After owning several twin cams and a handful of evos..I seem to have gotten "shovelhead fever" somehow as of late. I've looked at several over the last few months and came upon one that I'm going to look at tomorrow. After talking to the seller over the phone, he tells me that when the bike is cold, as he is letting out the clutch in first gear from a stop, sometimes the bike will "leap forward" all at once. He says this doesnt happen all the time and never after the bike is warm. Seller tells me that the engine and tranny were rebuilt about 2k miles ago. Sounds like a simple clutch adjustment issue or more?? Anyone that could shed some light on this (I know this is limited info) please chime in. Its an 1981 electraglide.

Thanks

 

"leap forward"....wonder how strong he means that pull is.

I've been putzing with mine most of the summer....over-filled her and didn't dial it in correctly during a prior dis-assembly earlier in the summer...I chipped away at it until about 2 weeks ago where she feels dialed in perfect.

I had filled the primary too much (she's isolated). Kept sucking out some oil a bit at a time.

I had the clutch pull out too far..and she was creeping forward too much on me while clutch was pulled in. Losened the center lock nut...brought in the screw a bit....that was too much (she started slipping for a few rides, clutch level too tight all the way in too..no wiggle)..then I loosened again and turned it out just a tad...tightened...now she's perfect. Tiny bit of loose wiggle on the clutch hand lever too.

Too much oil can have it pull..as well as slip. When she pulls..the oil builds up on the clutch surfaces....causes some spots to get goopy and grab. As well as to slippery in other spots and slip.

Checking that oil level..if the primary is isolated...drain if too high...spray down clutch assembly with brake cleaner if necessary and drain/change oil.

 

Hard to judge w/o riding it, one man's leap forward could be another man's strong clutch springs. The best scenario is it's out of adjustment as YeOld said. Mine was a little worse off - one of the lugs inside the clutch shell came loose and hung up the plates. I was able to weld it back into place and it's fine now.

 

Typical....Oil on the frictions.
Clean frictions, sealed and not overfilled primary, and a Ramm-Jett Retainer.
Problem solved...