Exactly what mine would do. I'd start out in the moring and it would up shift hard and would not down shift to first gear. After riding it awhile it would work fine. Like to drove me nuts! I think the gunked/old grease would loosen up a bit and allow the shifter to move more freely as it warmed up.

It will take you all of 10-20 minutes to remove it and re-lubricate. Someone also suggested to drill a hole in the housing where the shaft runs through and install a grease fitting for future use.

 

I think medic has the answer in both posts.

 

Sounds like a good project for this weekend, thanks for the help.

 

Darn, what would I do without you guys... Hard shift from 1st to 2nd...only since I removed my heel shifter... Grease...spacer....I just had a HAHA moment... Going to the garage and fixing that thing...

Thanks

 

Just back from the garage, if you don't use a spacer when removing the heel shifter, the shaft can move inwards and the shift lever hits the cylinder making the shifting difficult until you actually rub the shifter off the round corner of the cylinder. Naturally, when getting to higher gears, the lever passes the cylinder corner and becomes easy to shift...

If I had just checked my work I would have caught it right away... So you need a spacer when removing the heel shifter...

My bike is a 2009 Classic (FLHTC)....

Thanks again for the hint...