downshifting woes
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 56
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From: Newport News, Virginia
downshifting woes
Alright, well I need some guidance. First, Specs:1996 Road King. Stock 80" and 5speed. 40,000 miles on the ticker. It has 16in apes.
I started having issues with the bike wanting to roll while in gear at a redlight and difficult shifting. Upon inspection I found that my clutch cable had stretched and I did not have enough adjustment in the cable adjuster to solve the issue. Put a new cable on, pulled the derby cover, adjusted the adjusting screw to my manual's specs (turn in until it touches, and back out 1/2 turn. Lock the lock nut down) and then adjusted the cable until i had 1/16" freeplay.
Now my issues are that it wont downshift from 5-4 or 3-2 unless i either pull in the clutch and coast for a few seconds or pull in the clutch and rev the motor up while pushing the gear selector down. I went back in and adjusted the adjusting screw again so now it is barely touching( meaning i took out the step where you back out 1/2turn) and readjusted the clutch lever so that there is no freeplay, and it has gotten a little better to shift, but I still have to pull the clutch in and wait a few seconds to downshift from 5-4 or 3-2.
Any guidance on how to fix this? Never had this issue until the cable stretched.
I started having issues with the bike wanting to roll while in gear at a redlight and difficult shifting. Upon inspection I found that my clutch cable had stretched and I did not have enough adjustment in the cable adjuster to solve the issue. Put a new cable on, pulled the derby cover, adjusted the adjusting screw to my manual's specs (turn in until it touches, and back out 1/2 turn. Lock the lock nut down) and then adjusted the cable until i had 1/16" freeplay.
Now my issues are that it wont downshift from 5-4 or 3-2 unless i either pull in the clutch and coast for a few seconds or pull in the clutch and rev the motor up while pushing the gear selector down. I went back in and adjusted the adjusting screw again so now it is barely touching( meaning i took out the step where you back out 1/2turn) and readjusted the clutch lever so that there is no freeplay, and it has gotten a little better to shift, but I still have to pull the clutch in and wait a few seconds to downshift from 5-4 or 3-2.
Any guidance on how to fix this? Never had this issue until the cable stretched.
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Joined: Jul 2009
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I bet if you take the clutch pack out you'll find the spring plate is coming apart. I have a 96 e-glide with 44,000 on the clock and it was shot. I would look soon cause if the spring plate goes south the little spring arms could swing out to the outer basket and put a nice groove in there which can really cause some grief.
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From: Santa Cruz
You need primary oil in the primary, not engine oil?
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Tourer
Joined: Nov 2007
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I bet if you take the clutch pack out you'll find the spring plate is coming apart. I have a 96 e-glide with 44,000 on the clock and it was shot. I would look soon cause if the spring plate goes south the little spring arms could swing out to the outer basket and put a nice groove in there which can really cause some grief.
Last edited by vbx07; Nov 25, 2012 at 12:28 PM. Reason: spelling
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Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2009
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For what it is worth and this is my own situation and maybe I screwed up somewhere. On my 94 e-glide the clutch felt funny when I bought it. I couldn't slip it very well and it had a hard bite when it grabbed. So I bought a clutch disc kit and new spring plate just in case. Took the clutch apart and low and behold it has the extra disc kit in it. So I put the new clutch disc kit (meant to be used with the spring plate) and the extra steels and fiber out of the old clutch. It seemed to work great. Then I noticed its was slipping. Took it back apart and what do you know I smoked it in 1000 miles almost on the button.
I put in a new disc set (meant to be used with spring plate) and the new spring plate and it has been a beautiful thing.
Now I know if you buy a kit meant for spring plate use spring plate. If you buy a kit that removes spring plate don't use spring plate. Costed me $100 to learn that one.
I put in a new disc set (meant to be used with spring plate) and the new spring plate and it has been a beautiful thing.
Now I know if you buy a kit meant for spring plate use spring plate. If you buy a kit that removes spring plate don't use spring plate. Costed me $100 to learn that one.