So I am out giving the bike a once over, cleaning her up and checking her out before I go on a ride. I look down at the heel/toe shifter lever and it looks like there is too much play where it connects to the arm that connects to the shifter linkage. I pull on the shifter and it goes about ½ inch back and forth, I give it a good tug and the heel/toe shifter and shaft pull right off!!!!! Upon closer inspection I see that when I had HD put chrome shifter linkage on the bike they didn’t bother to take the set screw out first before putting the arm onto the shaft, they forced it on, then tightened it down and cross threaded the set screw. I don’t know how it held on for a trip to Sturgis and back wouldn't have been nice to have my shifter fall off at 70! I took it apart got a new set screw, cleaned up the threads and put it on CORRECTLY. I had them do a bunch of work and now I am questioning all of it. Guess two morals to this story, 1) Harley is hit or miss with the mechanics 2) Always do a good pre-flight check to the bike before going on a ride.

 

Goes to show ya....if you want it done right, ya got to do it yourself. No mechanic is going to be as diligent and careful with your bike as you are.

Glad you caught it before loosing it!

 

Just for the heck of it, was there any residue of any kind from loctite? Blue would have left a white powdery remains. I see loads and loads of loose shaking shifter rods all the time during bike nites. Hope you used some when re-installing!

 

Nope, not when HD did the install but I used it when I re-did it. They totally missed the spot on the shaft where the arm is supposed to go, there is a part on the shaft with no threads that allows the set screw to tighten but as you probably know, you have to take the set screw out to let the arm go on the shaft and then put the set screw on, I had them doing a lot of stuff to the bike and I bet this was a job started before a break and then finished after.

 

You forgot number three...

3. Any work you can do yourself, do it. Don't trust or pay someone else for the simple stuff.

Glad you got it squared-away. It's a bad feeling when you find that they screwed-up the easy stuff. Makes you wonder about the quality of the rest of what they did...or didin't do....or did totally wrong.

 

my shift linkage came loose last week on a trip to california...had to run 400 miles across west texas in 4th gear to get to barnett's in el paso for repairs. it was where the linkage attaches to the shaft that comes out of transmission. that shaft has splines and a groove about half way down the shaft that locks the linkage on and it cannot come off when installed properly. jam it part way on at the factory and hit it with an impact wrench--lasted 20k. mechanic said it was not the first one they had seen. they replaced the linkage where it attaches to shaft from transmission--got me to cali. and back home. said the transmission needed to be removed from bike to fix it correctly. 2012 e.g. classic bought new and only serviced by selling dealer. maybe if they weren't playing music on the assembly line, crap like this would not happen.

 

i did not have the dealer intervention you had but with an 07 road glide i had back in 08, i lost the heel toe shifter and the shifter assembly on the way home from Sturgis. Had to stop at a truck stop and make a shifter that i mounted on the shifter arm that come outs out of the transmission(think duct tape, wire and a stick). Kinda worked like a jockey shift but with the clutch on the left hand side, had to squeeze clutch with left hand and reach over and shift with right. Was not too bad once you got into 6th gear however getting there was interesting. Rode over 700 miles this way, needless to say, only stopped for gas and rode non stop until i got home. Got use to starting off in 2nd to avoid having to shift so much. When got home, dealer looked at it and replaced under warrenty since bike was still under warrenty and had never had any work done to the shifter.

 

You're so right Joe! I had the HD front suspension upgrade done by them as well and now I am wondering what the did or didn't do right on that portion of the job.

 

Glad you got there and got it fixed hope you had a good time when you got here to Cali. Yep, same with the front arm that goes on the shaft, it has a grove where the set screw has the clearance to tighten and not come in contact with the splines,

 

That is some good handy work, got your back on the road! Exactly why I take a bunch of stuff with me on the road, my brother laughs at all the stuff I take with me on a trip, duck tape, hard wire, soft wire, zip straps, all sorts of odds and ends for just such an occasion.