If a bike shifts into neutral very easily when not running, but is nearly impossible to find neutral when running, what could be the cause?

 

If the picture is your bike then you have an EVO. My EVO had 30,000 miles on it and I had the same issue.
1. what did you do? if it just started happening then read on
2. who adjusted your clutch?
3. cable could be stretched
4. fluid is old and not working
5. clutch is wearing out
6. tranny sucking
any of these can be your culprit
Technique
a blip on the throttle and right at the same time you blip the throttle attempt the neutral shift.
If you apply pressure up to get to neutral does it go to second or does your toe hurt cause it won't move at all?
give me more info I can help.... really -- I know I had a year of trouble that I attempted to work out. I finally did it but it was seriuous pain in the A$$

 

Thanks badherb... My bike is an EVO -- a '95 FLHR with just over 19,000 miles. I have owned it for just under a year. When I bought it last August, I had the local HD dealer replace all fluids with new and synthetic and go over the entire bike. Just had dealer replace all cables with stainless steel (including clutch)... within 150 miles ago. At that time, dealer also replaced transmission top gasket. This issue just started. As you mentioned, I can pull up until my toe hurts and it will not go into neutral, or up at all. So, I usually click down again and try to upshift and it won't go, or sometimes will go right into second. Turn the bike off, and no problem... goes right into neutral with almost no effort and no toe pain. Thanks for any advice.

 

The EVO tranny. When Harley made the twincam they tried to use the old evo tranny with the new balanced softail motor and found out it wouldn't shift with the new motor. Your tranny needs the vibration of the motor to help it shift. So, rev the motor a bit and try to shift into neutral. When I had my 99 Heritage I was experiencing the same problem until I read about what Harley found out about the tranny. Never had a problem finding neutral again. Also it's made to go to neutral from first, not second so always go to first gear when trying to find neutral. Always make sure you have the correct amount of primary oil also. Too much will make finding neutral hard also.

 

+1 on the last response. Overfilling the primary could be the culprit. I'd check that first.

 

Your bike just had cables installed. That's when the problem magically appeared. My best guess is the clutch and cable are improperly adjusted. The clutch is easy to adjust. And as a favorite wrench of mine stated just as easily screwed up. search here the instructions are every where. OR!!!! take it back and tell them to fix their work.

Did this bike have an easy clutch type kit on it?

 

Over filling the tranny is one of the biggest issues with my local dealership, not too sure why since the HD oils aren't cheap...hmmmm.
My wife's Fat Bob couldn't shift into neutral at all and the fix was me checking the tranny oil levels and getting the dealership to remove the excess.

 

2nd that, heard this said many times before!

 

+1 to this. Please have them re-check your cables. Next...check for the over-filling. We had this problem with another soldier in My unit and it was actually both issues. A correct adjustment of the cables and a fresh juice in the box at the proper level and Viola!

Ride Safe and Good Luck! Mike

 

Had the same problem on my 96 RK. I changed the fluid, adjusted the clutch and started shifting into neutral using the heel shifter. The heel shifter seemed to give a lighter touch. All of the above corrected the issue on my bike. Good luck.