Samson true duals on Softail... shift rod hitting rear pipe

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Jun 13, 2014 | 09:26 PM

Shaylex

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From: Western NY

Samson true duals on Softail... shift rod hitting rear pipe

UPS delivered my Samson true dual headers and 33" longtails late this afternoon. I installed them on my '99 Heritage tonight. The bent shiftrod that Samson provided is sitting very close to the rear headpipe. So close in fact that it hits the pipe when in comes forward for downshifting, making it nearly impossible to do so. I ran out of daylight and will work on it again tomorrow. But it looks as though the best fix is going to be either re-indexing the shift arm on the splines of the shaft coming out of the transmission to move it further back away from the pipe or possibly putting more of a bend in the shiftrod to provide added clearance.

Has anybody else experienced the same problem and what was your fix?

Can I get the arm off of the transmission shaft to re-index it without having to pull the primary?

Any help is appreciated.

Jun 14, 2014 | 12:28 AM

texashillcountry

Dirt don't hurt

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From: Haslet Texas

I just took off that set up from my bike.
You need to only screw your heim joints on 4-6 turns then use the jam nut to lock it into place.
Blue lock tight is your friend.

Jun 14, 2014 | 12:40 AM

Shaylex

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From: Western NY

Quote:

Originally Posted by texashillcountry

I just took off that set up from my bike.
You need to only screw your heim joints on 4-6 turns then use the jam nut to lock it into place.
Blue lock tight is your friend.

Thanks THC. I've posed this question in several places on the net and gotten some good feedback. One of the things I am planning to do when I work on it again is to screw the heim joints out some more, thereby lengthening the linkage rod. I think this will help. I currently have them screwed on as far as possible.

Jun 14, 2014 | 06:52 AM

texashillcountry

Dirt don't hurt

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From: Haslet Texas

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaylex

You have them screwed on too far.

Try having about 1/4" of threads showing on each end.

Jun 14, 2014 | 07:43 PM

Shaylex

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From: Western NY

Got it all worked out today. Screwed the heim joints further out but linkage was still contacting the rear pipe on the downshift motion. I was happy with the fit and placement of the pipes as they were so I added a little more bend to the linkage rod. Now shifter is working as it should without the linkage making contact with anything.

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions. Loving my new duals.