I had this problem with my 98 WideGlide, and am having it with my 2000 Ultra.

Quite often when I shift, my transmission will wind up between gears, essentially behaving as though it's in neutral. No grinding, or anything, just gears not engaged. When this happens it's always gone past the gear I was shifting into and I have to downshift (or up-shift) to get it back into the gear I intended. Oddly, considering this has happened on two of my Harleys, I'm finding no information about this issue.

Red Line 42904 V-Twin Primary Case Oil in measured and verified and verified qty
Red Line 42804 V-Twin Transmission Oil with ShockProof in measured and verifiede qty

Don't what the previous owner was running, but it was clean when I drained and re-filled with the above, with no change in the problem.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Wondering about how you actually shift gears.
Do you shift with a aggressive action or a lazy action?

I've noticed that if I don't shift with a positive shift action it could run into what is happening to you.

Just a thought to consider.

 

Good question, that I thought would come up. I'd say more on the aggressive side than the lazy side.

 

Are you a heal shifter? Do you have the same issue downshifting?

 

Baker makes an "anti overshift" pawl, but they do a horrible job of describing the problem it's correcting, which is what I'd like to understand. Also, I'd love get get feedback from anyone who may have installed one.

https://*******/rBCfTY

 

Yes, I am, and I believe the problem happens mostly when down-shifting, which means after I have toed-down into a lower gear I then have to heel-up to get into it.

 

Mark from Baker Drivetrain is a regular on the forum. Hopefully he'll come across your thread and chime in.

He can most certainly tell you what the pawl you describe is designed to correct.

 

When my pawl spring broke on my FXR I replaced it with the Baker, just KNOWING it would take care of that false neutral problem. Centered the pawl adjustment with a dial indicator. It didn't make a bit of difference, it still sometimes goes past whatever gear I'm going for and falls between.
But I have a better spring, so they say........
Next, I'll replace the drum and forks,

 

Thanks LakeRat, that's exactly the sort of feedback I had hoped for re the Baker pawl. I'll be interested to see how you finally resolve the problem

 

Try the simple things first. Take your foot control apart, remove and clean the splined shaft and the hole it fits in (where your shifter levers attach). That area is prone to collect water and slightly corrode inside. I've had shifting problems before and this always took care of it (mine would always miss the gear on upshifting). Had another guy at work asking all sorts of questions about the springs and forks and with this advise, it cleared up his issues as well.