Shifter Shaft - The essential service they don't tell you about...

[SJC69]

I have just done the above job on Kitty’s Softail Deluxe!

Her gears started to be hard to shift on the way to Mersea Island, a tin of WD 40 eased it a little but when we got home today I stripped the linkage down as detailed above.

Some observations as to the task.

1st this bike is only 4 months old and done 2,500 miles, it has not been used in the salt but has seen some very wet weather on the trip to Scotland last month.

The 06 H-D manual does not cover this subject at all!

There appeared to be feck all lubrication on the shaft.

What I did.

The shaft was not badly marked or corroded and the two bushes the shaft runs in are nylon and un-marked.

I cleaned the shaft and with a little light silicon lube it was still a very snug fit.

I had a spare grease nipple but concluded it would not fit as the treaded section was two long. {i.e. it would interfere with the shaft, and placing washers under it would look crap!}
Also the gap between the two bushes was also not wide enough to fit the necessary hole in so I stopped there with that option.

I also concluded that normal L.M grease {the stuff that’s in my grease gun} with the snug fit on the nylon bushes may not really be suitable or help a great deal as with nylon bushes there should be no need for lubricant at all, just corrosion protection for the shaft.

So my angle on the above was clean the shaft, and then polished it with the Dremel for a really good smooth finish. I then used a light high Teflon content grease as this was the thinnest stuff I had, it was Finish Line for bicycles.
It all seems much better now but only time will tell if this works long term.

I also use Loctite on all the treads, as the linkage one had a locking compound on the thread anyway along with that you don’t really want the leaver retaining bolts falling out whilst going along!

So to conclude, thanks very much Banquo for a great tip, it has been very useful but my advice is before you go drilling any holes for grease nipples, be sure it will fit!


SJC

[danpie]

great post!
it may be a basic job, but i bet you would be surprised at the amount of people whoh dont know about it. i had to ask here what to do when my lever seized a couple of months back.
dan

[banquo]

Originally Posted by SJC69

The 06 H-D manual does not cover this subject at all!

There appeared to be feck all lubrication on the shaft.

I don't think it's covered in any of the Manuals. It's like they ignored this problem altogether. In one of those bizarre coincidences, I stopped to help a guy with exactly the same bike as mine, even the same colour, who had broken down in exactly the same place as mine first seized up. We were able to fix it at the side of the road, with the aid of some grease from a plumber's van. It's obviously a very common problem, and if it's not part of the routine service, it must be happening to everyone...

Originally Posted by SJC69

1st this bike is only 4 months old and done 2,500 miles, it has not been used in the salt but has seen some very wet weather on the trip to Scotland last month.

So, it's a problem with Scotland then, not Harley's design..

Originally Posted by SJC69

I had a spare grease nipple but concluded it would not fit as the threaded section was two long. {i.e. it would interfere with the shaft, and placing washers under it would look crap!}
Also the gap between the two bushes was also not wide enough to fit the necessary hole in so I stopped there with that option.

Guess the threads could be cropped a bit to stop fouling, and you can drill right through the nylon bush without ill effect.
I'd thought of an alternative, of drilling the shaft along its centre-line from the outside, as far as midway through the plain part where it fits inside the housing, and then transverse drilling to make one or two grease outlet holes. You could then fit a nice chrome nipple in the centre of the shaft end, with as much clearance as you want. What put me off is I assume the shaft will be at least case hardened, for the benefit of the splines, as well as the bearing faces, so might be difficult or impossible to drill...
BTW: LM grease works fine, if applied every 5000 miles or so.

Good to see feedback..

[SJC69]

I thought the manual would at least have mentioned the linkage and replacing the bushes or something, but the only mention is the adjusting of the rod length!

Rain is obviously a Scotland issue only that H-D must have over looked in their design process!

I was not keen on cutting the nipple down as it was a stainless steel one & quite a few threads would have needed to go so was not quite so simple.
As for the bushes removing the buring off them once you drilled through would have been the issue there.
I had also just got back from the Rally so was not too keen to undertake anything too serious on the engineering front!

So as I said I concluded it was far easier to just lube it up and put it all back and it's not a big job to check and re-lube, we will see how it goes.

The grease nipple though as you said could be done though. It's fairly easily if you just take some time to get the clearance, but I felt it best to mention that you might well have a problem if you drill & tap hole then put a grease nipple in without checking the clearance.

As for drilling the shaft that is certainly hardened as well as plated so would be a bit of an issue and I would think you really would have to use a pillar drill or alike to do it properly.

I still not sure the LM would be OK on Kitty's bike as the shaft is still very tight on the bushes so I think some thing thiner would be better here but we will have to wait to see how the Finish Line Teflon stuff works, if not then I'll try the LM or even the Castrol waterproof chassis grease as it should not need to be high melting point and waterproof might resist washing out better!


SJC

[banquo]

Yeah: these bushes are supposed to be self lubricating, and they're used in all sorts of equipment that isn't subject to the rigours of the front end of a motorcycle in all weathers....
I assume they thought the O-rings would keep it all together, but the fine grit still gets in there.
What's unforgiveable is that they cannot be unaware of this seizure problem, and inability to select gears must come in to their favourite category of "may cause death or serious injury", especially if you happened to be half way through a marginal overtaking manoeuvre at the time.

Waterproof grease would be a good idea, but when you have a 7/8 full can of LM, and you're a mean Scotsman, what are YOU gonna use...

[SJC69]

Originally Posted by banquo

Waterproof grease would be a good idea, but when you have a 7/8 full can of LM, and you're a mean Scotsman, what are YOU gonna use...

I know what you are saying, I've only onto my third pot of LM grease because I squashed second with a car!

The is the stuff I was thinking of using it's alot thiner than the LM.

Castrol CL Grease



A soft, tacky, calcium based grease. Formulated from highly refined mineral oil incorporating an adhesion additive.
It has natural resistance to water and good protection against corrosion.
Primarily recommended for chassis lubrication but also suitable for swivels and shackles.
Resistant to salt water spray.

Link

I am posh as I also have a tub of the graphited grease too!
{Both of which are at least 15 years old and 3/4 full!}

[banquo]

Thanx for the link SJC. I'll maybe give it a try, but I like the therapeutic properties of taking something simple apart, adding grease, and putting it all back together again...
I still have a tin of dry flake graphite in my garage, which can be added to oil or grease to make it all black and manly looking...
It was made by Ship Carbon, who were probably already out of business, when I nicked it from our just-closing Iron Foundry in 1977...
The black moly grease I took at the same time is now, sadly, all gone, but would have been good for this job.

[BaZa ®]

Originally Posted by BaZa ®

Nice one Banquo will you send it and photos to the quin?

Would be good if you did.

Tech Tips to the quin: andy.woodside@btconnect.com

Originally Posted by banquo

Bit basic for the 'quin methinks Baza.....

Hey banquo early on in this thread you said it was not an important enough tech tip for the quin. Does that make them that read the quin and not the site cleverer than us....

Anyhows you got me thinking and I thank-you, 42k miles and mine has been through all weathers so I had a peep. Ok different set up to yours but the same principal.

Glad I did. Next time I'll put a grease nipple in the side like on HarleyHogs site photo.


...nice!...Not...

... 000 wire wool and petrol to clean..

...spotless..

...all back and greased..



Thanks again.

[banquo]

OK Baza: you got me. I'll try to put something together for Andy and the 'quin. Maybe basic maintenance is a subject equally worth covering, and it probably applies to more people than I thought...

It will be done!

[Fish]

Nice one Banquo, keep 'em coming!