New fix for oil transfer

[Mykneesbehurtin]

There is a bike shop called Macomb County Choppers that claim they have a fix for the issue,its a larger dia clutch push rod,now don't shoot the messenger i'm just relaying info.Its $49.50 plus $17.50 shipping.If this would work i would spend the money.My sons buddies 17 is doing the same thing so I may let him buy one first lol and see if it works.

 

[MDO]

There is a bike shop called Macomb County Choppers that claim they have a fix for the issue,its a larger dia clutch push rod,now don't shoot the messenger i'm just relaying info.Its $49.50 plus $17.50 shipping.If this would work i would spend the money.My sons buddies 17 is doing the same thing so I may let him buy one first lol and see if it works.

Why would we shoot the messanger? Do you have any information for people needing a fix, a link or contact information? Do they include installation instructions & is there any core charge?

 

[Jack Klarich]

On another forum some guys in Germany stumbled onto this fix, but after more miles it too is an epic failure

What HD fails to understand IMO is the flawed design of the trapdoor and bearings on the hydraulic clutched models

The fluid is trapped there between the bearings and the actuator. The fluid has 1 path and it aint back to the bottom of the tranny. These are my observations, I hope I am wrong.

This may also be why the cable pulled clutches do not migrate tranny fluid JMO

 

[MDO]

On another forum some guys in Germany stumbled onto this fix, but after more miles it too is an epic failure

What HD fails to understand IMO is the flawed design of the trapdoor and bearings on the hydraulic clutched models

The fluid is trapped there between the bearings and the actuator. The fluid has 1 path and it aint back to the bottom of the tranny. These are my observations, I hope I am wrong.

This may also be why the cable pulled clutches do not migrate tranny fluid JMO

I still can't wrap my head around why are only some doing it? It just seems to me if it's a mechanical design flaw, it would be more widespread. The only thing I can speculate is that it has to do with how you rev it/shift it. I know what the service bulletin said, but has anyone heard of any non M8 owners with the problem?

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Does anyone on this site have a documented transfer? And if so, how much? The reason I asked is the Maxwell video on this subject made it sound very minor. Granted, he is a Harley tech, and maybe a company stooge. In the video, he claims the most transfer anyone has seen is 5 oz. I'm just really interested in how big this issue is.

He also talks about the sumping issue and said they had not seen any signs of this except in the stage 4 kits. And in those, they've changed the oil pump and all is well.

The reason I'm so interested in this issue is when I had my BMW K1200LT, the big scare was final drive failure. I actually panicked a tad and was actively looking for a "backup" (used) final drive. I got so paranoid, I finally traded the bike I had never had an issue with (26k I put on it). I bought that bike because of the low miles, great condition and I thought it would make a great trike because of the power the bike had. Then I found out, this issue existed in only 4% of the bikes.

Disclaimer: I'm not discounting any of the issues, I just don't know. So I'm doing some polling with actual people here. I may have missed something on here, especially since I don't have an M8, but, I have only noticed the process where they change the fluids and make ya come back in 1k miles. So, educate me.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Michael and Fuzzy,

I wish we had hard numbers to this problem. I bet the MOCO does not have them either so this could be why some dealers do not have any reported cases?

Another thing I have thought about is how many people actually check their fluids let alone change their own fluids. This could be part of the answer IMO

One more thing to consider is the riding habits( IE )miles ridden and @ what RPM?

I dunno but if this continues to be a problem it could hurt sales and HD reputation JMO

There are a lot of variables to this problem that I can see right now, I am glad to report I do not have this problem with my M8 Freewheeler

 

[rhino 2]

Does anyone on this site have a documented transfer? And if so, how much? The reason I asked is the Maxwell video on this subject made it sound very minor. Granted, he is a Harley tech, and maybe a company stooge. In the video, he claims the most transfer anyone has seen is 5 oz. I'm just really interested in how big this issue is.

He also talks about the sumping issue and said they had not seen any signs of this except in the stage 4 kits. And in those, they've changed the oil pump and all is well.

The reason I'm so interested in this issue is when I had my BMW K1200LT, the big scare was final drive failure. I actually panicked a tad and was actively looking for a "backup" (used) final drive. I got so paranoid, I finally traded the bike I had never had an issue with (26k I put on it). I bought that bike because of the low miles, great condition and I thought it would make a great trike because of the power the bike had. Then I found out, this issue existed in only 4% of the bikes.

Disclaimer: I'm not discounting any of the issues, I just don't know. So I'm doing some polling with actual people here. I may have missed something on here, especially since I don't have an M8, but, I have only noticed the process where they change the fluids and make ya come back in 1k miles. So, educate me.

YES.......I have 'Make that Had a 2017 Tri-Glide......5 Times back to the dealer to drain the primary, and re fill the transmission....At 8 hundred miles each time...And once they even used Harleys fix....And that didn't work....Thats why i dumped the Tri-Glide....Talking direct to Harley....I couldn't believe the line of Bullsh*t they were handing Me and my Dealer..

And just for your information I had a business and over 35 years i dealt with at least 20 customers a day, And most of them would make up a story to me as to why they needed a job done ''Right Now'', So i learned to read facial expressions.....And when Maxwell says its very minor, I can tell you He doesn't believe it himself....He's just flowing the company line...

P/S My dealer has at least 5 other M8's transferring Fluid...

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

YES.......I have 'Make that Had a 2017 Tri-Glide......5 Times back to the dealer to drain the primary, and re fill the transmission....At 8 hundred miles each time...And once they even used Harleys fix....And that didn't work....Thats why i dumped the Tri-Glide....Talking direct to Harley....I couldn't believe the line of Bullsh*t they were handing Me and my Dealer..

And just for your information I had a business and over 35 years i dealt with at least 20 customers a day, And most of them would make up a story to me as to why they needed a job done ''Right Now'', So i learned to read facial expressions.....And when Maxwell says its very minor, I can tell you He doesn't believe it himself....He's just flowing the company line...

P/S My dealer has at least 5 other M8's transferring Fluid...

I had my business for many years, way over 20 and yes, customers would look me in the eye and tell me their pool was crystal clear yesterday and today it was so green you couldn't see the bottom ... LOL. They would bring me water samples that had like twice the normal chlorine levels and tell me it's been that way the whole time. No way algae grows when the chlorine level is 5-6 ppm. They would do this with a straight face. The good news, there was no warranty for your pool turning green.

I didn't drink the cool aide on the Maxwell video any more than I did when my customers came in and "fibbed" to me and I've learned to take everything my dealer says with a grain of salt, so I figured there where actual cases, but, you guys also know how the internet is .. somebody burns a pan of cookies and the internet reports 400 houses burned to the ground. Rhino, I'm sorry you had this experience. I know the joy of a new toy and to have that ripped from you like that, terrible.

So when you said you dumped it, did you like bring it back under the lemon law or trade it or just sell it? Not prying, just trying to understand what MoCo's doing about this issue or are they just placating customers. I remember with the 07's with the pinging issue, they were recommending you get a race tuner and dyno the bike. Only problem, Since a whole model year was having the issue, they ran out of race tuners and you couldn't get one, at least in this area. The owner of my dealer ended up giving me his race tuner that he had "reserved" for his CVO just to shut me up. Then I had to find a dealer that could tune it because they don't do dyno tuning. (That's why he hadn't used his tuner yet, he could not find a dealer to do his)

So, I'm not sure I could deal with 5 times of moving oil at 800 miles. That would drive me nuts. My K1200LT drove me nuts and it never had an issue, just the thought that I could have it made me crazy. I would go on weekend trips for like 1200 miles and worry the whole time that I'd get stranded somewhere. In my neck of the woods, you leave home and poof, your in the middle of no where. A flat tire could be a big deal since most towns for several hundred miles didn't even have the ability to change a tire on a bike.

When I had my 07 Ultra, it had the pinging issue above 90*ambient temp and I was looking for a place to get the bike dyno'd. I had to look for places within 600 miles, and only found like 3 within the 600 mile radius. And it was worse with BMW dealers. Anyway, since there seems to be a "real" issue, I'm ruling out an M8 for me. Not that I could afford a new bike, but, I did kind of drool over the new Tri's ... LOL.

With the BMW forums, everyone was talking about the issue of the final drive and when push came to shove, there where only a few that actually had the issue. Like I stated, would wide, there where like only 4% of the K1200LT's that had the issue. This issue probably caused BMW to do away with the K1200LT. There was a guy that bought a lot of used final drives and was changing out the bearings and seals and selling them as "issue fixed" final drives. Scary part, he was selling lots of these to people that had never had a issue. It was crazy and I finally traded the bike for a Harley.

 

[1dn5up]

I read some ware (CRS) that the issue was with the hudrolic clutch models ? The cable models had no issues.

Thought all m8’s had hydro clutches :Shrug:

 

[Jack Klarich]

I read some ware (CRS) that the issue was with the hudrolic clutch models ? The cable models had no issues.

Thought all m8’s had hydro clutches :Shrug:

Just the touring and trike models

 

[midiwiz]

yet my mechanic claims that if the fluid level is too high this will happen, since some shops overfill. He has yet to see any of this, he has seen the sumping but not this.

 

[Jack Klarich]

yet my mechanic claims that if the fluid level is too high this will happen, since some shops overfill. He has yet to see any of this, he has seen the sumping but not this.

Never saw this one yet, typical for HD tranny over full would push fluid out the vent hose on top of tranny

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

My 17 had a 2 oz loss in 800 miles so the shop put dye in the trans and topped it back off and was told to ride another 5000 miles keeping an eye on the level and if it gets to low bring it back in and they will check the primary oil for dye.So at this point thats all i can do.Google Macomb County Choppers or look them up on Facebook.

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

Why would we shoot the messanger? Do you have any information for people needing a fix, a link or contact information? Do they include installation instructions & is there any core charge?

According to their facebook page no core and they have a video that shows the removal.Seems very simple and straight forward.Remove derby cover remove snap ring holding the center hat in the clutch basket,remove old pushrod install new then just a reverse assembly of the hat,snap ring and derby cover.As far as dont shoot the messenger on some sites there are always folks who want to blast ya about how the heck could that be causing the transfer.Guess im just gun shy.

 

[Jack Klarich]

According to their facebook page no core and they have a video that shows the removal.Seems very simple and straight forward.Remove derby cover remove snap ring holding the center hat in the clutch basket,remove old pushrod install new then just a reverse assembly of the hat,snap ring and derby cover.As far as dont shoot the messenger on some sites there are always folks who want to blast ya about how the heck could that be causing the transfer.Guess im just gun shy.

I have read some are having a bit of luck with this fix

Baker ( an after market leader in clutch and trannys) is about to market a side door that will cure the transfer stay tuned Their R and D department has concluded what I posted earlier, the fluid is getting trapped in the side door @ the actuator. The fluid cannot make its way back down to the bottom of the tranny fast enough so it slides down the pushrod. IMO once the fluid in the tranny case gets to a certain level the gears cannot pick up enough lube so it slows down the transfer. I do not know how low that is nor do I want to find out. I wonder if The MOCO has changed the side door and acuator on the new models?

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

I would hope so Jack,but we all know if they did they wont let anyone know it will take someone like Baker to find out,or i am going to the shop today so i will find out if the part numbers are the same for the trap door for the 17 and 18 and 19.

 

[Mykneesbehurtin]

The part number for the 17-18 and 19 are all the same,so either they havent fixed the issue or they have something else they have done.

 

[Jack Klarich]

The part number for the 17-18 and 19 are all the same,so either they havent fixed the issue or they have something else they have done.

There is supposed to be a new part number for the clutch acuator

This could be big news if it is confirmed

I am waiting for Baker Tech support to get back to me on their new trapdoor

If they don't have a true fix it may never happen

It still bothers me that some transfer and others do not

I just checked mine, my level has NOT changed since my last fluid change, it has not transferred any fluid in over 17k miles Fingers crossed that it never does

 

[Freewheeling Ron]

Since the tech bulletin on this goes back to 2014 and includes twin cam engines, are the twin cam side doors of the same design and have the same part number as the one on the M8? I checked the gear oil on my 2015 FW and it is at the top of the line. I don't seem to have an issue with 4k miles on trike.

 

[PosseRider]

No problems on my 16 Tri with 30,000 miles. knock on wood