Harley Davidson V-Rod Forum banner

Shifter Shaft Failure

31K views 61 replies 31 participants last post by  drod2006 
#1 ·
Add another to the list... On the way to get my bike inspected my shifter lever fell off, I have Kosman mid controls... Anyway, mine broke at the bevel for the through bolt. Thanks VRodG for the phone call. Went from a slight panic to alright, no problem. Thanks again bro'!

FYI part numbers are (thanks Max)
Shaft PN 35432-01K
Seal PN 12071K

Prices as of today. Shaft - $72.37. Seal - $10.71
I believe the seal is a common seal because they have 10 in stock. Of course the shifter shaft needs to be ordered.

Is there a video "how to" on the forums for replacing broken shift shafts? I haven't found one and since this seems to be a reoccurring problem for many people I'd be happy to do one.:D

The first two pics are of the end of the shaft in the shift lever. The last is whats left sticking out of the transmission.

See post #10 for more pics of the swap.

This is covered in pages 3-76 to 3-78 in the 2004 VRSC Shop Manual
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
#3 ·
It's happened to me, and it's a piece of cake to fix. Two c-clips to deal with and that's it.
 
#5 ·
Add another to the list... On the way to get my bike inspected my shifter lever fell off, I have Kosman mid controls... Anyway, mine broke at the bevel for the through bolt. Thanks VRodG for the phone call. Went from a slight panic to alright, no problem. Thanks again bro'!

FYI part numbers are (thanks Max)
Shaft PN 35432-01K
Seal PN 12071K

Prices as of today. Shaft - $72.37. Seal - $10.71
I believe the seal is a common seal because they have 10 in stock. Of course the shifter shaft needs to be ordered.

Is there a video "how to" on the forums for replacing broken shift shafts? I haven't found one and since this seems to be a reoccurring problem for many people I'd be happy to do one.:D

The first two pics are of the end of the shaft in the shift lever. The last is whats left sticking out of the transmission.
Did yours go bouncing down the road and finally stop in the middle of the road like mine did???:D

Easy fix.There is alot of threads on this very subject,to help you threw it.
 
#6 ·
Did yours go bouncing down the road and finally stop in the middle of the road like mine did???:D
LOL! Nah, mine broke on a downshift and hung down a bit but didn't fall off. I stopped and pulled it up and it came off in my hand.

Kurt, I remember reading about yours. It wasn't that long ago was it?

Thanks fella's! I'll do a quick video then for those of us who haven't gone through this yet.
 
#8 ·
what up?

Add another to the list... On the way to get my bike inspected my shifter lever fell off, I have Kosman mid controls... Anyway, mine broke at the bevel for the through bolt. Thanks VRodG for the phone call. Went from a slight panic to alright, no problem. Thanks again bro'!

FYI part numbers are (thanks Max)
Shaft PN 35432-01K
Seal PN 12071K

Prices as of today. Shaft - $72.37. Seal - $10.71
I believe the seal is a common seal because they have 10 in stock. Of course the shifter shaft needs to be ordered.

Is there a video "how to" on the forums for replacing broken shift shafts? I haven't found one and since this seems to be a reoccurring problem for many people I'd be happy to do one.:D

The first two pics are of the end of the shaft in the shift lever. The last is whats left sticking out of the transmission.
This probably wouldn't happen unless you ride kinda hard. Do you ever ride sort of fast or anything?:)
 
#10 ·
Alrighty, I did the swap. Took all of 30 minutes. That included putting the bike on the jack, taking pics (sorry video cam batteries are dead), and clean up. Thanks to Laugermans H-D for getting the parts in 3 days!

First pic is of the broken shifter still in the bike. The other, the new shifter shaft and seal.
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: pandemonium
#12 ·
Next, drill a hole into the seal (yellow arrow). Using a sheet metal screw to thread into hole, tighten sheet metal screw and it will push the seal out. Clean out any shavings.
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: pandemonium
#13 ·
Remove the inner snap ring just like the outer. Slowly pull the shifter shaft out. The shift actuator (yellow arrow) is spring loaded and will move slightly up and to the right when you remove the shaft.

Comparing the original to the new you can see the original is bent... Hmm
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: pandemonium
#14 ·
Carefully install the new shaft. I know there is a joke here but anyway, it takes some moving, pushing and pulling, but get the new shaft seated in position.

Install inner snap ring,

Install seal. I used a 3/4" deep set socket.

Install outer snap ring and your done!

VrodG and LL Cool K are right. EASY job! It took longer to post this then to do the swap.
 

Attachments

  • Like
Reactions: pandemonium
#21 ·
:rofl:
Glad to see it was a minor job Bill. Great write up!!
 
#30 ·
While at Laconia my buddy broke his doing a drunken burnout when he lost control and laid it down on the left side :banghead: ....anyway they had the shaft in stock and told him the book said 12 hours to remove and install the engine and install the new shaft.......and that they never did one so probably two days.....lol......I told him to buy the shaft for $85 and I'd take care of it. Once we got home it was done in less than 15 minutes with no more the 5 drips of oil because I jacked the bike up so the rear tire was a foot off the ground and the front tire was still on the ground.....god I love this forum :notworth:
 
  • Like
Reactions: pandemonium
#29 ·
Waaay too much. My dealer was telling me they'd have to pull the engine and split the cases. I did it on my patio in under an hour.
 
#34 ·
Ok mine broke this past weekend, not sure of a reason since I don't recall ever dropping it on its side but who know who ****ed with it while parked.

Sounds like a pretty simple fix so I bought the new shaft, seal and rings for my 02 but wait now I read that earlier models such as the 02's have old parts that need updating otherwise it won't allow simply pulling and replacing without opening the case. Something about the old springs disengaging when the shaft is pulled. Some say it needs to be in either neutral or in 1st or 2nd gear while pulling shaft to prevent this, still not clear if that even helps with an 02. So I am not sure if I should even try since this forum is somewhat contradicting or hard to follow. Can anyone help???

I emailed the local dealers service where I bought the parts and they told me they replace a couple broken shafts in the past. Says the service manual has a very detailed procedure of dropping the oil pan and holding the spring in place while replacing the shaft. Otherwise the engine would need to be pulled and case split to correct the problem if done without this procedure. Say its a difference of 3.5 hour job to over 10 hours if not done correctly. He is sending me a quote for the job. Anyone have a service manual to verify this?
 
#35 ·
I am going to be doing the shift shaft replacement soon. I have read about every post I could find trying to figure out when they updated the spring. So far I have gathered it was during the 2004 production but I haven't found a solid date. My mfg date is 12/03. I'm guessing I have the old internals. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
 
#52 ·
My 2004 was manufactured September 2003 and I just replaced my shift shaft a few weeks ago. It seems that my vrsca has the longer spring arm as my remove/ replace went fine . Just remove the packaging grease and coat in engine oil instead , also use a Phipps head screw driver to move the internals back into position . Once you’ve moved them back into place slide shaft in as you remove the screw driver then with a little pressure and a slight turn it should slide all the way in . LL Cool K was the person that mentioned the change in spring arm lengths in one of his post from a few years back


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#37 ·
Had the parts ready to go until I read about the spring letting loose on older models so I let West Bend HD replace my shifter shaft on my 02. They charged me 1 hour labor. Apparently there is a service manual procedure to remove the oil pan and hold the spring in place while replacing the shaft. Not sure if there are any special tool for doing so but there was an extra charge for a $1.00 oil pan gasket.
 
#38 ·
Just replaced my '05 shaft that broke while in the Adirondacks. Luckily my buddy had a 10mm wrench so I could reinstall it on the remaining shaft. It got me home about 200 miles and I rode with it daily until the shaft/seal arrived from Zanottis about 3 weeks later (about $50 cheaper than here in Canada). My 16 year old did most of the work. Lost more than a few drops of oil though...more like about 100ml. Thanks to this post!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top