Check Those Shifter Screws
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,328
Likes: 15
From: Pacific Northwest
It's not the bolt that is going loose. It screws in very tight. The problem is the metal the shifter is made of. It wears down quickly on that splined shaft. People tend to kick down harder on that heal shifter than they might think. My heal shifter fell off and the toe shifter became too loose to tighten (bottomed out). Trashed both the POS for a billet toe shifter and have had no further problem.
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Cruiser
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 111
Likes: 0
From: Perry Hall, MD
It happened to my wife on our 06 Heritage last weekend. She was riding ahead of me at about 50mph when I heard the heal pad and bolt hit the ground and bounce into an oncoming car. It could have been a very ugly situation, but luckily the car continued as if a rock had kicked up and hit its grill. For all I know that's where the pad ended up because I did a quick U-turn and couldn't find it anywhere. She was able to use the toe end to shift her way home. The replacement was quite cheap, $15,
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 4,128
Likes: 27
From: florida swamp
What I found was not a problem with the metal (aluminum, same as the billet models) but a problem with the bolt "shouldering out". That is, the shoulder of the bolt dead ends before the shifter arm is completely clamped. It feels tight and the shift arm doesn't seem to rattle but it will wear slowly until it loosens and falls off. Chase the threads on the shift arm and find a bolt with a shorter shoulder or shorten the shoulder yourself with a thread die. Add some blue loctite and it will virtually stay on forever. Mine has.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 5,914
Likes: 3,196
From: On one of 10,000
my fix
I lost one too. Got a replacement off of the local 'Craigslist', but had to buy another flamed peg for it. It too started loosening. I had tightened it to the point of breaking.
I bought a nut with the nylon locking collar on it and put it on the bottom threads. I still check it from time to time. But-Problem fixed. The shifter can rattle all it wants to but I'm not worried now.
I bought a nut with the nylon locking collar on it and put it on the bottom threads. I still check it from time to time. But-Problem fixed. The shifter can rattle all it wants to but I'm not worried now.
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Gunnysgt
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Apr 15, 2016 01:56 AM
