Add me to the list of people who've had their shifter shaft splines strip out. Mine occurred at just under 16,000 miles. FWIW, I use the toe shifter 95+% of the time.
A few days earlier, I noticed my shifts from 1st to 2nd gear, were landing in neutral. At first I thought I was just being lazy ........... but a few days later, it became much more common, and a few miles into a 300+ mile trip, I pulled over a took a look and noticed the arm was very loose. I rode to the nearest dealership ............... the last 11 miles in 1st gear (ugh).
Kudos to TC HD in Lakeville, MN for getting me back on the road quickly.
I'll be watching this closer going forward.
Almost exactly 1 year ago to the day, my water pump died in Yellowstone .......... so I guess wheel bearings are next ?
I'm sure they replaced the shaft, but you may consider next year buying a Pingle greaseable shaft to reduce bushing wear or removing the shaft once a year to grease it. I"m not sure why the splines seem to be an issue with some bikes and losing shift levers seems to be an issue on others.
I'm sure they replaced the shaft, but you may consider next year buying a Pingle greaseable shaft to reduce bushing wear or removing the shaft once a year to grease it. I"m not sure why the splines seem to be an issue with some bikes and losing shift levers seems to be an issue on others.
Yeah, I got a new shaft and new shift arm (which connects to the linkage).
I sold my 1999 Road King with 65K miles - never had this problem and never once checked/tightened this. Guess I was lucky and tempting fate.
Are you saying that the arm going from shifter shaft, which goes into the rod coming out of the tranny which actually changes the gear, was stripped? The rear attachment I'm talking about. That's what it sounds like since you could use your hand to change gears.
But your shifter shaft was still attached to everything, right?
Hey, give the MOCO another twelve or so years and they'll have this issue solved for sure. Till then, American made, high quality after market parts work fine.
Are you saying that the arm going from shifter shaft, which goes into the rod coming out of the tranny which actually changes the gear, was stripped? The rear attachment I'm talking about. That's what it sounds like since you could use your hand to change gears.
But your shifter shaft was still attached to everything, right?
Sorry if I used the incorrect terms ............ hopefully my picture will help show where the problem was.
Sorry if I used the incorrect terms ............ hopefully my picture will help show where the problem was.
Same thing happened to me about a couple months ago, 2014 Limited, but same miles.
And Lakeville HD fixed mine as well. They actually came for the bike with their trailer, despite them being extremely busy in the service department. Refused to charge for the transport, too.
Sorry if I used the incorrect terms ............ hopefully my picture will help show where the problem was.
No problem about the terms you used DH. In fact I don't know what all those parts are called either. Because one person will use one term for a part, and another person will use an entirely different term for that same part. Plus, I am EXTREMELY mechanically challenged. I dare say most of this forum have forgotten more about wrenching than I will ever know.
The main reason I was asking is that I have had that same stripping at the REAR part of the shifter shaft/arm, where it goes into the tranny rod coming out of the transmission. When THAT part strips ( whatever it is called (, there isn't any "side of the road" fix for that problem. Whatever gear the bike was in when it failed, that's the gear it stays in...you can't shift gears at all! If it failed in second gear, you could ride it to a shop, if one is close by. This problem can't be fixed with duct tape, bailing wire, and zip-ties! LOL!!
same problem here on a 2014 FLHTCU the splines on the inside of the shifter shaft stripped while out on a ride. Fortunately the roadside fix of removing the shift levers and reversing the shaft gave it enough bite to get us back home. I could only put one of the shift levers back on due to there only being one notch in the shaft for the bolt, but it worked. Purchased new parts and installed them but this time with blue locktite on all three cinch bolts, so hopefully with that and regular checking it wont happen again. one would think though that when the dealership does the service every 8000km and they check and re torque critical fasteners as they say they do that this should not be an issue. However I as well as many others have discovered that the Harley dealer in Winnipeg now seems to be seriously lacking in the service department, jobs not being done right the first time, things not being done or things missed, never any parts in stock causing long downtime during peak riding season... etc.
I put a baker on mine.
The most common issue with the stock shift lever is stripped out splines or a broken cross section. BAKER improved the design of the splines, to prevent stripping, and a thicker cross section offers a stronger overall design.
07-28-2017, 01:14 PM
2015 Ultra Limited - shifter shaft splines stripped
