Hello everyone,
I am running into quite the issue.. So I have a 2012 Street Glide with the 103. non ABS not that it should matter in my issue but is worth noting. So I ride my Harley hard sometimes with fast/aggressive shifting. About a month ago I had rounded off the gear on my shifter lever shaft. (that connects your inner arm to your heel and toe shifters. I replaced the parts and was happy with the results however the other night I went riding and had done a few burnouts and afterwards I had noticed my shifters were very hard to depress. I would have to give quite a bit of pressure in order to shift in either direction. I stopped and inspected the shaft, thinking I had stripped it again and to my surprise it looked perfectly fine. When the bike is off it will shift through the gears just fine however when the engine is on it is not wanting to shift. I did notice that the bike was lurching forward a little bit while the clutch was in (around the same time the hard shifting came about) I drained and refilled the trans, oil and went to do the primary when I thought I might as well check the clutch plates as that was also a thought that crossed my mind causing the issues. I removed everything and the clutch plates, steel plates, and the spring all look to be in good shape. I examined the basket (still on the bike) and I noticed some build up around it but wiped it clean and everything with the clutch basket appears to be alright too. I did not reinstall the clutch plates as I am thinking about replacing the clutch plates regardless and seeing if that helps. not sure when primary fluid had been touched last as this is my first season with it (bought privately) but I'm really hoping for some insight as I may be familiar with some things but this one has me stumped. The bike has just over 18000 miles.

I should also add the night prior to it doing this i noticed slight clutch engagement on the highway while in 5th gear which lead me to thinking it was clutch plates

 

IIRC, the 2012 has a clutch cable. You mention that the "bike was lurching". So have you tried adjusting the clutch?

When you removed the primary cover, did you check the primary chain tension to verify that it was not over tightened? Is there any wear on the clutch hub where the tabs on the clutches ride? Also, since you don't know when the primary was last serviced, be sure to not overfill the primary with oil. And the type of oil used in the primary can have an effect on how the clutch works.

Paul

 

I have not attempted to adjust the cable yet. I ordered a set of clutch plates because when I removed them they seemed to be sticking a little bit so will throw the new ones in when they arrive day after tomorrow and then adjust accordingly. Was just not sure if I was on the right track. I checked the chain tension and the tension seems to be alright, I did inspect the hub/basket and didn’t notice and notches or indentations made by the clutch discs so my overall thought is that the clutch plates in conjunction with the adjustment was needed. Prior to this issue I’ve never had to adjust the clutch on this bike. Clutch was always firm and seemed to engage/disengage properly up until the other night. It was definitely lurching forward and when I would open the throttle up in 5th-6th it would seem to slip/clutch would engage.
thanks for the insight! Hope to have her fixed here in a couple days!
Mike