Reading through some forums, one thing I see constantly is the stock shift rod ball ends breaking and coming apart mostly on baggers but it does happen on other models as well.

I feel the reason it happens on baggers more frequently is because of the two shift pegs and the forces exerted on the rear one when riders apply more down force with the heel of their foot to shift.

A wise thing to carry with you is some nylon zip ties so you can reattach the joint and keep it in place to get you home. The zip ties take little room and are a very useful thing to have with you for all kinds of repairs. You can easily attach a few ties to the bike itself in a place where they would not be obvious in case of emergency.

After the broken joint is zip tied, it will get you home with no problems but I recommend replacing the shift rod with one of the heim end units that will last much longer than the stock piece. They are available in many designs from the dealer and also aftermarket suppliers.

Below are a pics of the shift rod with heim joints and a closeup of the heim joint ends which are much stronger than the ball and socket that comes stock.

This particular one is from the HD dealer and retails for $86 and is about the bottom of the lineup for the heim joint units. They get much fancier and more costly after this one but well worth this price for dependability.



http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s45/bills985/Heimjointrod.jpg



This is the heim joint itself and if you just want to replace the joint and keep the shift rod, they are available to do this for $24.50 for just two joints here at the bottom of the page.

Be aware that the ends do come in a set that have one left and one right handed thread so the adjustment can be made without unbolting the entire rod to do it.

http://www.mickeyscustoms.com/custom_chopper_parts.asp

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s45/bills985/HeimJoint.jpg