[designflaw]

I have asked this on other forums with mixed results:

I was riding with a buddy and my rear shifter came off at 2300 miles. Looking at it, it is a standard bolt and not a shoulder bolt, the spline had work the threads out which let it slide past the spline stop. The bolt was still tight etc.... I assumed this was my fault since I had them off and powered coated them and some how some way I did something wrong.

I left it off, because I actually like the room better and I'm a toe guy anyway.

A couple months later a buddy with a 14 SGS had the interior shifter linkage fall off which stranded him till he figured it out. Looking at his, he found the bolt had the threads worn off also allowing it to slide off the spline on the inside. He was around 3000 miles.

My inside one is now moving out, you can tell by the side to side play in the shifter, and by feeling the linkage has slid off the shaft some. 5300 miles.

The Dealer says they have not heard of this, but I have talked to others that know about it and say its an issue. I think it is a simple solution, just find a should bolt and replace it. but for the cost of these bikes I mean really.

We are both aggressive riders coming from crotch rockets but I've had dozens of jap bikes and never had a TIGHT shifter fall off.


Thoughts opcorn

 

[baggd13]

My buddies rear linkage came off also. It was as tight as possible. No explanation. I think he put it back on with loctite. But still doesn't help why it happened. But seems to be a more common problem then it should.
On top of the fact it is a bear to reach that rear shaft and put the linkage back on.

 

[designflaw]

My buddies rear linkage came off also. It was as tight as possible. No explanation. I think he put it back on with loctite. But still doesn't help why it happened. But seems to be a more common problem then it should.
On top of the fact it is a bear to reach that rear shaft and put the linkage back on.

Yea, the problem isn't it being loose, its the wear on the bolt, without the edge filling the spline inset, it can come off no matter how tight it is. They are a bit different than the old days where you had room to squeeze the tar out of it. Now they close down on themselves so can't damage the gear teeth.

 

[Chief Illiniwek]

You're talking shift pedals, not levers, right? The levers are at each end of the shift linkage. You're talking about where you touch your foot to shift, right? I think baggd thinks you meant levers.

 

[designflaw]

I mean both

 

[Chief Illiniwek]

This is what I'm calling a rear shift lever:

Front shift lever:

Shift pedal:

Not sure if my vocabulary is correct, but I want to make sure I know what you're asking about.

 

[El Diablo]

The bolt is supposed to pinch the splines tight to the shaft. Those spline will wear if they aren't tight.

The problem is that the bolt will bottom out in the threads on the shift arm.....

Put a small washer under the bolt head that will fit inside the recess in the shift arm. Then torque the bolt to 15-20 ft lb with a drop of blue loctite on the threads and you'll be good to go.

The washer shortens the bolt by just a bit, allowing you to fully tighten the shift arm to the shift shaft.

 

[designflaw]

Chief, yes both, the rear pedal fell off of mine, now the inside lever is slipping so there is side to side play of the shifter post.

The inside rear lever feel off my buddys.

Forty, thanks for the advise I'm just wondering why this happens. They are fully tight and the bolt is warn. Seems it should be fixed with a bolt change in design

 

[Chief Illiniwek]

Excellent. Then forty gave you the right advice. Bad design. Works good enough to get away with on stock splines, but after only a little erosion it seems like the bolt is too long and bottoms out as soon as you need it tighter than the stock tightness. Forty's washer trick should fix it. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[tbrince]

I think Forty is on the right track, doesn't matter if bolt is tight if it isn't clamping on spline it will wear. I had same prob with a Yamaha dirt bike and did exactly what Forty suggested. I'll be checking my street glide tomorrow.

 

[Miles Tequillya]

I had my spline strip on me at 15k miles(13 ultra)... It is under warranty... No matter weather the dealership has heard of it or not .. It is a warranty issue...

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[kd5cqt]

You can bet they have heard about this. Had mine rebuilt less than a year after I bought it. They get several a month with same problem, and that's just one dealership. This problem has been around for years. The day I got creamed on my '04 I was scheduled to bring it in after work that day and have that one redone.

 

[stinkboater]

Mine and my friend came off and were lost on a trip with in 300 miles of having 5000 mi service. Dealer claims they tighten every bolt they can get to. Guess they missed the most common problem one. Seems like it is always the heel shifter. They use the same lever for front and rear which puts the heel shifter's bolt going from bottom to top. To make sure if didn't happen again I bought a longer bolt that was about a 1/4" longer so it came out the top. I used lock tight on it and put a chrome acorn nut on the protruding thread.

 

[avidarchers]

This happened on friends ultra classic. He then bought new shaft and installed. Happened again, he told out local dealer where he bought it and they said sorry bring ur bike in we will install new one at no cost to u. Now that's great service to me from a dealer.


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[stinkboater]

Dealer did replace mine. Forgot to say that.