Since I started riding my bike more since the winter, it sometimes slips into neutral when I shift to second. Is this common? I've tried changing the fluid, adjusting the primary, and adjusting the clutch. After adjusting the clutch it seems much better but it still does it sometimes. Any ideas?

 

You do have to bang the gears a little hard you know.You should still be under warranty on an 06 so take it in and let them fix it.

 

Harleys are tempermental. You hafta do a harder shift than a ricer. You should hear a hard click going into the next gear. Boots, shoes will make an impact on shifting also.

 

Not had that problem...I sometimes have difficultly finding neutral, especially since I switched to Mobile1 V-twin oil in the tranny.

 

Forgive my ignorance, but why would the oil used in the tranny make a difference in finding neutral? I'm VERY new to riding and this is my first bike and a Harley to boot, so I want to learn everything I can. Thanks.

 

jalopy, can you clarify? Are you...

1. Successfully getting to 2nd and then once the clutch is out and you are riding the bike jumps out of gear into neutral.

<OR>

2. Shifting from 1st to 2nd it doesn't always go to 2nd with a single kick. Instead you click once and it goes from 1st to N and then you have to kick it again to go from N to 2nd.

Since you said you made adjustments and things got better I'd think that its an adjustment issue and you are almost there.

If your symptoms are like (2), I'd say its user error. Not to say you are doing it wrong. It just requires more umph to go to 2nd because you are going from 1 to N to 2. All the other shifts only have 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-4, etc... Having to go past N to get to 2nd needs just a little more push or it'll not quite get there and slide to neutral. If you imagine the distance between gears is finite then you know that 1st to 2nd is twice as far as it is between any other gears because N lives between them.

Happening to me a lot lately. Had surgery on my left ankle recently and don't have full use back yet. As such I'm not getting full kick in and I'm often going from 1st to N instead of 2nd. Everything is adjusted right, I'm just not giving it the kick it needs to push past N to get to 2nd.

 

Not sure on this one either. I assumed problems finding neutral were clutch or clutch cable adjustment issues. Haven't heard how brand oil changes make a difference by themselves.

 

I've had False Neutrals happen on just about every bike I've owned. Some more than others. It has happened on my 1200R, but only when I'm really getting on it. I've attributed the false neutrals on the 1200R to rider error - not shifting with enough authority so to speak.

Onmy first bike it used to happen all the time - I attributed that to Yamaha.
My Hondas - not so much, but they were sport bikes.

Can you make a distinction with what's happening on yours? Could it be laxadazical shifting or does itfeel like a tranny/clutch problem? You know the service guy is going to say that an occassional false neutral is not unusual . . .

 

Have had the same problem only a couple of times....usually with the RPMs up. Recipe for humiliation= hammering down from a stop, ease throttle, bump shifter, roll the wrist to find the bike crying in pain at 8000RPM with no load on tranny. Enough to make ya feel likea real azz-monkey!!!!

 

Done this to many times to count, and you always feel like a fool when theres people arounf especially if there are any other riders around [:@]