Hmmmm, so the alignment dowels #9 and #10 in the two diagrams above, are for the Starter? Then the '06 has ZERO IP/Tranny alignment dowels, and the '07+ has the two labeled #8A in the second diagram. I was thinking it was a difference between two and four case alignment dowels, not zero and two. Man, what were they thinkin' on that '06 design?!?!?

 

Correct, 9-10 on the diagrams are starter dowels. There are two dowel pins between the inner case and trans(middle two bolts in front of the clutch), then two dowel pins between the outer primary cover and inner primary.

 

My 06 Low Rider was purchased in December of 05. Last week I started getting noises in the tranny. I took it in to my dealer, Stone Mountain Harley, this past Tuesday and took the letter with me. The service tech didn't seem to know about the inner primary bearing failures on the 06 models. He called Milwaukee and they told him they would cover it if he tore it down and found this to be the problem. They did and replaced the bearing and race. I picked the bike up today. 11,400 miles.

 

Georgia;
I hope the bearing and race swap will work for you. But if it goes out again like mine (and others) did, push for the Full Monty; IPB/Race AND IP Case, Tranny Case, Tranny Bearings. Good luck.

 

I'm glad it worked out for you. I've been worried about my bike since I started reading about this bearing issue. Friggin HD. I have 11k on mine so far, and I dunno if it's my imagination or what, but it sounds to me like my primary is louder than it used to be. I'm going to try doing exactly what you explained to see if there is any more noise. Even if there is not, there seems to be a problem which will rear it's ugly head someday. That pisses me off. When I like a bike, I keep it for a long time, and the last thing that should go wrong is an IPB. My 1988 bagger has 180k and it was only changed once in all those miles. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

i just took my bike (06 SB) to HD for the stator problem, but it makes that noise also when idling w/ no clutch. im assuming i can ask them to look @ that also while its apart? (this is the first time ive ever taken it to the dealer)

 

sbchero;
Definitely have 'em give that IPB a close inspection while they're doing your stator/rotor, as I'm having them inspect my stator/rotor while they're doing my IPB. Lucky they're inside the same case!

 

Just how much noise does a bad IPB make? My bike is noticeably louder at idle when the clutch is out, and quiet when I put it in gear. However, I can't say the noise is bad, it just sounds like a lot of whirring.

 

hi all- 05 wide glide here,mine went out @ 16 k, they needed to part order mine (must be ALOT of PIB going out )

 

Blueglide;

When I first bought the bike (546-mi. on it), there was no noise from the primary case. After the first fix there was no noticeable noise either. When it went the first time @ 3900-mi., you could easily hear it from across the street, especially doing the clutch-in/clutch-out comparison. It was as loud as a spinning steel rollerskate wheel. This time, it was much less noticeable...I'd say 1/5 as loud as the first time, but rolling the RPM's up about 500 above idle before releasing the clutch would boost it to about 1/4 to 1/3 as loud as the first time.
If you've ever had a throwout bearing go bad in a stick-shift car, the noise is VERY similar. My first one was nearly as loud, too. Hope this clarifies. In a nutshell, you should have NO whirring noise from your primary with the clutch out.