Ok...
1st bike, 1st Harley.
Not 1st day with a wrench in my hand. My knuckles have bled consistently for 20 years.
So, I've had the bike for a week. I noticed that it 'clunked' in to 1st on my first ride. But it shifted and drove great and it's my 1st bike, so it could have done anything short of exploding underneath me and I would have been happy.
Here is where the trouble started:
After I moved my mini apes forward some and adjusted handlebar controls up for my little sausage fingers, I noticed that the clutch cable seemed tight. I decide to route it to the front side of the bars to relieve some of the tension. I got in a hurry, didn't do any research, and instead of moving the cable adjuster to remove the lever, I used a screwdriver to pry the cable out of the lever housing, rerouted it and forced it back in. Success. Or, so I thought.
I went to check everything out and had trouble getting in to 1st and then it hit first REAL hard twice. Then it just 'clunked' in to gear a few times and I called it a night.
After all of this, I have read through the forum to learn to properly adjust the clutch and watched a bunch of videos dozens of times.
Today, I adjusted in the primary just as everyone has instructed. The only thing I may have missed is pulling the lever 3-4 times while adjusting the set screw and setting and backing off the set screw 3-4 times before buttoning up.
I plan to try that tomorrow. Here is my question:
When I first adjusted the set screw it backed out a very long way before it felt free to tighten back up (like 1/4" +). If I turn until what I feel as resistance, back it out a 1/2 turn, tighten locknut, button up and adjust cable to 1/16 - 1/8, I am now stuck in neutral. I can put it in any gear. But the bike still rolls free like neutral. What gives?
Am I supposed to feel NO resistance at all then when I feel a little it's at the bottom. There was some tension on the set screw as I moved it to the bottom. It seems like I'm pulling the clutch (at the primary) pretty far, just watching it move, like I may be locking the clutch in place. And when I pull the loose lever while the cover is off, the clutch does not move.
What am I missing here? Have I stretched the cable or broken the mechanism in the cover on the transmission where it attaches. Help a fella out. I really enjoy riding this thing and I just spent all my money on parts to get rid of the HD Skull theme the bike is sporting now. :/

 

You might have a bent shifter fork.

 

That would be inside the transmission, correct?
Like I said, it will 'shift' but not move. It rolls freely if it's running or shut off.

 

Yeah, coming out of the shift drum to the gears.

 

What I would do is remove the cable from the lever. Adjust the set screw to specs. See if the bike rolls in gear, probably not. I think you stretched the cable and adjusted the clutch to the stretched cable and now there's nothing making contact in the clutch pack. Just my .02

 

See, that's kinda what I was thinking, but I wanted to get a few peoples $.02 before I went to the dealer and gave them any cents for gaskets, fluids, and a new cable.

 

I would take the cover off the right side of trans and see if the throw-out bearing is crushed.

 

I guess that right side cover was gonna have to come off one way or another.
My luck. Less than a week in and I'm taking my licks.

 

Thanks for the early AM answers. I can't get to the dealer until 10:00. So at least I will have all my parts and gasket #'s ready for them.

 

Trust me on this.

The bottom end of your clutch cable (the cam that turns) has jumped from one detente to the other.
It's happened to me and others.

The shop manual I have instructs you to check this when adjusting the clutch.
The problem is, aftermarket pipes are often in the way.

The fix isn't that hard and a good time to put on longer cables if you need them.

Break into the clutch cable housing.
Using professional grade snap ring pliers (the snap ring is a royal bitch), remove the snap ring.
Move the ***** (bearings) and cable cam over to the original detente it should be riding in.
Hold it in your hand and you can verify you get full movement of the cable.
Replace it and the snap ring.
Button everything back together.

The fix is a freebie and if it isn't that, button it all back together and take to the dealer anyway.