Correct. There should be no play front to back with the heim joins but you can rock it back and forth a bit. You will see that in the joints. Its how the assembly rotates on the ball on each end. When I installed mine I re-did the way the shift levers were. Pulled the front up a little and put the rear one down a little. More room and they work like a charm. The heim joints are the solution. To bad the MOCO uses the OEM crap. Thats exactly what it is, CRAP.

 

Here's mine, Good looking Gal

 

Where are you guys picking up the parts for the heim joint replacement or are you buying the linkage already equipped this way?

 

It's my understanding you can walk into the local NAPA auto parts store and buy 1/4 20 threaded Heim ends. My front is close to the end of it's lifespan and I'm keeping duct tape in the bag till i replace the ends. I'll try to get by their before this weekend and post my part # and availability.
My $0.03


aka Bob

 

Not clear if you're talking about the OEM rod, but I HIGHLY recommend getting rid of the stock shift linkage/rod. BUT - be sure you use a top quality rod or linkage piece (I had one crack in half from a vendor who shall remain nameless)...and have had the ends fail on the OEM.

Use a top grade Heim joint and chrome rod (etc) and you'll have all of the adjustability and strength you'll need. Pic of a Heim joint below. OF course the left pic is not the right setup, but the swivel joint is the point.

 

[quote=duoglider;8174738]Well here's one for you; I had new tires installed on the RK last week at the local HD Dlr. One ride later my shift linkage comes apart at the forward connection. Makes one wonder.[/quote
\

I had a rear tire replaced at my local Harley dealer and with in 2 days all of the transmission bolts that are easy to get to came loose and some fell out. Never had that problem before or after. 3 trips to the Harley dealer and 3 different problems. My new motto is to stay away from that Harley dealer.

 

When I changed mine on my '05 EGC, I had no play before or after.

 

bob,

it's a 5/16x24 rh heim joint.

 

You can pick up the rod ends (heim joints) at most hardware stores, or you can buy them off ebay. Go to ebay and search for "harley heim" or "harley rod end" or "harley shift linkage". You need two 5/16-24 right hand, female heim joints. The bolts are also 5/16-24. Use 1 1/4 bolts, and put a 1/8 nylon spacer between the heim joint and the trans lever. You don't need a nut on the trans end, the lever is threaded. On forward end, you need some type of nut. Lots of guys use a nylock, I use a chrome acron, and chrome button head bolts. You can run the heim joint and rod behind the forward end shift lever to keep the rod more parallel, but it's pretty close to the cylinder fins, so I run that end on the outside of the lever. You can re-use your original rod, just thread the heim joints onto the rod. Use blue loctite on the heim joints.

 

in this case, i think loctite is unnecessary. there really isn't any way for the heim joints to fall off. if one loosens, the other tightens. i also did the extra step of using a 5/16 nut on each end of the shift rod as a 'lock'.