broke down , help diagnose shifter problem
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 142
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broke down , help diagnose shifter problem
All of a sudden my shifter arm went limp....the heel/toe shifter on my 03 electra glide classic became useless. it would not allow me to change any gears. The bike would just stay in the gear that it was in before something broke. When I would grab the rear shifter shaft with my hand I could get it to go into the various gears, but the front shaft (toe shifter) would do nothing. I got the bike home in 4th gear, fortunately I was not far from home, but now wondering what is going on with the transmission. Looks to me like it the front shifter shaft....it turns, but does nothing to change gears. It does seem that the transmission will go into the 5 gears if I rotate the rear shaft by hand but the front does nothing. Any ideas what is going on or what repair bill I may be looking at? Thanks
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 9,850
Likes: 220
From: Sacramento, CA.
If you can move you trans into gear by using the arm coming out of the trans then look to see what has happened to the shaft going through your inner primary. see if you can move it by hand & check the splines on the shaft. Is there a pinch bolt going through the front/rear shifter. Just a few suggestions off the top of my head. Get back to us & let us know what the problem was. Good Luck
Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 127
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Not sure I understand the problem correctly, but one problem on the FLH's is that the shaft in the trans is hardened and the piece that rotates it is not. Over time the splines on the shifter wear out and will not rotate the shaft. Keeping the mechanism tight over the years will help, but it will wear out eventually.
The design is the shaft lacks about about 1/8 inch clearance from the case, so will not remove for repair unless you remove the case - about a three hour job. Not difficult, but time consuming.
Had this happen to me: 2.5 hours from home a few years back. Got it into 5th and made it back on seven shifts after fussing with the shifter arm (it tightened up one last time).
This read exactly like mine acted when it happened. Best guess if I understand what happened correctly.
The design is the shaft lacks about about 1/8 inch clearance from the case, so will not remove for repair unless you remove the case - about a three hour job. Not difficult, but time consuming.
Had this happen to me: 2.5 hours from home a few years back. Got it into 5th and made it back on seven shifts after fussing with the shifter arm (it tightened up one last time).
This read exactly like mine acted when it happened. Best guess if I understand what happened correctly.
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Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2007
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From:
The pinch bolt is tight and does not seem to be the problem..The front shaft that the heel toe shifter is on does turn, but it doesn't seem to do anything..That seems bad to me..I think something broke inside where that front shaft goes....guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and take to a dealer.....I really hate that ....I can feel my wallet being emptied.
Supporter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,724
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From: Altoona, Pa.
Just to eliminate a easy fix to a problem that is not too uncommon. Pull off the shifter and push out the front shifter rod. Give it a dab of lube to free it up. This happened to me one time and the shifting was all messed up. Might not be your problem but just something i'd check before ya drug it to a shop
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Banned
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,259
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From: NW NC
Sounds like the same thing that happened to my 01 last year. Ironically I was just getting off an interstate exit to stop at a dealer. My front shifter had previously loosened and I tightened it thinking I was okay but dealer replaced shift lever and spline in about 45 minutes. Can't remember total cost but was not much. If you remove your levers you may well find the same problem and can do the job yourself. If this is the case I highly recommend using blue Loctite on the Allen heads of the shift levers and crank the snot out of them. I hope your problem is this simple.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,260
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From: Back woods of Maine
I stripped out the shifter rod before. Seems that the spline was a fine tooth gear and over time, the pinch bolt loosened up and the spline stripped. I was in D.C. at the time. I took it to H.D. of Washington. They had me in and out of the shop in about 2hours. Harley later fixed this problem by going to a coarser spline. Total cost for the fix was around $150. I would have tackled it myself if I'd been home. It wasn't rocket science.
Road Warrior
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,802
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From: Salt Lake City, UT. Dushore, Pa.
The pinch bolt is tight and does not seem to be the problem..The front shaft that the heel toe shifter is on does turn, but it doesn't seem to do anything..That seems bad to me..I think something broke inside where that front shaft goes....guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and take to a dealer.....I really hate that ....I can feel my wallet being emptied.
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Last edited by gmc; Mar 28, 2011 at 10:54 AM. Reason: Info.