New to the forums so work with me.


I have a 03 Sporty XL1200 with 24000 miles.

The bike has quickly taken a downturn concerning the clutch. I have experienced difficulty when shifting gears from first to second and also the bike goes into neutral in the 4th or 5th gears. When I try to put the bike into neutral to park the light flashes on then off but the bike is in neutral. I noticed two days ago that when starting the bike with the clutch disengaged the bike still pulled forward slightly.

Is the clutch not fully disengaging or is it time to replace the clutch plates?


Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated.



Thanks!



DennisB

 

The false neutral between 4th and 5th has nothing to do with the clutch. False neutrals can be caused by worn or damaged shift forks, worn or damaged shift pawls, loose pins on the shift drum, loose or damaged detent plate, worn detent roller, weak detent spring or a shifting pawl assembly out of adjustment.

I suspect a detent problem because a problem there could cause all the shift problems you mention as well as the neutral light problem.

The bike jumping forward with the clutch pulled in is normal with a cold bike.

 

A properly adjusted clutch will usually begin to slip in the higher gears first - if the clutch is slip'n in first/second then it's toast! Clutch slippage can be due to excessive wear on the friction plates or weak clutch springs due to heat resulting from slipping. If you have a degree of free-play on the cable with a cold start then the clutch should be completely engaged. The slight lurch forward experienced with a cold engine could be due to the clutch plates being (still) slightly married due to the cold viscosity of the oil. Also keep in mind that plates moving closely together in liguid offer a slight connection factor (torque converter action?). This is more pronounced with a cold engine (primary).

 

Thank for the input.

I just wanted to add a little more details to see if I can further pinpoint the complication.

I took the bike to a mechanic who looked at the plates and said there was no noticeable wear.
In fact when I rode it off the lot it ran fine till I hit the highway then I noticed the problem again.

I varied my riding styles to try and troubleshoot the problem and this is what I got.

When riding the bike hard and shifting high rpms it ran fine most of the time. No slipping.

I then tried riding as I would say... In traffic. At mid rpms the bike almost never wanted to shift from first to second and second to third.

I then allowed the rpms to settle way down between shifts and it seems to do fine there too.

So at either extreme the bike wants to ride fine but everyday riding it craps out.


any ideas?

Thanks.