and for whatever reason it won't go back the way it was. It's almost like the main shaft is shorter...as the pulley is not fully seated on the main shaft splines.
Clearance for the pulley - to the transmission case seems right.

Am I missing something simple?

 

Yes, you are missing the part of your post where you tell us what you are working on, model and year. And what year parts did you buy?

Sounds like you could have a mismatch of parts between early pulley and later pulley configuration. I`m guessing you have a pulley spacer for pre `94 (they were longer), but a pulley for a late`94 and up.

Trivia: the pulley is mounted to the main drive gear, not the mainshaft.

 

Sorry.

Bike is a 99 Road King.

I didn't swap/replace any parts. Just replaced the 3 seals.

The spacer (that sits on the main gear) is the same as it was prior. I didn't replace it... Just removed & re-installed.

 

Is the pulley sitting tight against the spacer? Are you installing the pulley backwards? Sorry if the questions seem obvious but maindrive gears don't shrink.

 

Yes. Pulley is tight against the spacer. And yes. The pully is being put on directionally correct.

A mechanic friend said that there may be internal splines that mesh the main gear and main shaft...and that those splines my be 'keyed' to only mesh when in a specific position.

He suggested rotating the main shaft/gear to try and find that 'sweet spot' that allows the main gear to slide out into proper position.

Dunno.

 

What came apart will go back together again! Perhaps daylight will help you solve what is wrong.

 

No internal splines between the main drive gear and the mainshaft, the shafts rotate at different speeds except when in they lock together in 5th gear.
If it is all the same hardware obviously it will fit, so something is amiss here...

Try pulling out on the main drive gear and see if it moves, it may be a loose fit in the big ball bearing and could have moved inboard a little bit.

 

Thanks for the help guys.

Light of day helped me see that the last 4 or 5 threads were gone on my main gear.

Transmission is torn down waiting on a replacement.