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Hard shifting 91 EGC

bus driver

bus driver

Member
I purchased this bike last spring and the first thing I did was change all of the fluids. It runs great except in the colder months untill it is fully warmed up, it will not shift into any gear. It grinds and will not shift into gear. I adjusted the clutch as per the factory Harley manual with no results. I don"t know what fluids the original owner used. I posted last night and got great advise as to what tranny fluid to use. I am currently using Castrol 85-140. My question is would the lube actually prevent it from going into gear? It was fine in the summer. The bike is stock. It shifts fine once warmed. I waited my whole life for this bike and it was well worth the wait. Thanx for all of your advise guys. Bus Driver.
 
bus driver said:
I purchased this bike last spring and the first thing I did was change all of the fluids. It runs great except in the colder months untill it is fully warmed up, it will not shift into any gear. It grinds and will not shift into gear. I adjusted the clutch as per the factory Harley manual with no results. I don"t know what fluids the original owner used. I posted last night and got great advise as to what tranny fluid to use. I am currently using Castrol 85-140. My question is would the lube actually prevent it from going into gear? It was fine in the summer. The bike is stock. It shifts fine once warmed. I waited my whole life for this bike and it was well worth the wait. Thanx for all of your advise guys. Bus Driver.
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How many miles? May be time for a new clutch pack and cable? I dont think the lube should be causing you these problems, tho you could try a straight weight gear lube JMO Is it because of colder weather now, what is the air temp you are riding in now?
 
It could be the adjustment of your primary chain is way off, or your shifter forks are out of adjustment. Get a shop manual and check out those two things. Either way, you cannot lose by making sure thay are both correct. For what its worth, if you have to remove outer primary, and you can afford one, buy the automatic tensioner for the primary. Avoids having to remove the outer primary agian in a few thousand miles. JMO
 
Low milege, About 25,000. It"s about 45 out today which is not that cold. I have a Harley factory manual. I"ll check the primary chain tention. It just seems funny that when I changed the fluid and it got cold out my troubles started. I never had that problem before. Thanx Bus Driver
 
Another item to consider is the Shift Pawl adjustment. If you do a search on here you will get some hits. Mine was out of alignment and needed adjustment. I also put my bike in gear before I start and pull the clutch lever and rock it back and forth to loosen up the clutch plates. Maybe its my imagination but it seems to help when its cold - Bob
 
BOBFLHTC said:
Another item to consider is the Shift Pawl adjustment. If you do a search on here you will get some hits. Mine was out of alignment and needed adjustment. I also put my bike in gear before I start and pull the clutch lever and rock it back and forth to loosen up the clutch plates. Maybe its my imagination but it seems to help when its cold - Bob
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Thats the thing i was trying to think of, Thank you. :hii
 
If all is good once hot and you only have a problem when cold i would be looking at the clutch side of things and the weight and quantity of oil in the primary
When you go to select a gear when cold try to hold the clutch lever in for about 10 sec before attempting to select the gear this allows excess oil to be thrown of the plates by the clutch spinning and allows the clutch plates to fully seperate

Brian
 
sounds like clutch pack. but something real strange was going on with a friends bike. same thing after he changed the fluid . we drained the fluid and changed it back to HD fliud recomended. I watched him refill the primary and saw he had it filled to the lower line of the clutch inspection cover . i asked if thats how he did it befor and he said yes. we drained it and refilled with 36 oz. and she shifts great. it was about 12 oz. over filled the way he did it. dont know if it was the oil or the over fill that caused it. but I have herd over full will make for hard shift.
 
I agree that it i probably a clutch problem. You didn't say what your using for primary fluid and most any LIGHT WEIGHT oil will work fine. Over filling or heavy oil will cause clutch plates to stick together and not release.
 
Thanx for all the help guys. When I changed the fluid I replaced it HD primary and tranny fluid. When I adjusted the clutch 2 days ago I checked the level it was correct as per the HD manual. For the heck of it I added about 8 more ounces to see what would happen. No change. Tomorrow I'm going to check the primary chain adjustment and the shifter pawl. I"m also going to try the advise to like rocking it in gear (not running) and holding the clutch in for ten secondsn while cold and running. Pardon the pun but I"ll keep you posted. Thanx Bus Driver.
 
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