Put about 300 miles on my 06 Road King Classic (FLHRCI) and the tranny shifted perfectly and crisply. Then I took it in and had the Screaming Eagle stroker kit put on it and also changed the aluminum bar that connects the shift levers to a custom one (Harley).

I now have trouble going from second into first, or from neutral into first. Before these mods it was a nice solid click or clunk that only took a light foot pressure on the shifter peg. Now I have to stomp on the shifter peg several times to get it to drop into first. Sometimes more than a couple of times!

I don't know if this helps but when going from neutral to first I press on the peg and there is a light grinding noise even though I have the clutch disengaged (or engaged - in other words pull the clutch lever as far as I can). It's as if something hasn't stopped spinning for the gears to catch. And when it does catch it's not the reliable "clunk" that I used to have - it's a very faint "click".

The dealer says that putting on the stroker kit made the engine "much tighter" and that's not abnormal that it's hard to get into first. I say the custom bar is not allowing enough clearance to make the transition into first. All the rest of the gear changes, going up and down, work the same as before.

Any thoughts?

Engine mods have nothing to do with your tranny problem. And generally, the shift rod won't affect it either, unless it is really far outta whack. If it is too long, the shift lever pedal will be lower in the front. It may hit the floorboard, and not allow the tranny to go into gear, but it won't cause it to grind. That is usually an indication of a clutch problem. May be just an adjustment, but if your dealer didn't even think of that, I'd be looking for another shop.

__________________
Chrome sucks.
Barges are for chopping. Otherwise, they might as well be Gold Wings!
Ride it! Beat it! Break it! Fix it! Ride it some more!

Does the difficulty shifting into first happen when stopped or when rolling or both? Mine has always shifted into first very easily while moving, even very slowly, but when stopped at a light it sometimes will not go into first with a light tap on the shifter peg. I've found that if it did not go into first with one tap on the peg, let clutch out about 3/4 of the way, pull it in again, and tap shift peg. It always goes into first easily when I do that, and I do think this is fairly common.

__________________
2003 FXD; 2004 Ultra; 2006 883L (the girlfriends)

There's nothing that should cause hard shifting because of a motor upgrade. Tell the dealer that did the work that and let him fix the problem. As mentioned, see if the shifter pedal is hitting the floorboard and if not, drive it back and tell the dealer to fix what they did.

What everone else said.
Check adjustment of the clutch cable, primary chain, or clutch It's self.
If your dealer didnt look at this first, I'm with POCOCJ and find someone else to do your service.
Best of luck!

I agree with TC. Your clutch adjustment has a lot to do with this. Have them check it out.


Terry

__________________

I hate stuff like this, you take it in for one thing and end up with another problem, it's the explaination they gave you that is bogus, I hope they did a lot better job on the stroker kit, like said you might want to look for another shop.

__________________

Wow, thanks for the input.

I agree.. that statement about the engine being a lot "tighter now" because of the stroker work is bogus.

One thing they did say which I'll have them check is that the Screaming Eagle stroker kit includes a stronger clutch spring - and they should have put that in as part of the work. So that does seem to be on track with what the group suspects.

To answer one - it's only slightly ridiculously hard to get into first when rolling along and downshifting ( 2 out of 5 times it goes first try, the other 3 take several jams on the shift peg). When at a stand still it's probably 4 out of 5 times that it won't drop into first - although it used to never have a problem before their work - now half the time I have to slam the pedal several times, the other half of the time I have to shift it into second first and then it will drop into first. Once again, seems to point to a clutch problem doesn't it...

Thanks for the input - it's going back this week for them to take care of it.

If you are having any trouble whatsoever downshifting when the bike is rolling, I strongly suspect clutch adjustment is needed. Since they replaced the clutch spring, I would guess they screwed up the adjustment while doing that. Good luck, and let us know the results.

__________________
2003 FXD; 2004 Ultra; 2006 883L (the girlfriends)

All the spring Is going to do Is make It A little harder to pull the clutch lever.
I have to think It's In the clutch adjustment.
I think that TCSTD has some good Info. on the proper way to adjust the thing.