I carry the original rod in my saddlebag for just that reason. Never know when you will run across someone needing that original POS.

 

Your is the first report I have seen of the nut coming off. The more frequent failure is the ball falling out of the socket. The heim joints eliminate that failure possibility but they also mount with nuts and bolts which can come loose or fall off. I just lubed my heim joints after about 4 years in use. I turned the ball 90 degrees and squeezed some water proof grease into the race part of the heim joint. They needed it. The ball coming out of the socket begins to happen at about 25,000 miles. Above that mileage you are on borrowed time with the factory ball joints.

 

TKDKurt link may be of assistance.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...nkage-mod.html

 

Important to check #1 too. It's tucked away and often overlooked.

Going over the critical fasteners doesn't take very long and you (the owner) will be more thorough than the dealer.

 

After reading some of these stories for awhile now, it just becomes a habit to check these after a bike wash.

 

Mine didn't break, but the front joint started rusting. So I replaced it with one of these, http://www.harley-davidson.com/store...-shift-linkage

 

Mine snapped in half on a trip last summer. 40 miles into my trip go to shift gears on a freeway interchange and it snapped.

 

I always have all of the above! (And have used them all on my bike or my buddies' bikes!)

 

Fixed the stock one with hair ties to finish a trip back in 06. I am a cheapskate so I found stainless Heims for the stock rod for 6 bucks.

 

Apply some Loctite to the nut (8) that secures the shifter rod to the lever. Also, check all nuts/bolts on the shift assembly for tightness a couple times a year.