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[Rooster]

I know some things we find need an extra crank with a wrench but some stuff is near impossible to get loose. Mostly the stuff that has yellow thread stuff on it. 

[chamo]

Right and when you do torque those screws to get them loose, the head breaks off. 

[Dr.D]

Yep, on a friends 13 Road Glide while we were in CA the arm that connects to the shifter shaft came loose and splines were stripped.

Mine has come loose three times on my 15 SERG, same place as friends.  Its in shop now being replaced under warranty.  Its the shaft that goes from the foot shifter to the are that goes across the top of the case.  It strips on the splines where the arm connects.

Long time Harley issue.

Mine went out on a dead end road in the Okefenokee  Swamp last weekend. We put a zip tie in the linkage to shim it out which was the only place the splines were not stripped and did get it to a dealer in Tifton Ga.  They fixed it under warranty in no time and I was back on the road. Great customer service in Tifton,cudos.

[guitarider]

I had the same issue happen about two weeks ago.  mine stripped on the inner lever not the shifters. I am replacing the shaft and the lever with an aftermarket from J&P. My foot shifters and splines are intact.  I will let you all know how the J&P part works out..

[grc]

I had the same issue happen about two weeks ago.  mine stripped on the inner lever not the shifters. I am replacing the shaft and the lever with an aftermarket from J&P. My foot shifters and splines are intact.  I will let you all know how the J&P part works out..

That's why I mentioned checking ALL the splined connections, not just the foot lever, in a previous post.  It's not just an aluminum foot lever problem.  One of the first things the new owner of a new Harley should do is to physically check the security of the fasteners that have a history of poor process control from Harley.  This linkage issue is one of the items I recommend people add to their lists, along with the so-called critical fasteners.

Jerry

[brwk]

Had it happen twice on my 04, once on my 10.  Since then I carry a big tie wrap and Crown Royal bag string    Its like HD wants us to go away.

[guitarider]

Speaking of aluminum foot levers... Is there a steel aftermarket solution. It would seem an all steel solution (shaft linkage and shifters would be more durable and reliable

[Dr.D]

I had the same issue happen about two weeks ago.  mine stripped on the inner lever not the shifters. I am replacing the shaft and the lever with an aftermarket from J&P. My foot shifters and splines are intact.  I will let you all know how the J&P part works out..

Same here, the shifters are fine. Took me a minute or two to figure out what the problem was. Panic and fear in the first few moments over ruled all reason. All i thought was Oh chit I'm in first gear and 700 miles from home.

[Phantom309]

Blue Loctite the bolts.

X2 and don't be bashful using only a drop or two. I always douche the threads top to bottom til it's dripping from the bolts when I install them. Then torque them to specs and also give them a little extra tweak and never worry about them again. I did this to my past four Harleys and never had a problem after that. Nothing wrong with the stock parts, they just need to be tight from the start. If you waited to tighten them after the splines starting rounding off, you waited too long. Don't expect HD to use Loctite if they can't tighten them correctly in the first place.

[guitarider]

Well back on the road again. New shaft and inner lever, all splines lined up loads of loc-tite for the bolts and grease for the shaft and torqued correctly. Everything is nice and tight and the shifting is much more precise..  I hadn't realized how much play there had been for a while.  Interesting side note. When I took off the inner lever I noticed that the shaft and lever had been out of alignment and the bolt actually tightened against the shaft.  I am surprised the damn the took so long to fall off!

[Harley Guy]

Crap - this happened to me yesterday while touring the Black Hills in South Dakota.
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Fixed it on the side of the road, to only come apart (stripped) at 85 MPH on Rt 90 - speed limit is 80.
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Using the GPS harley locator without stopping found Black Hills HD about 30 miles West. Kept going with my foot against the shifter as it was sliding out left. Sixth gear around the exit corner at about 20mph was an adventure. Arrived at the dealer at 5pm, and they had me back on the road at 6pm closing time - GREAT JOB.
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THe dealership said they see several of these a week for the past 2 years - theY claim soft metal is the reason......
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BTW, mine was under warranty. Gave the service writer and technician cash tip and a HEARTY THANK YOU......
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BACK TO........RIDING ON......
.
"
OUTSTANDING riding out here - just a long haul from Ohio to get here.

[Ridgerunr]

"Apparently the steel's been to soft for about 11 28 years..." 

Fixed it for you! 

[grc]

Considering Harley's propensity for seeking out cheaper and cheaper sources for parts, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they've managed to find a source for levers that uses the wrong alloy or just doesn't make the internal splines correctly.  So I wouldn't automatically assume the dealership folks are wrong when they blame the levers themselves, versus just being loose from the git-go and eventually rounding off the splines.

Regardless, a smart Harley buyer will make this part of his new bike self inspection.  I never assume they built them right in the plant, and I definitely never assume the dealership actually checks any of the stuff that's on the critical fastener list, much less things like the shift levers.  Plus I've normally had to adjust the position of the levers on every bike I've ever purchased anyway, so it makes sense to check ALL the pinch bolts when doing the adjustment.

Jerry

[Rooster]

I went straight home with my 07 and checked all fasteners and finished tightening all the nuts and bolts and that was when they were supposed to be hand built.
Oh Yes you might want to take off your air filter just to be sure some ahole  didn't assemble with the gasket hanging in the middle of the throttle body hole like they did mine.

[RonandJanet]

Guess I need to double check that too!