Gearbox: To flush or not to flush?

**dmouse** · 29th August 2007, 11:00

Hi i have a 98 softail fatboy with a brand new revtech 100 six speed gearbox and it runs like a dream but sometimes i have problems finding nuetral would flushing my gearbox help, as i do not know how old the box is or even if it has had any service work done on it, and i was thinkin that fresh oil would help, any one got any advice or better still knowledge in this area it would be appreciated, regards and stay safe

**Coldrider** · 29th August 2007, 12:01

Don't know if this is any help to you but I run Spectrol semi synthetic oil and gear box on my kwacka is really slick, but when i changed to fully synthetic it was *hit, hard selection, very mechanical, and hard to change down.
Sometimes better oils don't do any favours.
I am not a HD person but does the gearbox use the same oil as the engine.
Years ago a bought a bottle of CLM from a gear/transmission salesperson, you add 100mls to the oil when hot, it has small lead & copper particles (bearings) smaller than a filter will clean, they clean & lube at the same time.
Suppose to be really good for worn engines, but i never tried it.

**Paul in NZ** · 29th August 2007, 12:02

Fresh oil of the correct grade certainly won't hurt. I tend to base line maintain anything I get my mits on - ie if I'm not 100% sure when the cambelt / oil change was done - I bring everything up to 'fresh' and go from there.

Paul N

edit; I'd make 100% sure your clutch is bang on as well - it's often the cause of poor neutral selection...

**merv** · 29th August 2007, 13:21

How can it be brand new, but then you don't know how old it is and whether its had any servicing?

So with doubts like that do as the others have said, change the oil (hopefully you've got the right spec for the oil) and check the clutch.

Will it snick into neutral sweetly while you're still moving and have almost come to a halt? Are the other gear changes smooth as? Does it have the right amount of oil in it? Some times if the oil level in a box is too high it can cause you problems.

Is there any chance it may have been dropped and have slightly bent selectors?

All things to check and discount as the culprit. Remember of course most bikes aren't exactly as easy to flick into neutral as what a car is, usually because of the slight drag you get with multiplate clutches.

**xgnr** · 29th August 2007, 18:31

yeah agree with the other guys. Change all your fluids and filters and start from a baseline.
Do it yourself if you can. This will give you a good chance to learn more about your bike and its state. Amazing what you spot that needs work when you are playing about doing the servicing.

Oh and take care when they say it has been serviced recently. Experience sez that its engine oil only.

**rudolph** · 29th August 2007, 18:45

Try ajusting the clutch, it will be dragging to much making it hard to find N.

Do you have a belt drive primary?

**doc** · 29th August 2007, 18:52

Originally Posted by rudolph

Try ajusting the clutch, it will be dragging to much making it hard to find N.

Do you have a belt drive primary?

Yep when I find it geting difficult to get neutral it's usually the clutch adjustment, 5 min job.

**rudolph** · 29th August 2007, 21:41

Originally Posted by doc

Yep when I find it geting difficult to get neutral it's usually the clutch adjustment, 5 min job.

My old sporty was a cunt to find neutral, a set of new plates and ramp and rollers fixed it.

a S&S gearbox, are you ritch?

**dmouse** · 30th August 2007, 17:10

man thanks for the info and help, just to clear a couple of points first.
the bike is a 98 softail fatboy, i bought it over a year ago, and when i bought the bike it had the original engine in, this had been severly worked over by shcumaker racing team, and i mean worked over the crank cases were bored out so much that the case bolts were ground down to a v shape to allow the piston to pass, the cc rating was 2,3 litres. however some prick forgot to put loctite on the lefthand nut on the crank and this came loose went round the crank a few times and up under the pistons, basicly took everything out, result a stuffed motor, the cheapest option was a repalcement motor so i stuck in a Revtech 100 leaving the gearbox and rest of the motor useable, the gearbox is a baker six speed clutch was checked and all ok, this was late last year and everything was ok for a while.

now part two !!!
ok i got my bike back and everything was great running like a dream loads of power ect, going through a green light turning right and fuck you, i got hit from behind by a dork in a 4wheel cage you know the ones that arnt really meant for road use, anyway he hits me at sixty k`s didnt even slow down for the lights he didnt see them ?, so i land on my arse the bike flys down the road slideing on its left side chewing tarmac. after a lot of arguments with MY insurance company over custom paint o and a botched patched up paint repair that looked like shit, i part with more of my own money and get the bike re painted and fixed all broken parts were replaced gear lever footrest levers ect, my bike is back in one peice but i have a prob with finding nuetral and there seems to be a lot of play in the gear lever tried a new gear rod no difference so i ask you guys for help, and im workin my way through your tips, the gear oil which is seperate from the motor oil is full, clutch is adjusted properly and no bends in the shifter or rods but i still have this problem if anything its getting worse its now getting harder to get into gears up down is fine, i just have a lot of travel in the lever and even revving the bike does not help !!! its weird any advice ? o and im out of money this has costme heaps

hi to paul how is the triumph mate !!!!

**Paul in NZ** · 30th August 2007, 17:25

Originally Posted by dmouse

hi to paul how is the triumph mate !!!!

Sweet mate - As usual, the Triumph finds neutrals all over the place so i got some spares if you need em.. ;-)

Um - Let me guess... The bike was in gear when you got hit? Could be that a shifter fork, drum (or plate - sorry, not familiar with the inside of those boxes) has been bent or damaged...

The VERY first thing I would do - like right now - is drain the oil into a very clean container and see if any metallic bits drop out with the oil - no harm in running the bike around the block a few times to warm up the oil.. I use a white icecream container 'cos it's easy to see any foreign bodies.

Without knowing the box, which is a rare one I suppose, iy could be anything but if it's getting worse I'd try and sort it now before the expensive bits inside become external - maybe the same guy left some loctite off another shaft?

Cheers

**doc** · 30th August 2007, 18:11

Originally Posted by dmouse

so i stuck in a Revtech 100 leaving the gearbox and rest of the motor useable, the gearbox is a baker six speed clutch was checked and all ok, this was late last year and everything was ok for a while.
now part two !!!
the bike flys down the road slideing on its left side chewing tarmac. any advice ? o and im out of money this has costme heaps

I think your are going to have to bite the bullet and get some one who is in the know. Not just some one at the HD dealer either they may not know anything of bakers trans. It's gunna cost money cos it's not standard and it will cost time finding out whats in there and will be time consuming to get it right. But those who know and can fix it right aren't cheap . Old saying with Harleys is Cheap, fast and reliable, pick any two.

**merv** · 30th August 2007, 19:40

Yep now you've told us the real story it sounds like something got bent more than likely a gear selector.

Getting hit at 60k's mate you're lucky you're still with us.

**dmouse** · 1st September 2007, 13:33

fixed my prob with the box it was so simple a stone coverd in tarmac had stuck its self near the bottom of the selector arm and was hitting the case not allowing full travel, thanks for all the hints tips and advice you guys and my wallet is happy too lol