Hi Guys and Girls,

New to HD and was hoping for some advice please,I was wandering if a slight “clunk” while going in to first gear from neutral is a normal thing?? I have checked the clutch lever and it feels fine, no abnormal free play etc? My experience with bikes is limited mostly to Ducati’s, yep seen the light and made a switch but I can’t ever recall them ever making that sound, sometimes its very subtle but sometimes it’s quite harsh?

I tried researching the “search” section but could not find anything?
All help gratefully appreciated,

 

Its normal they all seem to do it.

 

Yep. Normal.

Some people put that heavy oil in their gearbox to alleviate it. Personally, I actually kinda like it...

 

Yep, "normal".

Red Line transmission oil with "shockproof" gets great reviews for reducing the clunk without making neutral difficult to find.

 

Agree w/swapping your primary and tranny oil with something better than cr@p HD and you'll feel it shifts a bit smoother. I use Spectro fluids...liquid gold...JMO.

 

Yup, lets me know it's in gear and ready to go!

 

I went down this road with my first HD, a 2012 103 Fatboy. Was paranoid about the clunk. Changed out the oil for 250 weight redline, and it made no real difference. I listened to all the talk about the Harley oil being rubbish etc etc.

Now I stick SYN 3 in all three. The 5 speed I run now is smoother than the 6 in any case, but I wouldn't go back to Redline oil as I didn't find it made the changes any smoother really.

The trick is not to go to first from neutral at a standstill. If you have to stop in traffic, which a decent rider doesn't have to do that often, just snick it into first just before you stop, and so long as you are not stationary for too long, you'll be fine holding the clutch in till you pull away. That way it won't clonk.

Oh, and free the clutch up on a cold start before you engage first, or roll out of the garage and engage as you're rolling, which is what I do.

 

normal

 

Thanks guys, it puts me at ease knowing I'm not doing some serious damage to the box, but isn't keeping the clutch in for extended periods bad for the clutch? Talking about say 2 minutes?

Thanks again for the info

 

I've gotten into pulling the clutch in, waiting about 10 seconds, then putting it into gear. Usually breaks loose in this time. A cold engine may take a little longer.