Shifter Splines gone at 10,000 miles

[Fozworth]

My 2016 Tri-Glide quit letting me shift gears. Just had a shift lever dangling uselessly on the side of my new Trike of just less than 10,000 miles.

I'm glad my wife and I were not still hundreds of miles away from the house on vacation. As it were, we were around 10 miles away and were able to ride home in first gear.

Once home I was able to determine that the back plate with the linkage attached was not moving but the shaft attached to the toe and heel levers was.

Long story short, after taking the whole assembly apart I found worn splines on the linkage plate end. The assembly could not be tightened to make it work. It's toast.

I live more than 100 miles away from my Harley dealer so they won't be able to fix it for me under warranty. I think they will give me the parts but I'm not sure.

Anyway, am I the only one that has rounded off the splines on the shifter shaft with only 10,000 miles? Any one else have to replace the shaft and linkage back plate on their Tri-Glide?

Thanks,

Brian

[eagle1]

drill a hole in the shifter and pound in a roll pin

[MB1953]

I had that happen to my '14 Tri. Same situation as you, could not ride it to the dealer. Fortunately, I had a decent relationship with them; disassembled it at home, took the parts, a copy of my bill of sale, and a picture of the bike and one of the odometer reading, and the service manager handed me both a new shaft and inside lever. Learned a valuable lesson, always, always, ALWAYS check the inner pinch bolt torque (it is a bitch to get to)... have not had any further issues with the '14 (traded it at 54K miles) or the new '17 (15K on the clock now). This has been an issue for some time now with the later model bikes; a little insufficient torque on the pinch bolt and you get a little play, which quickly wears out the splines on both the shaft and lever, and you end up with a round rod in a round hole!

[rhino 2]

I had the pinch bolt ware out on my 11 T/G, At about 30thousand miles, I Caught it in time and i pulled off the lever filed and cleaned it, used a new bolt and tighten it up..It was still tight when i sold the Trike at 45 thousand miles...Very similar to an ATC shift lever, and they wear out also, I've replaced a few of them over the years...

[HDB0B]

I've been talking about this for 3 years. NONE of the pinch bolts have loctite or lock washers. The innermost front is the one that you and everyone else has failures with.

If the rear tranny arm ever fails ... there is a great solution available > https://betterlever.com/



Bob

[Fozworth]

Kevin,

Do you have a better part for the front lever? It appears a "Better Lever" exists for the transmission. Do you have one for the front and back?

I'm thinking the "pinch" bracket is a poor design. Not many here seem to have had issues like mine but on You Tube I see that it is a common problem.

Frankly, I'm discouraged to know at any given time I may be at the side of the rode trying to find a way to get my Trike to shift. I'd glad others have gone many miles without trouble but I'm one of those guys that if it's going to happen, it's going to happen to me.

If I was a solo rider I wouldn't be as concerned but I have my wife with me nearly 100 percent of the time. I want her safe and having fun. I want a permanent fix if you have one.

Looks like Stainless Steel and two bolts instead of one ends the drama.

Thanks,

Brian

[DK Custom Products]

When I first got my 2014 the front shift arm was loose and I could not tighten it enough. I took it in and they tightened it up. It was good for a few hundred miles and then was loose again.

Took it in again and they replaced the shift arm. That lasted for quite a while, but then came loose in Colorado somewhere.



It was 100+ degrees in a gas station parking lot...



...where I spent some time fixing it...



The temporary fix was rotating the shaft 90 degrees to get where the splines had not been destroyed from when the dealership (in my opinion) installed it wrong.

When we got to Hatch, Utah it was starting to get loose again.

The owner of the motel went thru a parts pile he had there. No shifter shaft, but he did have a few parts where I did a more "permanent temporary" fix. They guy that owns this place is very cool, long time biker, with a great motel and little motorcycle shop. We've stayed there a couple of times.



Here's the inside of the room we stayed in...



...it's a great base camp for visiting a bunch of the National Parks in Utah.

On that same trip I picked up a new shifter shaft at the dealership in Meridian, Idaho (I could have had it fixed under warranty, but decided to pay for the part myself and make sure it was done right). Installed it, and have not had any trouble since then.

I had not seen the "better lever" until today. I agree, the OEM design leaves something to be desired. $225 is pretty steep for an arm, but looks like a good solution. My TG is actually getting the rear arm replaced under warranty right now!

Kevin

[HDB0B]

Since I put loctite on all the pinch bolts I have not had any problems.

The shift linkage gets a wiggle now and then to make sure everything is OK.

Bob

[Fozworth]

My Dealer shipped me replacement parts. It's hard to tell if I got the bolt in the groove only, or if I got into the splines some. .

Test drive with the new parts went fine.



I think I'll buy another set of parts to keep on the Trike for when this happens again. I have no faith that it won't happen again.

The transmission lever has me more concerned. How do you plan on not being stranded if it happens to you at the transmission end Kevin? Looks like the Trike would have to be on a lift to get to the bolt at best, a Trike tear down at worst.

This has me bugged.

Brian

[rhino 2]

The transmission lever has me more concerned. How do you plan on not being stranded if it happens to you at the transmission end Kevin? Looks like the Trike would have to be on a lift to get to the bolt at best, a Trike tear down at worst.

This has me bugged.

Brian

That happened to my 11 Tri-Glide.....You Can get at it from underneath, Just slide off the trans shaft and it will drop down, Regardless what the dealers book says...

[DK Custom Products]

My Dealer shipped me replacement parts. It's hard to tell if I got the bolt in the groove only, or if I got into the splines some. .

Test drive with the new parts went fine.

I think I'll buy another set of parts to keep on the Trike for when this happens again. I have no faith that it won't happen again.

The transmission lever has me more concerned. How do you plan on not being stranded if it happens to you at the transmission end Kevin? Looks like the Trike would have to be on a lift to get to the bolt at best, a Trike tear down at worst.

This has me bugged.

Brian

That happened to my 11 Tri-Glide.....You Can get at it from underneath, Just slide off the trans shaft and it will drop down, Regardless what the dealers book says...

What rhino 2 said...the newer bikes (07-up) you can remove it from below without pulling the primary.

On a related note...the shift linkage ends that HD uses are the mostly likely part to fail. A zip tie will hold it together if it fails on the road. Myself, one of the first things I do with any new bike is replace those funky shift rod ends with heim joints.

Interesting note: On the 2018 Softail line HD, is now shipping, from the factory, heim joints on the shift rod ends. lol, took them quite a few decades.

Kevin

[Fozworth]

I received the parts from my dealer to get me back on the road so I could get to the dealer for my 10,000 mile maintenance.

At the dealer I requested they torque all the bolts to spec for me. "Sure" they says.

Well, to make a short story shorter, when I got home from the 120 mile trip to the Harley dealer I looks down at the shifter and sees the heal shifter is gone. lol

Harley said they would send me a new shift lever no charge and aren't sure why the shifter fell off since they torqued it like I asked them too.

Looks like I'm going to have to become a Harley mechanic whether I want to or not.

[Fozworth]

What rhino 2 said...the newer bikes (07-up) you can remove it from below without pulling the primary.

On a related note...the shift linkage ends that HD uses are the mostly likely part to fail. A zip tie will hold it together if it fails on the road. Myself, one of the first things I do with any new bike is replace those funky shift rod ends with heim joints.

Interesting note: On the 2018 Softail line HD, is now shipping, from the factory, heim joints on the shift rod ends. lol, took them quite a few decades.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin, I sent in my order tonight.

[Jack Klarich]

What rhino 2 said...the newer bikes (07-up) you can remove it from below without pulling the primary.

On a related note...the shift linkage ends that HD uses are the mostly likely part to fail. A zip tie will hold it together if it fails on the road. Myself, one of the first things I do with any new bike is replace those funky shift rod ends with heim joints.

Interesting note: On the 2018 Softail line HD, is now shipping, from the factory, heim joints on the shift rod ends. lol, took them quite a few decades.

Kevin

The only way to go

The stock HD joints are pure junk

I always replace them right away and trade the junk ones at HD for new junk ones and carry them in case some one breaks down