I just got a used Sportster 883, and zooming around now. Very cool. Now, when I go into first, there's lots of grinding noices. I mean these things are pretty durable, but there's got to be a limit. Could this be as simple as some clutch cable adjustment? Or worse? Are there sync rings on these machines? What other regular maintenece shoudld a gearbox have?

Thanks in advance!

--Jesper

 

I would help with the year of the bike... but...

Grinding into first from an idle I would say is not normal... a good sounding clunk is...

It's not so much the syncs but the gear cut on a Harley that makes the tranny so much different than rice-burners...

Get a manual or a copy of the page that tells you how to adjust the clutch and go from there...

It could be as simple as that... and should be your first course of action and the cheapest way to go...

Charlie D.

 

There is a shifter pawl behind the clutch basket that has to be centered. If it is not set properly you will hear that grinding. By a manuel and see if you are brave enogh to adjust it. I had to take mine apart twice to get it set properly.

 

yeah like scottwilliamson said, it's probly the shift pawl adjustment. I had to re-adjust mine when I bought my bike for the same grinding into first problem. But to get to it you have to remove the primary cover, and pull the clutch basket and primary chain off to get at it. It's not that difficult of a job, but just a pain in the but to pull everything off to get at it. So use a manual, and you may want to search the forums on the shift pawl adjustment, because if you've never done it before, the manual can be a little sketchy since they don't give many pictures of exactly what your trying to do.

 

Thanks a ton guys! I forgot to mention that this is a 2003 w/ 17000 miles on it. I'm reasonably handy mechanics, but will probably take it in this time.

Cheers,
Jesper