We shouldn't have to hole 4th gear until 58 or 60 mph. The '06 5th gear was 3.15 ratio and the '07 5th gear is 3.279 ratio. The '07 is geared lower in 5th gear it should pull easier in 5th gear than a '06.

 

Seems Harley is dragging there feet on this. If some of the trannies don't make noise, obviously there must be a problem with the ones that do. 20 plus grand you should expect a good machine. Wouls you put up with this with a 20 grand car. I doubt it.

 

Skips69 I agree 100% w/ you on this . I too am very fortunate not to have any '07 problems " knock on wood " with my FXDB.She's got 1k on her and no problems. After riding my '06 Sporty may it have dampened my feelings somewhat. The sporty has 5 gears and makes all kinds of noises etc and always seems to wanting to be shifted. The Bob definatly feels like you need to accel more before shifting to me. Do you guys feel when your accelreating a massive SMOOTH OUT zone where you go from small Vibs to smooth as Glass? Thats when I shift to the next gear. It happens higher in the rev bands than Im used to on my sporty. IE : 2nd - I shift at around 30 mph , 3rd- 40 ish , 4th - 50 , 5th - 60 , and 6th around 70 ....although sometimes i throw her into 6th at 65 . I do hope you get closure on your issues and hopefully HD will address your complaints. GL!!

 

I have mentioned this exact same thing more then once. I have no whines or noises either so I don't buy the straight cut gear BS causing the whine since all gears are straight cut in the 5 speed trannys.

 

Those who say that I am not hearing the same noise that you are hearing are exactly right. I guess I would have to hear to noise to make a real judgement.

However, let's put this into perspective. You mention the noise to a dealer and have it documented. They tell you it is normal and to ride the bike. At that point you have 2 years of warranty. Why not just ride the bike and see what happens. Either everything will be ok and no problems or it will break and then you bring it back to be fixed under warranty. If it is defective it should fail at a few thousands miles. Putting on 10-15K miles in two years should not be a problem.

As for shifting too early and lugging it. That is very possible, but you would think you would be able to tell it was lugging. IDK about big twins, but my sportster hates 5th gear below 60 mph. I don't think about shifting into fifth gear until 65 mph. If you shift into 5th at 50-55mph on a sportster then you are probably lugging the engine. Of course, this doesn't mean any of it applies to the BT's. 6th gear on those bikes is probably there to be used when you are traveling at 80-90 mph though.

 

One reason people havent heard tranny noises in 88's is they are very noisy motors already so other noises are lost

 

Just curious, does anyone with an 06 Dyna have this problem or is it endemic only to the 07s?

<><Peace

 

I have a 07 Heritage and your discription of when your shifting matches my shifting exactly. If I shift at any slower speeds my bike lets me know right away. The recommended shifting speeds in the manual are off by about 10 mph for each gear.

 

The one issue I see is that if it's not a "mechanical" issue I bet HD will not do anything about it. It may end up being more of an issue of inconvience due to the sound.

I'm sure they are not going to do a recall since there is no simple fix to it other then replacing the tranny. I find it hard to believe they will recall all touring bike to replace tranny's.

I didn't mean to be so harsh in my last post but if it helps to vent I guess that's why we have the forums.

I was contemplating buying a new 07 Streetglide as well but now I'm either going to wait or look for a used 06.

Unfortunatley it's one of those risks we take buying a new model year. I got burnt a few times with Arctic Cat on first model year snowmobiles. But that's only $8k compared to 20k.

Hope something gets done.

(BTW, I did post in the past what a couple mechanics and the service manager told me the problem may be)

 

Those without the noise problem are more sensitive to this thread than those with the problem. I suppose it is always possible that the noise could develop as you put more miles on. I guess you don't want to think about that.

This forum does a service to those who are thinking of purchasing an 07. At least they are aware of a potential problem and can take measures to protect themselves when purchasing a new bike. I wish I had been aware prior to my purchase.

The fact that some have noise and some don't is a problem in itself. How can there be such a difference and both are considered "NORMAL"? Why don't they know how to build all of them without the noise?

I am anxiously waiting for an answer.