THe guys whose tranny locked had the tranny oil stick break off and lock up his tranny... I check mine occassionaly and actually thought of cutting it off to prevent that...

 

The dealer told me they have talked to HD and HD knows about the problem but HD doesn't know how to fix yet.

 

I am so glad that I heard that you guys are having this problem. The reason I say this is my 07 road king has the same problem at first I thought this was normal because I did not know better when I had the mechanic at harley test ride my bike to hear the noise he told me the bike sounds fine when I brought the bike in for the 1000 miles service they said there was no problem with 5th . my wife said that I worry to much. Now I know there is something wrong I am going to run it in the ground and if it breaks so be it the warranty will fix it. It sucks when you are rumbling a long and you put it in 5th and you thing that you transmissions is going to break on you

 

If this is due to straight cut gears, then why is it that my 06' RK doesn't whine in any gear and they are all straight cut gears?

 

I bought my '05 Road King Classic used. It is perfect in everyway. Loads of power, torque, quiet gearbox (5 speed), wonderful suspension and very good eye appeal. I was so enthusastic about "Touring" with a few months on the '05 that I thought seriously about trading it for an '07................. Whew, glad my "Stealer" was an a-hole about the deal and I didn't trade. I am keeping my '05 until 100,000 miles and then I'm trading it for a '06 with only 80,000 miles............... Dodged that bullet! ............. BC

 

Talked to HD customer service again about the noise issue. I reported that I had my 1000K service done and the noise was still there and maybe worse. According to her they still do not acknowledge that this as a "problem". I am talking about the "rocks in a can" sound at low rpms. They say they can reproduce the noise in all gears by lugging them at low rpms but they don't know what is causing it. They have engineers working on the "issue" but no cause has been found so it is still "normal". I thought I was talking to the legal department.

They have checked out the transmissions returned to the factory and they are all OK. She implied that HD owners lug the engine too much and if they kept the rpms above 2K, the problem is reduced or eliminated. Supposedly all the customer service techs ride the 07's to get in touch with any product problems. I had the impression that the amount of resources devoted to fix this issue is directly related to the number of irrated customers that call customer service.

I believe that the noise is coming from the primary chain and we discussed this possibility as well. The 06 Dyna all had the same transmission that is in the 07's and they didn't experience this "issue". They also had the same auto chain tensioner. There is a difference however in the engine size (96 vs 88) and the inner and outer primary cover design. It seems possible that the clearance for the primary chain could have changed. Also the larger stroke engine of the 07's could be introducing additional the vibration on the chain causing it to slap against the cover or some other internal part. One would expect that the "B" version of the engine would have less of an issue in this case. It is conceiveable that this combination wasn't thoroughly tested in product development since they were relying on experiences with the 06 Dyna's. In my situation the noise seems to be timed to the engine power stroke when under a slight load at low rpms. I have to admit she did seem interested in my theory and said they keep documentation on all customer complaints and experiences and make this available to engineering.

For all of you have the problem I would suggest you call HD customer service to make sure they get the message. Don't just rely on the dealer. HD Customer Service: 414-343-4056 (option 4, option 4, option 2)

 

Any trans will clunk if you lug the motor, learn when and where to shift and eliminate the problem, to continue to lug which a lot of harley riders due for some reason can damage any year trans. as to the 06 and straight cut gear noise, its a completly different trans in the 07 it sounds different, why they put straight cut gears in first and fith I cant say but these were tested in all the 06 dynas and thousands of test miles in baggers over the last two years, its just a noise issue, the only reason 06 and back wasn't heard is the dang motors have a 80% higher cam and motor noise leve than the quite 96". Ive been riding hogs for near 40 years and my 07 is on the truck headed this way now, I will tell you first hand when I get it if its a big deal.

 

I have had my 07 and the tranny is the least of my problems right now.......I just want it to stay running.
Anyway, I am OK with the tranny. Sounds like an old hot rod!!!! I think because the motor is strocked it does like a higher rpm. Mine seems to like to be around 2,200 to 3,000 rpm. I have no problem with this.

On a side note, I will mention that my 05 "88" likes to be more around 1,800 to 2,500.

 

Some people like noise, I guess I don't.

HD spent a lot of resources in quieting down the 96 engine for 07 and this is great. Why add noise to the drivetrain? I don't see any reason why it should make a bunch of clatter at any rpm. It's really not a matter of lugging the engine either. The noise occurs when at low rpms with just a slight load is applied. Sometimes it is evident when coasting. Actually the more power that is applied the less noise there is. This mechanical drivetrain noise wasn't present in earlier models I owned. Why now?

 

if the motor/trans is working perfectly (as stated by the reps stated above) a rider shouldnt have to alter their riding style to eliminate a noise. lugging a motor is lugging a motor--- and unless youre a complete MORON, youll lug it for about 2 milliseconds and make the proper gear changes.

i could see HD telling customers that they have to keep the rpm's above 2200 on some sort of factory 1/4 mile drag strip non-street legal MONSTER- but NOT on ANY big twin... bagger or not. i bought my 06 about a month before the 07's were introduced and i will admit that i was a bit salty that i hadnt waited.... but reading about these issues, im REALLY glad that i didnt get an 07 that MAY be a clunker, because if i just spent ~$20K and it made some strange clunking noises, i would either blow it up, ride it through the dealers front window or sell it and never buy another HD.... and HD is new to me (for personal rides)

my 06 is awesome