I have a 2014 Limited. Can the lever be replaced without removing the primary? I loosened the pinch bolt, and tried to wiggle the lever off the shaft, but no luck. The lever moves, but will not slide off the shaft.

 

Remove the pinch bolt and the lever will come off. The reason will be clear when you do.

I hope this helps.

 

I assume you’re talking about the rear lever that sits behind the inner primary? If you look at the better lever website you can find videos on how to cut the lever off without removing the primary. Kinda tedious to do, need a Dremel with a flex wand as well.

 

I have a 2016 FLHXS, she is in for the 15,000 mile service. As soon as I get it back I WILL be checking for this problem myself. I am also going to put a spare shifter shaft and cap screw in my tool kit. My wife and I ride alone almost all the time. I don't need this to be a big problem for us.


thanks for the info

 

It's really not a big problem. If your shifters aren't loose, then loosen the bolt and apply some loctite and torque the bolt back down. If the shifter is loose, I would replace it. The shifter shaft is a hard metal, so it rarely is the problem. If you need to carry a spare anything, it would be the shifter rod that is attached between the shifter shaft and the transmission link. That one seems to strand riders. I personally replace mine with a stouter rod.

Beary

 

If you take that bolt out even though it appears to be tight and cant be torqued any tighter and clean the threads up really good and place some oil on the threads of the bolt and threaded hole on the shaft and replace torque it down then loosen back up and torque again maybe even three or four times it will take a bit more slack each time you do it, once slack is gone remove bolt and clean oil off with brake parts cleaner threaded hole in shaft also. then place some loc-tite on bolt and re torque! I have done this with some really I mean REALLY loose shifter shafts and have yet to replace one

 

today in nc mts. Limped back to the cabin. Poor design. 2014 flhtk 16 k

 

It appears HD finally fixed this on the M8.

 

Don't ride in one gear. Shift it by hand. Pull back on shift linkage to shift up and forward to change down. You can change gear without the clutch.

 

20k+ on a 15 RGS. NO issues I check torque every riding season. I also spend 85% highway 15% city. I press the shifter and don’t kick it up or down. Don’t use heal shifter ever. My bike requires almost zero effort to shift I don’t think this is a major issue.