I had the dis-pleasure of experiencing a stripped shifter shaft on my '13 Limited last year coming home from a trip. The toe shifter and shaft stripped out and I ended up driving it 200 miles down shifting by hooking the heel shifter on top of the heel of my boot.

Last week while on my way to Taos, NM I had a similiar problem on my '15 Ultra Classic. Only this time the shift arm side of the shaft stripped out. And when it failed I could not up or down shift. Bike had less than 5,000 miles on it when it failed. Everything was tight, no loose bolts. Ended up pulling it completely apart, rotating the shaft 180 degrees and putting it back together with as much torque on the pinch bolt as I dared. Limped it all the way to Taos.

Next morning I limped it to Santa Fe HD and was told that they could get me in but not until late afternoon! I said F#%& it, bought the parts ($68.00) and fixed it myself in their parking lot with a piddly HD tool kit in 30 minutes. Not much support for out-of-towners at that dealership.

WTF is going on with these shifter shafts? Even the delaer said "Yeah, we've seen quite a few of these fail." Anyone else have this problem? Is there a better option than the same old POS HD parts?

 

Just out of curiosity do you use your heel shifter to shift more often than the toe shift? I realize your toe shifter stripped but i am wondering if when using the heel shift we might be putting much more pressure on the heel than when using the toes shifter?

I have pretty much stopped using the heel shifter except for finding neutral because i felt i was putting much more weight on the heel shifter when banging through the gears..

 

I had 3 ultras from 06 to 11. They all shifted clunky. I got a 14 roadking now and it shifts sooooo much smoother. It clunks once in a while. But now, I ride with my buddies that have SG and Ultras and you can really hear them shift.

 

On my 2014SG the inside arm that actuates the rod was wiggling all over, even though the allen bolt was completely tight. The dealer said, near as I can quote "We took it apart, cleaned it, and reassembled it and it's good." I say it's much better than it was, but still not as solid as my buddy's brand new Ultra, so I''m expecting it to loosen up again. Kinda lame, and yeah I'll be looking to the aftermarket for better parts if it's a weak point.

 

I had the same issue starting on my bike at about 9k miles. My shop noticed the significant wear when installing some powder coated parts. To keep from getting stuck on the road, I replaced it with a shifter shaft from Drag Specialties. 3k miles later, no noticeable wear.

 

I tried to help a stranded '14 SGS with the same issue. Tried as we did, it kept working loose. This guy worked at a HD shop so they towed him in and fixed it under warranty. Nevertheless, it's a common problem.

 

This is so odd, I had a '10 RK that shifted very loud, "CLUNKED". Spent a month trying different oils/gear oils and never got rid of the clunk! Just excepted it; however, my new SGS shifts as smooth as can be. Finding neutral is a snap on the SGS, which I never could find on my RK. I was told that it is a hit and miss deal, some trans chunk more then others. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

 

Mine failed also. But I didn't get stranded.

First time, I was 2 blocks from home. I pulled it apart, rotated the shaft and put it back together.

Rode out to Javelina HD in Boerne, TX, told them the problem, and that I had it "patched". The service writer told me the mechanic said everything was tight, to which I REstated my problem, and that it was f8cked.

They said they fixed it.

1 week later, it stripped again, and there was no "patching" it. I was on night shift, and it came loose on the interstate. I limped to work, and called a different dealer.

I zip tied the shifters (yes, they were flopping that bad, and I have an extended rear), TIGHTLY clamped a pair of vice grips on the inner shaft, put zip ties on the handle so they couldn't open, and rode 70 miles from work to a different dealer.

They said there is no way that original had been changed.

They changed both the shift shaft, and the spline shaft.

No issues since.

 

You guys must really be stompin' on them shift levers!
Go lighter on the feet, gents!

Kiddin' aside, I had a lever come a bit loose on the shaft (the inner lever in front). Wasn't totally stripped on the shaft, just wouldn't get tight on it. I ended up buying a used part on ebay for about $15 or so. That one went on tight and stayed tight.

They definitely should do a re-design on the shaft and levers to improve the "bite"...

 

I'd had the same problem since my 2004 flhtc. I was replacing the shifters or shaft about once a year. When replacing them the last time on my2007 flhtc , I took them off, drilled a small hole through them and put a small cotter pin through lever and shaft. No more problems. Make sure you have lever in position before drilling so holes line up.