Get a new bolt for it, normal hex head. Lube the threads and under the head of it a bit and crank the SOB down. It'll be ok.

I recently worried about mine much more than needed and have since forgotten about it (almost).

 

As noted there is some play in the shift shaft both in and out and forward and back. I'd be sure the pinch bolt is good and tight then ride it with periodic checks. I don't believe you can removed the shift arm without removing the inner primary on your bike. I know on my 2012 FLHTK I couldn't.

 

If you wish. I and others have told you how we got it tight simply using a hex head bolt instead of the allen. An allen head screw will not produce the clamping force a hex head bolt can produce. It takes just a few minutes to try, and can save you much time and money.

 

You can. I was also under the impression that this was the case and I was quite disheartened over it. Then I found out that the lever will come off. At some point something changed that allows it, has been that way for quite some time now.

 

Put a stainless hexhead in there. Very hard to get the socket head tight enough. Do it before you strip the socket head trying to tighten it.

 

Now that is scary.. 18-8 SS has way lower tensile strength than a good socket head cap screw.

To OP, This is my pet peeve. The rear arm comes loose (front can too) and if left alone long enough the splines on the arm can wear out.. Remove the bolt, find a AN style washer that fits the flat and a new bolt. Blue LT the bolt and put grease on the head and washer. Tighten screw until it get tight then continue until it feels tighter..

The problem is that the arm is cast and the clamp part is pretty stiff. You need to tighten past the stiffness to where the arm grabs the shaft..

BTW, After doing this, you may have to repeat as the arm beds itself into the shifter shaft..

HD did modify the arm on the M8s to make it easier to get clamping force on the shafts..

 

The tranny shifter shaft is a know wear issue. So is the heel shifter.

I just replaced everything earlier this month. I also replaced the long, horizontal shift linkage with the better designed aftermarket ones.

If your heel shifter gets loose, check to make sure where it clamps the two open ends aren’t touching. If they are no matter what bolt you put in there, it won’t tighten down. Again, if they’re touching, the fix is to take off the heel shifter and grind off a little material so the clamping bolt can press down the two open ends without them touching. But that’s only if the splines are OK.

Because all of the shifter rods, heel toe, long shifter rod with the helm joints, are known wear items, I just started fresh. It’s not that expensive and I did it at the 57,000 mile mark.

OP - post some photos of what you’re talking about.

 

They aren't if you know to keep them tight.. The problem is that the teeth on the arms are cast and not cut with tooling.. The tolerances in tooling allow them to come loose. If not kept after and the shaft and lever are allowed to bed while being checked they won't come loose..

My 07 EGC had a loose shift arm when I bought it at 10000 miles.. It got tightened after I got it home and was check at every oil change after. First couple times it worked loose. After that maybe 2 or 3 times in the last 108000 miles..

 

I might get a new lever just because mine looks ugly. Better Lever $225, the Baker is only $100. Not sure the difference between but Baker looks ok. I may order one for my 2017 FLHXS if I get tired of looking at mine.

 

better lever is stainless steel (from their website)