Hey folks!

Before I get into my problem, I'll say right now that I'm prepared for the ridicule!

After the grueling hot ride back from the Maryland Eastern Shore last weekend, I decided to do a complete oil change on my 1993 Ultra Classic. This time, however, I bought all the fluids from J&P Cycles instead of going to the Harley dealer in Annapolis. From J&P Cycles I bought 4 quarts of Maxima V-Twin 20W-50 engine oil, 1 quart of 80W-90 transmission fluid, 1 quart of primary fluid, and a K&N filter which were all sold as a complete "kit". Well, my bike takes 4 quarts of engine oil (good there), 3/4 quart of transmission fluid (good there, too), but 1-1/4 quarts of primary fluid. So I said to myself, "Eh, what's 1/4 of quart going to matter, it's only 8 oz, right?" The test drive after the fluid change went well. No issues. No leaks. However, later in the day I started the bike just to move it back into the garage and I couldn't get it into neutral. In fact, I couldn't get it to change gears at all! I thought to myself, "What the f**k did I do wrong?"

I took off the derby cover and the transmission cover and I didn't see anything obviously broken or out of place.

So, after all that rambling, is my problem simply that last 8 oz of primary fluid?

Thanks in advance!

-Dave

 

No, it's not the 8oz of oil. Are you saying your clutch won't disengage?

 

Nope...the 8 oz low won't make a bit of difference.

First thing to check is if your shifter linkage loosened up on you.

 

Dr.Hess,

First, I couldn't get it into neutral. More specifically, I couldn't get the neutral light to come on. Then, I couldn't get it to change gears more than one up, or one down, but even then, at one point, the bike wouldn't move even though the neutral light wasn't on. Also, at least one I got a horrific griding noise when I tried to down shift even with the clutch engaged (well, the clutch handle was pulled all the way back).

-Dave

 

I looked at the linkage and it appears that the pawl is engaging the shifter cam (I took the transmission cover off) correctly. I was able to get through all the gears (with the engine not running) by shifting with my left hand while spinning the rear wheel with my right while the bike was on a jack. However, I'll look at all that linkage again more closely to make sure everything is ok.

 

Primary chain adjustment? Or re adjust clutch tension.
Lots of gremlins in the baskets here as of late

 

So your saying that everything worked fine before you did the fluid change? Are you sure you primary requires that much fluid? 32 oz seems to be a lot. At that point i would think the clutches are saturated with fluid and not releasing properly.. Should'nt the fluid level just reach the bottom of the basket? IDN I could be wrong..

 

Yep! Everything was working fine before the fluid change. Yes, I'm sure about the primary fluid amount: 1-1/4 qts (40 oz) (actually, the Harley service manual says 38 to 44 oz). That sets the fluid level so that just a little bit of the basket is dipped in it.

So, my plan is to see if the clutch needs to be adjusted. And, if I can get it into 3rd gear, I'll see if the shifter pawl needs to be adjusted also.

 

Well, this guy did jump out when I removed the derby cover!

 

Lets hope he does