Irecently purchaseda '99 stock 883 with around 4000 miles. I notice sometime when down shifting from 5th to 4th I hit a false neutral and the bike doesn't seem to want to down shift farther until I get stopped. Even then it takes several hits on the shifter to get it back to first. If it does down shift to 4th the rest of the gears downshift with no problems. This doesn't happen every time, I've tried different speeds and different throttle postions. It just seems to act up when it wants too. I am running H-D's Formula+ in the trans/primary. Any ideas ?

 

4-speed tranny? If so, you have to be very deliberate in your shifting. Try the downshift with "meaning" and see if that doesn't eliminate your current problem.

 

It is a 5 speed tranny and doesn't do it all the time. If it downshifts to 4th it will downshift the rest of the gears with no problems. If I hita false neutral between 5th and 4th the rest of the gears don't want to downshift properly. A little more infomation, I've been riding Harley's for 42 years, my other bike a '96 FLHTCI and has over 100,000 miles, all mine. This is my first time with downshift problems, and my first Sportster.

 

My Son has a 1999...883 with 5,000 miles Had some problems starting out in first ( i know that's not your problem) but it turned out to be the shifter barrel.maybe yours could be the shift fork. I'm no expert on trans.
seems like it could cost a lot of $ to swap out parts. My Son took it to the dealer. Dealer called H-D they told them what part to change. All better.

 

Depending, shift barrel, and shift forks can wear, although a bike with only 4000 miles isn't really anything to cause that much wear unless the previous owner didn't know how the shift the thing and abused it. So that is a possibility. Although I'd be more leanient toward checking the shift pawl mechanism and readjust it. Downside, is to do this, you have to pull the primary cover and pull the clutch off to get at the mechanism. You then reset the shift pawl using a number 29 drill bit if I remember. If you search the forums, there are posts that cover the shift pawl adjustment, otherwise a HD manual will cover the procedure also. It is fairly common for the pawl to fall out of adjustment by the way it's is secured in position by only one screw. I've had to readjust mine shortly after I got my 94 sporty, which at first started with the same type a shifting problems as your having, although I didn't bother to readjust it until it got to a point where the tranny got stuck between gears and I wasn't able to get it to shift at all. So not to say this would cure your problem, but it's definately something to consider checking.

 

Thanks for the help, it is someplace to start. I have a service manual but will have to find the time to work on it. Thank you everyone ...

 

Adjustment of the shifter pawl seemed to fix the problem. Thank you everyone for your help.