I was in very slow moving traffic Thursday night on my 2009 FLHP with 3,000 miles on it, when my clutch would not engage. I had the clutch lever hard against the left hand grip and the bike kept going forward. I engaged the front brake lever and the bike continued to surge forward. Because both my hands were on the levers and my feet were on the ground, as I was trying to stop, I did not engage the rear brake, but did hit the kill switch in order to stop the bike and not lug the engine. I set there until the traffic began to move and started the bike. I was able to get out of traffic and go home. No problems when I was riding and shifting through the gears. I will call the dealer next week and let them look at it, as it is still under warrantee. However, I am curious. What do you think happened? I don't want the dealer to tell me there is nothing wrong. This is my fourth Harley, three of them new, and I have never experienced this before. Thanks, Halfbreed

 

how much freeplay is in the cable?

 

HERE's a thread for you to read.

 

I just went thru this 2 months ago. EXACT same thing happened while riding in a parade.

My fix was to adjust the clutch release inside the derby while engine was still rather warm, not cold like stated in the service manual.

What happens is that the clutch plates heat up and grow in thickness to the point the clutch will not disengage if adjusted to cold spec......I have had no more problems with it since while driving in very slow traffic.

 

Hi guys. been away from the site for a while but good to be back. Meantime i bought a 09 classic put 13k on since last october but my clutch problem was different, when squeezing and releasing the leaver slowley it would move in small jerks. dealer replaced the cable, no better. replaced leaver and housing, no good. ended up being rough spots on the pressure plate inner fingers dragging on the clutch plate.cleaned up fingers, all good.

 

Thanks for your replies, and I will respond to your questions. I have very little clutch play at the grip. When I let out the lever just a bit, the bike takes off. Perhaps I should have mentioned that it is a Police bike which was left over. I bought it with 10 miles on the clock. I just figured the police bikes were set up differently to respond more quickly from a stop. It did take me a while to get comfortable with the quick start, after stalling it a few times. I did read the other posts and must admit that I did the 1000 mile service myself, and did not even look at the clutch. On the recommendation of the service manager at the dealership, I used HD20W50 motor oil (he said to wait until the 5000 mile service to use the synthetic) and used the synthetic they sell in the other two holes. Apparently other have had this problem and I appreciate your responses. I will start with the clutch cable adjustment, then look at the clutch when warm and make an adjustment there. I will still talk with the service manager and see if they will look at it, under warrantee, even though I did not address it at the 1000 mile service. Thanks, Halfbreed

 

You might discover that most dealers don't wanna perform clutch adjustments under warranty because they don't get paid by the MOCO to do that. They instead will do the adjustment when you take it in for the 1K and 5K and follow up periodic service because YOU then pay for it.

Learn to do it yourself...Really....It ain't hard and it will grant you lots of confidence to do it yourself. All you need is a T27 torx bit and an allen wrench plus a cresent wrench....Yeah, you also need the instructions, but you can find them here or buy a service manual for 60 bucks.

 

How do you know whether to adjust the cable or the clutch?? Seems the OP had his cable too loose which would not allow the clutch to be pulled away from the motor drive, even when he was touching the hand grip.

But wouldn't it be better to start with both fully loose and do them in a certain sequence??

 

I followed the service manual to the T and if I remember correctly I did adjust at the clutch and the middle section of the cable (its been a couple of months), however I have noticed the "slight" surge when warm with the clutch pulled in, agree with previous post, do it with it warm..............

 

A little note to make your life a little easier down the road.If you do pull the cover replace those torx screws with some Allen heads so they do not strip out as easily..