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New 6 Speed Trans Problems

wow! Have me nervous now! I had a choice between the 5 speed and the 6speed streetglide, and chose then 6, as many i spoke with liked it ALOT better! I just got it, no clue on the maintenence of her, but, I will NOT be using ANY oil with the HD name, or affiliation, I've had much better results with other lubricants. Usually use MOBIL 1 Vtwin, but, think I'm going to switch all over to Amsoil.Hope my trans isnt going!
 
I just had the 1000 done on the new FLHTK and gave the dealer a quart of Spectro 6 HD and it really improved the shifting and everything else. Going out to the Grand Canyon this summer and would not like any problems.

I had the 6 speed SE gear set put in my old 2006 FLHTC and ran Spectro in it for about 45,000 miles and never had a problem. Ran that scooter up and down some pretty good mountains on summer trips and it never so much as even hiccupped. I'm not a hard rider but I do my fair share of scraping the boards and letting her loose once in a while.

I have the 5 spd on my 06 Springer and I have to tell you; I love crusin' under 3,000 rpm at 80 mph with the 6 speed!
 
I have an 07' six speed that is currently being rebuilt, ( tore itself apart ). Apparently, according to the dealer, the sixth gear bearing was faulty from the factory and when it went. So did every thing else. All I noticed was a vibration in sixth gear. Was told they couldn't find any thing. After the 30k service There was more noise than usual and the gear lash when down shifting was excessive. I'm finding that springing for the extended warranty on my 07' was worth it!
 
oldgeezer said:
I hate to hear that. I know the baker is a good trans......but.....you have a brand new bike with warranty. These Harley six speeds are not that bad. I really enjoy mine.:(
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ok. back from canada. 6.2k on clock. PAID $750.00 to have trans tore down and inspected. MY COST. harley did not cover it under warranty. bike is back in shop for the 3rd time for trans issues- won't down shift out of 5th. lever acts as though it is disconnected. when i stop, i have to hold front brake and slip clutch into friction zone and kick the dog food out of the lever. this moves the gears. 6th jumping out. ran bike with recommended factory lube and nothing was better. changed out to redline for canada trip. 1024 mi. and this thing is still the pits. meeting w/ monty banks from moco on fri. 20th for a sit down conflab. want my money and i want my bike fixed. end of story.

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check with harley on the esp. my selling dealer sold me a plan that was NOT factory approved and work needed to be done at that dealership. was not recognized or accepted by other dealers. another worhless piece of paper.
 
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billnapabill said:
I'd hafta disagree with fossil here.........downshifting dosen't hurt your Tranny unless your dropping too many gears, dumping your clutch and chattering or locking up your rear wheel, that ain't good for nothing. You stand to stress more than your gears, like over-reving you motor, streching your rods or knocking holes in your pistons with your valves, not ta mention what your doing to your primary and clutch.
I believe that "normal" downshifting doesn't put any more stress on your tranny than upshifting does, in fact your likely putting more torque and stress on your tranny when accelerating than de-accelerating.
Anyway, I'll continue to downshift/upshift and use my gears for control in corners, on hills and stopping along with my breaks, throttle and lean, that's what "riding" is all about, gettn all that stuff working in harmony.
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Agreed...Unless you are locking up the drive train every time you down shift you are not hurting anything.

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glider said:
That's why I recommend getting the extended warranties on these bikes with the 6 speeds and the 96 engines. Between these changes and the pressed crankshafts, there's just too many shortcuts to save money by the MOCO for my likes. Down the road after some serious miles are clocked it will tell the story.
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Wow..coming from Glider...with his knowledge and respect...just reiterates why I will ride my old '04 RK 88 into the ground and then rebuild her...I can honestly say that in 6 1/2 yrs and close to 35k miles of "riding like I stole it" the only actual part failure I have had is a shifter shaft seal...I did put in some gear drive cams @ 27k...that was by choice,the cam shoes still had plenty of life in them...I am going to the dealer today to ride some of the '11 that just came out and as in the past as I am riding away on my '04,she will still put a bigger smile on my face every time!
 
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Fossil said:
I have read through the posts on the damaged 6 speed transmission. Here is some thing to think about. Most damaged Harley transmissions are caused by down shifting them to slow the bike down. I am talking about using forth and down to significantly slow the bike when coming up to a stop. Harley's 4-6 speed transmissions are all syncromesh but they use very big and heavy gears. You folks out there who have had transmission problems think about how you use the transmission. Do not use the transmission to slow the bike to a stop. I think a lot of these problems will be minimized. Fossil
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I have a 09 UC, I Pull a Aspen tent Trailer about 650lbs when loaded,
I down shift all the time i don't like useing brakes, I just truned 20k on mileage, getting back from Sturgis about 3700 mile road trip,
Change all the boxes they all look good no metal on the plugs
If the tranny gose out i will be putting a Baker in, with the New 120 SE engine:p
 
IR Rick said:
I have a 09 UC, I Pull a Aspen tent Trailer about 650lbs when loaded,
I down shift all the time i don't like useing brakes, I just truned 20k on mileage, getting back from Sturgis about 3700 mile road trip,
Change all the boxes they all look good no metal on the plugs
If the tranny gose out i will be putting a Baker in, with the New 120 SE engine:p
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Been down shifting harleys for years and will continue, and no they are not synchromesh gears
 
If down shifting to slow the bike at normal speeds and coincide downshifting with rpm I have never had a transmission problem or metal on the magnet. I do not understand the theory behind not downshifting a 800+ lb. motorcycle. All other vehicles are not prone to damage downshifting. I am not suggesting downshifting to second at 80 mph to slow for that would be crazy. With a good trans oil change more frequently than manual say at 5000 miles instead of 10,000 and normal riding should the trans not hold up?
 
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