I would do that first and have them check it out. If you just picked it up in the last week or so I would imagine they should take care of it at no cost to you.

 

I have had the bike for a month now, doubt they will fix anything since I didn't purchase any extended warranty. The linkage looks fine, everything is moving freely. I am thinking that it is something internal. I have never had to deal with anything like this on a bike before, they always just shifted. I have accidentally missed a gear a time or two, but this is different.

On a normal shift, the shifter moves about 3/4 inch and I feel an increase in resistance as it clicks and moves the last 1/4 inch. This is about the same if I am shifting up or down.

Whenever it does not shift, the shifter moves the full inch without the click. This can happen when shifting up or down, but most commonly occurs when downshifting.

Is there anything inside the primary cover that can be adjusted? Maybe where I can set the shift point after 1/2 inch of movement?

 

It could be a bent shifter pawl...

Drew

 

It could be that the PO was a stomper. I've seen a lot of guys who literally stomp on the shift lever to get them into 1st....crazy! That is definitely not good for the internals at all. If things are properly adjusted, that kind of force is not necessary.

 

sounds like bent/worn shifter pawls ..
they push the shifter drum that moves the shifting forks..
if they miss the shifter drum you get a phantomshift.
needs to be fixed. (have to go inside tranny to do it)

the starting grinding is usually the starter clutch..it is a one-way bearing that goes out way too often..especially if the compression has been bumped up ..

My Fatboy (starterclutch) went at 2500 miles , sportie went at 9 k ..

check with your dealer , maybe ,just maybe they will treat you right.
after all you just bought it from them.

 

When you say go inside the tranny, do you mean the transmission has to be disasembled to fix it?

I asked the dealer about the noise at start-up and they said that it was normal to hear noises like that from a Harley. Another customer testified to the fact that he also gets odd looks at the gas station. I thought it may be the compensator causing all the racket because I have read something about replacing it with the screamin eagle version in order to quiet it down. It does not sound good though.

 

A few things to check for hard shifting:

Primary chain case overfilled with oil
clutch not fully disengaging
transmission lubricant to heavy (winter operation)
shifter return spring (inside transmission) bent of broken
bent shifter rod
shifter forks (inside transmission) sprung
corners worn off the shifter clutch dog rings (inside transmission)

Those are some things the manual tells you to check. Good luck with your problem.

 

Thanks for the tips!

I been a little busy with college and have not had time to mess with it much the last couple of days. I'm not even sure how to check how much fluid is in the primary chain case. All the other bikes I owned just had one place for oil, this is definitely a different beast.

I almost forgot,a budy from work has a son that recently graduated from the Harley Davidson mechanical school. He has not found a job yet and is doing a little work on the side, hopefully he can diagnose the problem for me and get it going without braking the bank.

 

the whole tranny does not have to be disasembled, just get to the shifting mechanism..( seems like you found someone who can help you).

As far as the dealer, doesnt sound like they are the ones who will help you .
It is not normal for grinding on startup, however a lot of harleys do .
they sell hundreds of starters clutches, and starters, does that tell you anything?...poor design, barley adequate to start with ..

 

Another vote for shift linkage. After only 7K, the rubber washers in my shift linkage were disintegrated, it rattled at low speed, and shifting was sloppy. I changed to the diamond black Harley shift rod and it fixed everything. I can't believe how smooth it shifts now, like a metric!