Advice: Hard acceleration slippage

Energy One
Hello Fellow Big Dog Bikers,

Its been awhile since I posted anything lately but I need some help here, first a little history. A year ago 2nd/3rd gear seemed slipping all the time, so I called Baker and they told me I needed an upgrade, and it was also probably the shifter fork, as this was a common problem in our Dogs, so i got it back, and put transmission in, also since I had it out I put in a new clutch basket even though it didnt need it but since it was apart I figured why not. Put everything back together and went on a 4200 mile trip, things are good but toward the end of my trip, it seemed to slip again. So then I figured do the regular stuff, adjust the clutch,change fluid, still not totally 100% but still rideable, just cant get on it! and when I do it slips but this time in the higher gears. So here we are almost a year has passed, and I just replaced the clutch (energy one) and bought a new Diaphram pressure plate(spring) from Baker as well. Seemed to help but cant "race" my fellow buddys as it slips again. So to the present moment I did some research here on the forum, and it seems the common denominator is the clutch hub nut, So I tear into the bike and I have the primary open and I see no movement in either nut, as I pull or push on the clutch basket there is no movement, everything looks good, sprocket teeth are all good, no metal shavings etc. So this being said, is it possible its the transmission again?
I read on this forum about and I quote "there is retaining clip on the main input shaft that prevents movement of the 4th/6th gear cluster. The gears are helical cut and without the clip, the pressure of the acceleration caused the gears to separate slightly and allow movement on the shaft and cause the clutch to disengage and slip". .....................any advice or input would be appreciated at this point , thanks guys!!........................sorry if this post was too long!
 

stinger1

Member
I would say its still clutch adjustment, it takes a lot of patience and slight adjusting each time to get it right. I had same prob for ages and percevered but now spot on and no slippage....
 

pknowles

RETIRED
If it were the gears in the transmission jumping, I would think they would be ground down after a few slips and you would have all kinds of shavings in the box.
 

Bobby Schulz

Active Member
What you are talking about is a c clip on the main shaft that holds /spaces the gear. It does not help a bit if the bearings are worn in the trans. I see a lot of baker 6 speeds for this problem , in fact I have 3 at my shop right now for rebuilds.

What happens is the higher gears are heli cut and will push to the side when under a heavy load. If the bearings are worn you will have movement in the input shaft up/down,side/side and it will act as if you are slightly pulling in the clutch in the higher gears under heavy load as the mainshaft assy moves.

To check the bearings you will need to take the tension off of the drive belt to be able to check for play in the mainshaft (clutch side). Also it is much harder to get a feel for it with the clutch assy in place so It should be removed to check it. If it has movement it has worn bearings.

I will be taking some pics of one I have in the shop to show the guys here what the problems are and what must be done to properly repair one.
 

liferider

Looking forward to retirement
That's why I like my BDL open primary with ball bearing clutch. The harder you romp on it, the harder the clutch grabs.
 

keladams

New Member
I've seen this several times I'm my shop and every time it was a broken main shaft. Sounds crazy but the way the gears work it will seem to work ok until you get into third gear then it somewhat like going onto neutral. I'm surprised Baker didn't tell you the same thing. Good luck!
 

Bobby Schulz

Active Member
Broken main shafts were common on the 05 models. They did not have good heat treating and some were missing the radius cut. More often its the bearings. I have one here at the shop that the bearing came apart and a ball bearing got wedged between the gears. It looks like a grenade went off inside the case with parts of gears etc everywhere.
 
Thanks guys for your input, I did have my main shaft break several years ago, but like I mentioned before I just got the transmission rebuilt last year in sept by Baker so I cant believe the bearings would be going out already, but I will look into it. As far as the clutch adjustment, Its kinda hard for me to believe it would be that simple, but at this point I will work that angle as well. I appreciate you guys taking the time to post, Thanks!!
 
Put everything back together the other night, will test ride today. Everything looked good, adjusted primary chain a little, Running stock Harley primary fluid, no synthetic. I appreciated everyones input, always good to get a different perspective on things. This forum is awesome!!
 

mxdude610

New Member
clutch slippage

Big Dog is notorious for the pressure plates wearing out. This happened alot because it just wasn't strong enough.
 
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