Originally Posted by NickD

Here's an Ultima six speed transmission story for your consideration.

I purchased one from Jireh ($559) 22 months ago for my Evo garage build, a black finish LSD. It took me another few months before I completed the build and actually started using it. During that time I started hearing reports of problems with the pawl spring (a large spring on the bottom of the shifter arm inside the case) failing.

There's was no recall so I assumed some would break and some wouldn't so I just continued to ride hoping I had one of the good ones. Otherwise than that the transmission performed very well. It shifted smoothly, didn't whine or make any noises at all, and neutral (once I had the clutch adjusted to its liking) was easy to find.

Fast forward to a year later and just last week. I was coming off the freeway and while downshifting into third gear I heard something snap. I now had second, neutral, and first gear but nothing else and there was some serious flop in the shifter peg.

I pulled over already knowing what it was. The pawl spring broke. Now it must be said this problem isn't solely an Ultima issue, as all transmissions from older Bakers to new stock MOCO ones have these springs and some occasionally fail. (However, I actually think Baker did away with the spring in their very latest models.)

I trucked the bike home and pulled the transmission out the next day. And in the photo below I'm pointing out the spring end section that broke.



Before going further it's important to note that since I can do all the work of pulling the transmission and actually fixing it myself it's not the end of the world. If I couldn't do the work, and had to pay to have it done, I'd already be out several hundred dollars just verifying the issue. I pulled the shift cam (some call it the shifter drum) and flipped the transmission upside down and let the last of the oil drain out over night. The idea was the hope that any broken bits of the spring would also float out with the oil.

Sure enough the next morning I found these three pieces.



When these pawl springs break it can go two ways. The spring fails and the broken piece(s) fall harmlessly into the bottom of the case. Or, the springs breaks and the broken piece(s) migrate through the main shaft and/or secondary shaft gears. If you look closely at the above photo you can see the two pieces on the left appear to be fractured. (The two pieces are actually one piece cracked down the middle) a pretty sure sign it went through the gears.

I checked all the teeth in the gears and at the locking dogs looking for damage and found none. But the setup on all these transmissions is so important that even with no apparent damage once something goes through the gears it'll never be right again. So my hope of just replacing the spring (with one not from Ultima) was out the window.

It was Sunday night but I emailed Midwest anyway (Ultima's parent company) explaining the entire issue.

On Monday morning at 9:AM my phone rang and it was Midwest calling. And it wasn't just a customer rep it was the head cheese himself. He told me, yes, they've had trouble with the pawl springs, and that they've since updated them to a much stronger version as well as improving the gear set and making several other upgrades in their latest transmissions. I thought the next thing he was going to say was, "We'll be sending you the new upgraded spring." And I was all ready to make my case that since the spring went through the gears that wasn't what I wanted. But he didn't say that. Instead he said, "We're sending you a brand new updated transmission!"

So needless to say I'm a happy camper. As for my overall opinion on Ultima - besides the transmission I also have one of their belt drives and clutch packs (came with an Alto clutch) and it's been flawless. I know they had some problems with their first generation motors but all reports seem to praise the later versions. And considering bang for the buck (especially on their big inch motors) you can't seem to go wrong. Everyone I know with one is happy with it.

I've seen the internals on most transmissions, Baker, Revtec, and stock MOCO, and I'm comfortable with the Ultima in comparison. So I'm not giving you a yes or no on your decision, just what happened to me, and that you should give customer service a large consideration. I'm pretty sure Baker would have made good, Revtec would have been a bother, and getting a new transmission out of the MOCO would have been like pulling teeth. There's is also the "buy American" angle but that's a personal decision you get to make. I'll only add I doubt any of them are 100% purely American made.

And sure, having a Baker provides some wow factor along with a warm fuzzy feeling and I'd like to have one. But damn the price is only a bit less than I paid for my entire motor direct from the MOCO.

Lastly, and in all fairness, one issue you may have is if you do have any trouble with any aftermarket transmission the Harley dealer probably won't touch it (and blame any other trouble you have on it, LOL!) So it's either do the work yourself or having to go with an independent shop. But that in itself is probably a good thing . . .

Originally Posted by Mark@ Baker Drivetrain

oops didn't check the date on the thread, I was going to say i thought a lot of the people posting knew better. Note to self CHECK THE THREAD DATE!!!!