Hey guys,

2010 FLSTF Fat Boy with 11,500 miles
(Purchase July 2023 with 4,100 miles)
Mostly stock, mechanically, except for V&H slip one and heat shields with quiet baffles.

Incident: This morning I was cruising at 95 on the freeway and started losing high end power 4th gear, flipped it to 5th to cruise and started hitting the Rev limiter instantly.
Shortly after, I lost all acceleration in the bike and slowly came to a stop on the shoulder.

The bike freely rolls in any gear but still acknowledges when I put it into neutral.
After letting sit for a while and disconnecting/reconnecting the battery.. I tried again. The bike will not grab in any gear and I am able to leave it in first/second gear without the bike stalling, just sits and idles normally. The exhaust does have a slightly raspier and higher pitch tone but nothing that substantial.
No check engine light, but I do have plenty of ECM error codes.

ECM ERROR CODES:
U1300, U1301, U1016, U1064, U1255, U1040.
B1004, B1005, B1006, B1007 (probably not applicable to the problem)

please help, I would like to know what these codes indicate before I force myself to dig into the clutch and manually investigate. Bike has never had a problem before this. Thank you all in advance.

 

Sounds like you have two problems..


One that is causing a disconnect between your engine and the rear wheel, in the drive line..

One that caused a bunch of codes.


I would look into the driveline first. You have an issue with the drive line, that the ECM/BCM/sensors does not handle. The codes are separate from the main drive line issue. Something broke that allowed you to immediately hit the rev limiter, and lose forward motion.

Start with the easy stuff first. Make sure you still have a drive belt between the trans gear & rear wheel pulley, and it's not slipping. If the drive belt checks good, time to open the primary... If the primary checks good, time to open the transmission. Something is broken, you need to find out what... I'm gonna guess the clutch, but do a proper diagnosis...

For the multiple codes, it could be because you lost forward motion and the engine hit the limiter..That could have confused some sensors' feedback to the ECM. It could also be because of a glitch in the 12v system. Look for loose, corroded, or damaged battery cables (both positive and ground). Once the driveline is fixed, clear the codes and go for a ride... see which, if any, come back.... go from there...

Good luck and keep us posted..

 

That helps a lot and gives me a plan of attack. Though your reply scares me for what I could find, i’ll keep the thread posted with updates when I dig in this weekend (hopefully). Thank you @hattitude

 

sounds like the drive belt let go... hopefully

 

Okay, so I inspected the drive belt and everything looks good. Good tension and teeth.
-Looking at my chains they’re in great condition.
-sprockets have great teeth and look good.
-lever engages the clutch when pulled with hood tension.

negatives:

-I do see a couple of the clutch plates look dark in some spots and clean silver in the rest. Burnt?
-the inner sprocket is rubbing on the inside of the casing (see last picture).

I’m lost here. Everything looks in great condition for the most part.

Also, I could not get the back wheel off the ground safely so I am limited there for now. If’s it’s absolutely necessary then I can make it happen.

 

I'm not a clutch expert, but I believe that clutch basket should NOT be rubbing on the inner primary...

I think that means at best, you have a bad Inner Primary Bearing (IPB)...

But if I remember correctly, you lost all forward motion, meaning the engine wouldn't drive the rear wheel when in any gear.....

If I remembered that correctly, I suspect there may be something broken in the transmission....

At the very least I would be pulling the primary parts out, checking that clutch/basket closely, and checking that IPB....

I would also get a scissor jack, get that rear wheel off the ground, and see what happens if you spin the rear wheel, both in gear and in neutral....


Like I said, my trans/clutch experience is not extensive... Hopefully someone with a bunch of clutch/trans experience will chime in about what they believe has happened....

 

if belt is good, clutch can't be burnt that bad just like that. ....when you pull the clutch lever is the clutch basket mechanism moving? Also check the comp and clutch bolts. Hope its not a broken output shaft. But you need to get the back wheel off the ground to properly check.

 

You really need to get that rear wheel off the ground to finish the diagnostic work.
I'd spring for a decent motorcycle jack/lift myself. You could go with a small one, but the bigger ones can lift higher and are more stable.

I agree, there should be no scraping at all. That's an, er, strong indicator that the basket is moving side to side, and it shouldn't be.

Since you've no power going through the transmission, either things are severely malplaced now and the gear dogs are not engaging at all, or the shaft is broken and not transmitting any power. Personally, I rather suspect the latter, but that's just speculation.

You'll know better if you can get that rear tire up off the ground and start spinning it by hand. You'll be seeing, feeling, and hearing things then.

 

Answer: Riding around with a horribly adjusted clutch; too tight. Which, I assume, caused wear and tear on my clutch plates and burnt them out.

I appreciate everyone’s replies. You guys helped me find the issue.

So my buddy came over and as soon as he squeezed the clutch lever he said it’s too tight. So we adjusted the clutch and boom (good boom), the bike engaged in gears and rides again. So I take it for a ride and noticed hardcore slipping. So… I dug into the clutch and found my plates were burnt to hell and back. I assume that riding around with my clutch unadjusted for over a year caused the plates to burn out.

Installing Barnett clutch plates now and will update on how the ride feels.

 

told ya check to see if it was moving!. Glad you back up! ride safe