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[Fatboy]

 Bike broke down yesterday had to be towed home and will get it to the dealer later this week.

Odd set of symptoms (to me at least) was hoping the knowledge base here might give me some idea(s) as to what to might have gone wrong.

Started when I lost clutch engagement and the bike just rev'd. So thinking I had air in the hydraulic clutch line I bleed the hydraulic reservoir and things were back to normal or so I thought.....

About 20 miles later going down a mountain on a twisty road I lost my rear brakes pedal just went completely flat and clutch engagement was gone again. I luckily and safely made it to a pull off and noticed my drive belt was very tight and I had a terrible grinding sound coming from the primary or tranny.  Bike runs and idles fine so my buddy lays down to look under it and says to let the clutch out a little and let's move it slightly ahead, well the bike started to shake violently and he state my rear wheel was twisting out of alignment as I let the clutch out.

When we got it home I put it up on the scissor jack and notice the rear wheel would by hand by was grinding a bit and wheel the wheel would turn the pulley did not. Also notice it looked like the swing arm and tire we both misaligned and there was a little slack in the drive belt.

 As a data point I did have the 5000 miles service and the rear tire replaced recently by my local dealer.

Appreciate any feedback and advise you guys can provide?

Thank you.

[MrSurly]

Sounds like the Iso-Drive is blown. I've not witnessed this but that could explain it. If the "wheel is rolling but the pulley is not" The Iso-drive is toast and likely the wheel/pulley/bearings.
I wonder if the bike made strange noises after the recent wheel swap? maybe the rubber was left out?

A side note: Air in the clutch line would actually have the opposite effect of what you described.

[Fatboy]

Maybe multiple things happened all at once?

Or to your point the Iso Drive and wheel bearings were on their way out simultaneously.

We did incur some pretty bumpy roads at 55mph just before things started to go way outta whack.

[grc]

When in doubt, go back to the last thing that was done to the bike.  It sure sounds to me like something wasn't put back together correctly.  And no matter how bad the bumps were, that wouldn't cause the rear wheel and isolators to fail. 

Air in the hydraulic line wouldn't cause the clutch to release, it would have the opposite affect and the clutch either would drag or not release. 

Jerry

[sadunbar]

Lost your rear brake because the rear wheel was misaligned and your rear brake pads were dragging on the rotor - creating heat and boiling the brake fluid.

Air in your clutch line would create the opposite situation.  Clutch will not disengage with air in the clutch fluid, so the problem is not likely at all clutch related.

Failed ISO drive or missing components, failed rear wheel bearings, missing/incorrect wheel spacers installed at recent rear tire replacement.  Could have stripped/damaged rear drive belt as collateral damage.  Something is broken or missing allowing the rear wheel to become misaligned.  Maybe so misaligned the drive belt is loosing engagement?  Take it back to whoever changed the rear tire.  They did something wrong.  Be prepared for them to tell you it's not their fault!   

And make sure they also inspect your rear brake rotor, caliper and brake pads.  And flush out the rear brake fluid and replace with new.  Once it boils, the boiling point drops dramatically.  You will want new fluid.  Not just bled, but flushed and bled.

[Fatboy]

Great info guys, thank you all so much for the guidance and feedback.

Based on the feedback I now have a very good idea where we need to look first, hoping for the best with collateral damage.

Maybe me thinking the clutch wasn't holding was really just the belt slipping....so much for my diagnostic skills. 

[MrSurly]

Could've been the belt stripped... OR the IsoDrive stripped and the clutch/belt/pulley were all spinning just fine while the wheel sat still.
The axle may be broken or out of place. As someone said, the wheel moving around will force the brake pads wide apart and the lever can't move them far enough in one or two squeezes of the lever to close that gap to the rotor, so, no rear brake.
Pull the bags off and give it a good visual inspection before taking hard parts off. Take pics!

We WILL NEED the pictures, BTW.

[Fatboy]

Found the culprit.....spun the left side hub.

Apparently the hub assembly was not properly torqued to spec nor was red lock-tite used thus the bolts backed out and sheared off. The wheel and both side of the hub are a total loss.

Dealer is going to step up as they should and cover the entire cost of repairs, so just a week or two of down time and the inconvenience of this whole episode but that's a small price to pay considering things could have been a lot worse....

[Dan_Lockwood]

Found the culprit.....spun the left side hub.

Apparently the hub assembly was not properly torqued to spec nor was red lock-tite used thus the bolts backed out and sheared off. The wheel and both side of the hub are a total loss.

Dealer is going to step up as they should and cover the entire cost of repairs, so just a week or two of down time and the inconvenience of this whole episode but that's a small price to pay considering things could have been a lot worse....

I've not done much maintenance on my new Harleys, dealership has though.  I just tore down my '09 SERG for a 30 tooth upgrade and swing arm modifications.  I pulled the rear wheel and the only thing I had to remove to do so was the axle.

What other bolts have to be removed?

I think on my SERG '09 that the ISO drive hub bolts to the wheel, but I have a 16"x5" standard touring rear wheel in my office and the ISO drive is cast as part of the wheel.  So in my mind the ISO drive hub would not need to be removed to do the tire change.

So what am I missing on the stripped hub bolts?

The ISO drive sprocket and hub have to go together or you cannot get the wheel assembly inside the swing arm.

Educate me please...

[grc]

If I'm looking at the details for the mods on this bike correctly, it doesn't have the stock wheels but rather a set of Performance Machine Heathen wheels.  I'm not familiar with the construction of that particular wheel, but perhaps that is why the description of the failure from the shop doesn't make sense to those who are looking at their stock setup.

However it got screwed up, at least it's good to hear the dealership is standing behind their work and taking care of the damage.

Jerry

[Dan_Lockwood]

If I'm looking at the details for the mods on this bike correctly, it doesn't have the stock wheels but rather a set of Performance Machine Heathen wheels.  I'm not familiar with the construction of that particular wheel, but perhaps that is why the description of the failure from the shop doesn't make sense to those who are looking at their stock setup.

However it got screwed up, at least it's good to hear the dealership is standing behind their work and taking care of the damage.

Jerry

Jerry, it seems you are correct on the aftermarket wheels.

I'm not a footnote kind of reader, so it was lost on me.  At that point he probably doesn't have an ISO drive anymore, although there may be an add on that keeps an ISO drive working.

[MrSurly]

I was scratching my head, as well, from the failure description. I totally missed the wheel mod.
The ISODrive has a total of ZERO bolts...

[Fatboy]

Lesson learned I should have done a better job of pointing out the aftermarket wheels right from the git go.

Thanks again for all the help and guidance along the way, much appreciated!