Rotary Top Neutral to 1st Gear

[garystaven88]

1000 miles since I overhauled the rotary top 4 speed on my 1984 FXSB Shovelhead. Leak-free and trouble-free..... other than a minor annoyance which was also present before the overhaul.

At a stop light in neutral, transmission does not like to go into 1st gear unless I blip the throttle and give it some good persuasion. I feel the "persuasion" is a bit excessive. Clutch has no dragging issues as far as I can tell or creeping at the stoplight issue(5 finger dry clutch). Although, the 5 clutch stud fingers DO have minor wear grooves which I smoothed out as best I could during assembly. I plan on replacing the entire setup with a Rivera Pro Clutch next year. I am running mid controls. Gear spacing and shifter fork alignment I am confident with during the overhaul. Again, it did this before the overhaul (running forward controls at the time).

Upshifts completely fine. Downshifts completely fine and downshifts just fine into 1st when rolling. Easy to find neutral as well.

Is this just par for the course with the rotary top? I replaced all the outer linkage mechanisms during the overhaul and already I see a good amount of slop in the bushings. I wonder if that is contributing to it. Sometimes I wish I canned the rotary top for a ratchet top since I feel the rotary top linkages is an absolutely terrible design.

Anything else I should check?

[Dragstews]

Fork finger rollers sticking in the shifter plate ... ??

I have polished those gates and what a world of diff. it makes ...

[garystaven88]

Fork finger rollers sticking in the shifter plate ... ??

I have polished those gates and what a world of diff. it makes ...

Only way to find out is to pull the lid off and I aint doing it now LOL.

The "top hats" and their operation seemed OK during inspection.

I am running VR1 50wt in there. Not sure if a better fluid to be used?

[JBinNC]

Sometimes when a clutch is releasing cleanly, nothing in the transmission will move, with the clutch disengaged. Then, when you try to engage first at a full stop, if the shift dogs are not aligned perfectly with the spaces between the dogs on first gear, the shifter can't move the shift clutch into position. Letting out on the clutch lever just enough to let the mainshaft creep a little will allow engagement of first gear.

Sounds like you have both the transmission and the clutch working slick.

Jim

[JBinNC]

Use 90 wt. gear oil or something similar instead of motor oil. The gear oil will reduce wear on the main drive gear seal spacer, which is a real problem in cowpies.

Jim

[garystaven88]

I was told by my local independent shop stay AWAY from GL5 due to the brass bushings in the 4 speeds. Or is this rubbish?

[garystaven88]

Sometimes when a clutch is releasing cleanly, nothing in the transmission will move, with the clutch disengaged. Then, when you try to engage first at a full stop, if the shift dogs are not aligned perfectly with the spaces between the dogs on first gear, the shifter can't move the shift clutch into position. Letting out on the clutch lever just enough to let the mainshaft creep a little will allow engagement of first gear.

Sounds like you have both the transmission and the clutch working slick.

Jim

Interesting. I will try playing with the lever at the traffic light next ride!

[JBinNC]

I was told by my local independent shop stay AWAY from GL5 due to the brass bushings in the 4 speeds. Or is this rubbish?

I have had no issues whatsoever in using pretty much any automotive gear oils in H-D transmissions. The bushings are bronze, not yellow brass, for one thing, and the problems from using the wrong gear oil in auto transmissions come from the synchro rings, which operate under severe pressure. H-D transmissions of course are dog clutch transmissions and have no synchro rings. Use whatever oil you like, the synthetics seem to work well.

Jim

[garystaven88]

I have had no issues whatsoever in using pretty much any automotive gear oils in H-D transmissions. The bushings are bronze, not yellow brass, for one thing, and the problems from using the wrong gear oil in auto transmissions come from the synchro rings, which operate under severe pressure. H-D transmissions of course are dog clutch transmissions and have no synchro rings. Use whatever oil you like, the synthetics seem to work well.

Jim

Good stuff. I chose the VR1 due to the heavy zinc. I heard good things about Redline Shockproof and also the Brad Penn 80-90. May give one of those a try down the road.

For now not messing with the fluid but will try letting the clutch lever out a bit as you suggested to get things spinning inside.

[garystaven88]

SLetting out on the clutch lever just enough to let the mainshaft creep a little will allow engagement of first gear.

Jim

This does the trick. With that, should I adjust my clutch so it is closer to the engagement point so I can just pull the clutch in normally and shift into 1st? And if so, should I add a bit more slack to the cable to accomplish this OR should I turn the 5 clutch spring nuts a click in?

[JBinNC]

This does the trick. With that, should I adjust my clutch so it is closer to the engagement point so I can just pull the clutch in normally and shift into 1st? And if so, should I add a bit more slack to the cable to accomplish this OR should I turn the 5 clutch spring nuts a click in?

Leave it ALONE!!!

Jim

[garystaven88]

Leave it ALONE!!!

Jim

Yes!

Thanks Jim