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[Rickasha]

I have a 09 SEUC, at 16,000 miles I had to replace the clutch. With the new install the dealer mentioned the old hydraulic fluid was dirty?
Put on a SE clutch with the heavier spring. After only 2,600 miles I have a chirping noise coming from the primary. It only happens on take off, any ideas??
Heard from the dealer and they say 1/2 of the clutch plates are roasted and the compensator sprocket is worn. They are replacing the plates and sprocket free of charge. When I asked about the cause after only 2600 miles they tell me air left in the hydraulic lines. Hope this is truly the problem, we shall see. Any thoughts?

[AXIL]

   the primary bearing for the main shaft goes bad quite often. i see it happen about every three to four weeks. differant bikes of course.  axil

[SBB]

   the primary bearing for the main shaft goes bad quite often. i see it happen about every three to four weeks. differant bikes of course.  axil

Why AXIL?
Poor quality parts or bad installation?
Or possibly a poor design?
What you think?

SBB

[grc]

Why AXIL?
Poor quality parts or bad installation?
Or possibly a poor design?
What you think?

SBB

If you think back to 2006 and the Dyna's that were the guinea pig for the new primary and trans design, Harley knew they had a potential problem and in fact notified all the initial purchasers of those bikes that they had to have the bearing inspected and replaced at 15k miles (there's a thread or two around here somewhere discussing this).  So it sounds to me like they identified a design issue early on, then decided the failure rate wasn't high enough to delay production or spend any money to fix it. 

I personally understand that all manufacturer's run into things like this, and sometimes decisions are made to accept a certain level of failures versus spending millions on redesigns and delaying production.  That might be OK if the problem involved is not safety related and if the manufacturer steps up to cover the repair cost for those who suffer failures beyond the basic warranty period, and then makes running changes to eliminate the problem as soon as practical.   I get the impression from the failures I've read about on current bikes that Harley hasn't really fixed the underlying issue after more than five years. 


Jerry

[SBB]

If you think back to 2006 and the Dyna's that were the guinea pig for the new primary and trans design, Harley knew they had a potential problem and in fact notified all the initial purchasers of those bikes that they had to have the bearing inspected and replaced at 15k miles (there's a thread or two around here somewhere discussing this).  So it sounds to me like they identified a design issue early on, then decided the failure rate wasn't high enough to delay production or spend any money to fix it. 

I personally understand that all manufacturer's run into things like this, and sometimes decisions are made to accept a certain level of failures versus spending millions on redesigns and delaying production.  That might be OK if the problem involved is not safety related and if the manufacturer steps up to cover the repair cost for those who suffer failures beyond the basic warranty period, and then makes running changes to eliminate the problem as soon as practical.   I get the impression from the failures I've read about on current bikes that Harley hasn't really fixed the underlying issue after more than five years. 


Jerry

Thanks Jerry.

SBB

[AXIL]

   design.

[timo482]

isnt that bearing the same for hyd clutch and cable clutch?

ive had a cable clutch 00, then a hyd clutch 01 & now a cable clutch 07 - the cable works just fine - but in my youth i hated them from the ends breaking off all the time.

i have to replace my drive belt this winter [30 inches of snit on the ground now........] i gather that the bearing in the primary needs to be replaced while its all apart? anybody done this at home on these newer bikes with advice or tricks? i can do a shovel primary in my sleep - this is making me nervous...

to

ps - its a 07 im going to install a 30 tooth sprocket while its apart

[SBB]

   design.

Well AXIL, that sucks and means it's only a matter of time miles before there is an issue!

 

SBB

[AXIL]

   timo482, your 01 has a different bearing(the good one) as far as your cable (none hydro) - lube the hell out of it. as far as your primary bearing- not much different
 then your old shovel. should be a cake walk.   

  SSb,some at 2500mi, some 25000 mi. but on a good note thay don't explode.

[SBB]

   timo482, your 01 has a different bearing(the good one) as far as your cable (none hydro) - lube the hell out of it. as far as your primary bearing- not much different
 then your old shovel. should be a cake walk.   

  SSb,some at 2500mi, some 25000 mi. but on a good note thay don't explode.

SSb----> 

I'm thankful for that!

 

SBB

[VRODDAVE]

question for you experts:

Does secondary belt tension have any impact on how long this primay main shaft bearing lasts, that you are discussing?

just curious ...

Thanks

[djkak]

The '06 Dyna's ran a primary housing and transmission case that were not manufactured with indexing dowels. The field fix for the '06 Dyna's with a failed mainshaft support bearing was to replace the transmission and primary housings.

Regarding the belt tension, I believe the narrow drive belts run quite a bit more tension than the early wide drive belts.

[hdbrad03]

I have a 09 SEUC, at 16,000 miles I had to replace the clutch. With the new install the dealer mentioned the old hydraulic fluid was dirty?
 

I have changed and bled approx 6 different bikes fluid for the clutch. Guess what they all had black tint to the fluid and some black film coating the inside of the Master Cylinder. That is why I now change and bleed the clutch fluid every year. A little maintenance goes along way.

 

     Brad

[grc]

That black/dark grey residue is pretty much evident from day one, or at least month one after a little useage.  It's caused by the assembly lube that is in the actuator and master cylinder, which is supposed to be 100% compatible with the DOT 4 brake fluid in the system.  While it may look bad, it isn't hurting your clutch system.  Changing the fluid every two years as per the maintenance schedule is probably a good idea, but it's not really necessary to change it more often just because of the color.  BTW, after it's been flushed a couple times the fluid seems to remain amber and not grey.

Bleeding the system is still a good idea on a new bike, at least until we see if assembling these things on the real assembly line makes any difference.  I haven't seen any reports recently, but all previous year CVO's were subject to having air trapped in the system straight from the factory, causing clutch drag/incomplete release.


Jerry