Clutch issues
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 126
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From: Ontario
Clutch issues
Has anyone else been having any issues with their clutch after the last recall? My clutch felt good and firm before the recall being done and engaged and disengaged right around half pull on the lever. Now t the recall and about 2000kms it seams to engage and disengage all over the place. Sometimes is at half and does what it should and other times is releases at I would say 1" to 1/2" from fully releasing the lever. Sometimes you have to rev the snot out of it to get it to go and then the lever releases it at the point of all the way out. Between 2500 to 3000 on the first bike and the first 1600 on this bike the clutch was great. Now with it being in predictable t makes the bike a pain to try and control. Deal says after my tv aomplaining about it it is completely normal even thou the best part is they have their top mechanic on it and he has minimal experience. They also want to charge every time they can't find a problem when you say you have one. Sorry for the kind of rant but this really pisses me off, that it's like this.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,867
Likes: 268
From: People's Republic of Boulder Colorado
Has anyone else been having any issues with their clutch after the last recall? My clutch felt good and firm before the recall being done and engaged and disengaged right around half pull on the lever. Now t the recall and about 2000kms it seams to engage and disengage all over the place. Sometimes is at half and does what it should and other times is releases at I would say 1" to 1/2" from fully releasing the lever. Sometimes you have to rev the snot out of it to get it to go and then the lever releases it at the point of all the way out. Between 2500 to 3000 on the first bike and the first 1600 on this bike the clutch was great. Now with it being in predictable t makes the bike a pain to try and control. Deal says after my tv aomplaining about it it is completely normal even thou the best part is they have their top mechanic on it and he has minimal experience. They also want to charge every time they can't find a problem when you say you have one. Sorry for the kind of rant but this really pisses me off, that it's like this.
I flushed and bled the system with synthetic DOT 4 fluid and it seems to be fixed now. I doubt if the synthetic fluid fixed it, but completely flushing the lines and everything else out possibly did.
I had a dealer "tech" tell me that you're "supposed to pump the clutch three times before you put it in gear". Yeah, they're REALLY on top of this continuing problem!
It's a waste of time and energy asking those brain-dead hacks about ANYTHING!
Last edited by jpooch00; Aug 8, 2015 at 07:53 PM.
Intermediate
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: Lancaster, PA.
I bought a new Ultra Classic in April and put 1000 miles on it in the 1st month. I had no problems with the clutch at all. I took it to the dealer for the 1K service since it was included in the deal and whatever they did made the thing almost unrideable especially on start-up. My bike was NOT on the recall list for the clutch and they didn't say anything about the clutch at the service, just the typical fluids change and check up.
For the next 3 months/2500 miles I had all kinds of trouble when 1st starting out and the clutch wouldn't engage until almost completely let out and it had a very narrow slip zone. Bottom line, it was very hard to be smooth on take offs.
I had no intention of taking it back to the dealer, I always do my own work so I decided to try changing the primary fluid 1st to see if that would help. Bingo! I don't know what they put in there, but I changed it to Red Line synthetic primary fluid and the clutch is as smooth as it ever was. It engages about halfway out and has a good friction zone.
I'm not endorsing Red Line, it's just what I use. But before you blame the hydraulic clutch, try something else in the primary.
For the next 3 months/2500 miles I had all kinds of trouble when 1st starting out and the clutch wouldn't engage until almost completely let out and it had a very narrow slip zone. Bottom line, it was very hard to be smooth on take offs.
I had no intention of taking it back to the dealer, I always do my own work so I decided to try changing the primary fluid 1st to see if that would help. Bingo! I don't know what they put in there, but I changed it to Red Line synthetic primary fluid and the clutch is as smooth as it ever was. It engages about halfway out and has a good friction zone.
I'm not endorsing Red Line, it's just what I use. But before you blame the hydraulic clutch, try something else in the primary.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 38,586
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From: Honah Lee
You need to take it in. My friends new Fatboy was very erratic and the throwout bearing was broken. Not sure why. He only had a few thousand mile on it when it happened.
Last edited by Jackie Paper; Sep 14, 2018 at 11:11 AM.
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2014
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From: AMERICA
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 126
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From: Ontario
Right now I'm up for anything. It was great before the recall and after the recall for 1000 miles. Then caput. I'm probably going to take it to a dealer in Michigan this week since work is so so and have them look at it. Since my dealer can't figure it out and since they can't find a warranty issue want me to pay for them to look at it because they say Harley doesn't pay unless there is a problem. I will try and change the primary to Amsoil today if I get a chance to see if that helps when the rain stops. I also forgot I had excessive tranny noise before the recall and it stopped after the recall and that is back as well somehow I feel both could be related but here they won't do anything till broken.
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Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 113
Likes: 2
From: Chippewa, PA
2015 Ultra Limited Low, my clutch seems to be all over the place too. Inquired about it when I had my bag recall done. The mechanic tried it out in the lot and said it seemed normal. I am not part of the clutch recall. I will be taking it in for the 1000 mile service and I will be asking them to check it out again.