81 FLT Clutch adjustment
 

Hey all,

Posted this in the do it yourself forum but so far no answers so thought I'd try here too:

A couple questions. I have an 81 FLT Tour Glide. A while back the clutch started slipping really bad when I was out on the freeway. I tightened the nuts on the clutch until it started holding better but now I have a hard time getting into neutral. I'd like to take out the clutch plates and clean them up but would like advice on the best way to proceed. Step-by-step would be great I'd like to try this before purchasing new plates.

The transmission fluid is leaking into the rear chain oil bath. What is the most probable cause and what is the recommended repair? How do I know it is leaking into the oil bath? The transmission oil is clean, the engine oil is black. I have never manually added oil to the bath. I drained the bath to the bottom of the inspection plug near the bottom and toward the rear of the bath, which should be the normal level, then replaced the plug and let the bike sit for a little more than a week (no time to ride). I opened the plug and clean oil flowed out. Checked the transmission level and it was down.

A related issue, I noticed the rear tire is rubbing on the rubber oil bath sleeve. It shouldn't be so how should I make the needed adjustment?

Thanks in advance!

The trans fluid in your chain oil bath is probably getting in there through the oil seal behind the trans sprocket. On my older bike there is a way of replacing it through the inner primary casing, after taking off the primary drive.

To stop the tyre rubbing make a slight adjustment of the chain tensioners, on each end of the swingarm, to shift the tyre away from the casing.

If your bike has a dry clutch, the slippage may be due to an air leak in the primary chaincase gaskets (or one of them), causing a build-up of oil. If I am correct and your primary is dry sump, the oil pump feeds oil to the primary chain and also pumps out the surplus. Cleaning the oil off the friction material can be a chore!

It sounds to me that you will benefit from a factory service manual, if you don't have one. There is also a Shovelhead forum here in HDF, where you should find more knowledgeable fellow members, so call in there. It is a long time since I owned mine!