Bike's Hard to Shift
 

Im not what you call 'mechanically inclined'; I can turn nuts and bolts, etc. Monday, I had the fluids changed on the bike. Now I've noticed it being, at times, hard to shift. Sometimes the shifts are smooth as glass......other times I actually have to 'work' to shift it. HD Syn 3 is the oil Im using. The clutch seems to grab almost right away.

Any Ideas?

Many thanks....

Billy G

Sounds to me like your clutch isn't fully releasing and may need to be adjusted.

Who did your fluid change, the dealer??

I remember taking a chevy to a dealer for some minor work and when it came out of the dealer it all of a sudden had a transmission leak. (It idnt have it when it went in.) The Dealers sometimes like to "create" future work when times are bad and it turns out they loosened the pan bolts to create the leak. Took it to a "tranny" place who wanted ungodly money and said they'd have to do major work just to diagnose it. BULL, took it to a local (very busy) shade tree mechanic who diagnosed the real problem, loose bolts and proceeded to change the gasket and fluid change, at a very modest repair cost. Last time I ever used that Chevy dealer for anything and since they have changed hands. It's not an uncommon practice from what I am told by a friend who is a service manager for auto dealers.

Adjust clutch, lube cable, and lube shifter. You'll be amazed at the feel of butter of shifting!

I agree,adjust the clutch to proper spec,then see what you have.I ran the Harley syn.in my trans when it came out,but only ran it maybe 500 miles,it would bang hard into gear,I could feel it through the whole bike.Others at that time said it was great,didn't go good in mine for some reason.

Agree with lubing the shift linkage and any bushings, even taking apart if necessary. On my Deuce, all of the sudden the shift lever wouldn't return to center position and had to return it with my foot between each shift. Thought some sort of spring must have broke. Simple lube did it

Sounds like improper clutch adjustment . Dealers are good for that. Try adjusting your clutch down at the primary . Put some 75/90 amsoil in your tranny ..:)

Check your clutch handle. You should have about 1/16" - 1/8" of play before it starts pulling on the cable. If not, make your adjustment on the cable down in front of the engine.

+1 on checking the clutch adjustmemt.

I had a problem with the rear arm that connects the linkage to the transmission. The shaft coming out of the transmission is splined and the arm slides over it and is tightened to hold the arm on the spline. The arm was loose on my bike making the arm bind up at times. I was able to tighten this up and fix my problem.