It is very difficult to find Neutral on my 2018 Harley Fatboy. The dealer said I need to have the bike warm up. I rode over 50 miles yesterday and it will not go into Neutral. He also said the bike needs to be broken in. It has 700 miles on it. Finally he suggested, shut the bike off, turn the ignition back on and find it. Any help would be great!

 

I think your dealer is mostly correct. 700 Miles is a period when the bike is tight all over. They take a long time to break in. Give it many thousands. As miles add up, the shifting should get easier.

However, if you are a seasoned rider with lots of experience on several motorcycles, then you will know whether you've got an actual problem with the transmission and its shift linkage. Shifting problems are usually associated with adjustments. How high you have to lift your toe to make the lever actuate the gears. Making small changes to the lever height can really matter. This takes mucho experimentation. At over 2 years and 35k miles on my 2018 RGU I am STILL making adjustments to the thing to make it better. And, if you ever go in for service and the tech removes your shift lever to access something else, expect to have to go through the adjustments again, because he probably will make no effort to put it back exactly where it was.

 

When you get your 1k service, ask them to put this in the transmission. Real gear oil will make a huge difference.

 

I am trying to lessen the first gear clunk as much as possible. Per manual .. the fill for my M8 is at arrow. The red line is my current fill... are you suggesting to fill at blue line? Anyone? Thanks!

 

yours is fine, close enough and not an exact science

 

Mind is hard to find as well, but usually works better going from 2nd than 1st. You have to basically tap it down gently and finesse it. It also helps if you give it a slight rev as you do it.

I dont think the oil makes any difference. I had the same issue using the oil that came with the bike and the gear oil that I put in after the 1000 mile service.

 

Mine shifts smooth and easy to find neutral. Just trying to limit the plates sticking and first gear clunk.

 

Replacing the sloppy stock shifter linkage with one that has Heim Joints made a big improvement in finding neutral.
I then replaced my tranny and primary fluid with Formula +
I wouldn't have thought that would make such a difference over 20W50 Synthetic, but it did!!!
Shifting into first gear after startup is also much quieter and smoother now with the Formula +.

 

always one of the first mods....Formula + has proven itself over a couple of decades now, and all I ever used in trans and primary until this year switched to HD 80W140 and it performs great in trans and primary as well, sticking with it but nothing wrong at all with F+ for both

 

Is it when you're first starting out for the day? If so, press and release the clutch about 4 times before shifting into 1st. It works for me and snicks right in there without a clunk that wakes up the neighbors.