Champion Manual Reverse

[Dwight]

Do any of you guys and gals have the Champion manual reverse installed on your HD?
The reason I ask is I'm noticing a lot of heat in the transmission. I'm sure some of this is from the exhaust being closer to the transmission end cap than before and its picking up some heat from the cat. The end cap and bottom of the shift lever (reverse) are so hot you can't touch them. It remains hot long after the cat has cooled down. The tranny has 32 ounces of 75 - 90 Amsoil gear lube in it. I'm concerned that the two gears installed on the main shaft and counter shaft are churning the oil and adding heat. This same problem shows up if you add too much oil to a gear reduction unit. Any thoughts on this?

Dwight

[trikermutha]

I have the reverse on my EVO trike and had no problems with heat or shifting..

In fact once my Tri Glide electric reverse goes down I plan on changing to the manual reverse gear.

[ray4ausa]

I have the Champion reverse on my 95 FLHTC evo and have no heat problems at all in the trans. I did have a problem with the bearings inside the face plate. It seems the roller bearing cage broke allowing 3 bearings to escape into the small sump built into the plate. I had to send it back to Champion and they must have sent me a new plate because it cost me $1200 for repairs. I like the power of the gear driven reverse, but I think I would go with the starter reverse system next time. I do not live in an area that requires a lot of uphill backing up.
As for the heat you are experiencing, I would look into excessive heat in your engine, I believe your Harley has an oil cooler already, but I would invest in an oil temp guage. I just bought an Oil temp guage from ProSport Performance. It is red and blue face lit with analog AND digital read out with a plus and minus .05% accuracy. They also have a gadget that is set before your oil filter and has the assessory ports for the device. I will be letting you know if it works out or not.

[Dwight]

Ray,
$1200 for repairs? Can't you can buy the complete kit for less than that? Yep I know these things run hot. I will replace the stock header with one that doesn't have the cat in it. Hopefully that will take care of some of the heat issues. Unfortunately I won't have time to do that before we leave so I'll have to live with it. I am going to change the transmission lube to 85 - 140 Royal Purple Synthetic. Thanks for your comments.

Dwight

[1852cc]

I have not seen these issues, but do run a big 5 row Jag cooler, and also run the plate for it behind the filter. I run Mobil 1 95-125 in my gear box, and Mobil 1 20-50 in motor and primary. Heat issues have been dealt with, Big Sucker air, SE-255 cams, Thunder Max tunner, 4 inch SE slip ons, and ofcourse I have the Champion. Trike is 09 Road Glide/Lehman.

[FLTR2008TRIKE]

No issues on mine @ 40k miles. I do run Redline Shock Proof transmission oil because of the added weight the driveline carrys with my trike setup

[ray4ausa]

Dwight, Yes, the Shop bill was $1238. Overnight to Champion in California, TWICE, because they needed ALL the parts. The installed price through Motor Trike was $1400. I like the power of the gear driven unit, but the starter driven type is better for "flat landers" like me.

[Papa Zook]

What starter driven reverse are you referring to Ray?

[TattooZ]

Some of the Trike Manufacturers are offering a "Starter" Motor driven reverse (sort of like the Gold Wing only not built in). They use a high torque 12 volt motor to move the trike backwards.

[Papa Zook]

Yeah I know about those, I just have never called it a "starter driven" reverse since it has nothing to do with the starter except on Goldwings...not on the HDs.

[whitefatboy]

Had the reverse in my fatboy, never used it, and it was impossible to reach, screw came loose inside, took it out, alway park with easy way out.