Took my '12 FLTRX in for 15k maintenance, told them about issue with clutch slippage in 5th and 6th gear at top speed. Had to stop at dealership while on the road in NOLA 2 weeks ago to have them adjust the clutch, cause it was slipping bad. Dealership in NOLA made an adjustment which made it totally better in 6th but not 5th gear, and told me to have my dealer back home check for possible issue with the trap door bearing, as they have seen problems with that, and same symptoms. My dealer at home tells me today I need new clutch (parts plus 3 hours labor?), and further says it couldn't be trap door bearing. Anybody familiar with this issue? I'm not a new rider, and don't go hard on my clutch - I have a '06 Road King with the original clutch in it with 50k miles on it, and have had several bikes before that and never burned out a clutch. At 16k and with extended warranty, should I be shelling out money right now on a new clutch?

 

Cripe, one would hope the extended warranty would cover the situation,you paid extra for it I don't see why you'd hafta fork out anything. One good thing you have another machine to hop on while the 12 is in the shop. Good luck & keep us posted!

 

I have a 2013 FLHTK and right after the break in period at about 500 miles, I noticed what I believed to be clutch slippage in 5th gear.

I have taken the bike to the dealership twice now to have them check it out and they continue to tell me there is no issue with the clutch.

I am not dreaming this up and have narrowed it down to how to duplicate the issue.

When I ride down the freeway or am going up a slight incline, I can set the throttle at 60 mph @ 3000 rpm, and then crank on the throttle to speed up. The engine revs up the way you would expect it to, and the tach goes up to 4000, however, the bike does not accelerate at the same rate you would expect from the sound of the engine and the tach moving up to 4000 rpm.

Besides the fact that I've owned vehicles with manual transmissions and have had clutches go out on me before. I know the feel of a clutch that is not engaging properly and appears to be slipping.

The only thing that throws me off is that I can only duplicate the issue in 5th gear at 60 mph while at 3000 rpm.

I have a friend that swears he had the same issue and ultimately determined the clutch springs were the culprit.

I passed on the information to the dealership but was again told there was no problem and what I should do is downshift to 4th gear to accelerate instead of accelerating while in 5th gear.

Any other thoughts on this?

 

wow I just bought a 13 heritage, hope I don't have the same problem with my drive line. I know we don't want to be a pain to our dealership but we all pay good hard earned $$$$$$ for our bikes& accessories & deserve to be taken seriously. A few perks besides a discount, & a plaque would be nice. Good luck!

 

The bearing door can definitely be the culprit, if the bearings walk so does the mainshaft. With helical cut gears the shafts are forced away from each other and they put pressure on the door bearings, the door bearings are retained with snap rings that allow flex. If the mainshaft is allowed to move it will simulate clutch slippage. Put the bike in third gear and hold the lever half way in; feel it moving, that's your bearings moving. Here is the fix:
http://bakerdrivetrain.com/street-door