It was a good idea but the wrong application

As I said earlier I had a leak coming out of the decorative plug that is installed in the primary cover when the forward controls are installed.

When the forward controls are placed the shaft leading through the cover for the normal shift lever is removed, a pivot arm is placed on the trans between the primary case and the the transmission. It sits vertical and has a rod connected to it that runs forward and connects to the foot shifter.

Since the shaft hole is nothing more than a hole through the case now, they place a plug on the outer-case held on by a retainer plate which is installed on the inside of the primary cover with loctite.

Reports from the forums indicate that the gasket placed on the shaft tube slips and allows oil to leak out the shaft.

One of the forums have a billet plug shown that would seal the hole. 

So...to work...


I prefer the Stanley Twist ratchet to work with

The fact that the handle twists and works the ratchet makes it a lot easier when the bolt has been broken free and just needs to be spun out, or when placing the bolts before tightening it allows you to run the bolt in quickly.

So drain the oil, remove the primary cover.....

As the Forums indicated the gasket, which is no more than a drain plug gasket with a sticky side had shifted.

This allowed primary oil to leak into the shaft tube and out of the bike, both the decorative plug and the back side of the primary drive case.

As for the billet plug, even though it said it fit this model bike, it did not, for a number of reasons, first, the bolt hole that it requires for mounting is not flush with the shaft hole on this model. Second the plug that the website indicates is applicable for this bike is the wrong diameter, too large. Third, the primary cover has the other half of the shift tube molded to it. These tubes come together when tightening to pinch the gasket and seal the tube. 

Trying to place a 1/4 inch piece of metal between the two means the cover would not go on.

So, I put it back together with a new gasket which I picked up from Harley, replaced the primary cover gasket and bolted her back up.

Two notes:

A: The replacement gasket from Harley is no longer a round drain plug style, it is now a larger shaped gasket that over hangs on all sides, so even if it were to move again there is enough gasket material around the hole to keep it sealed.

B: If you do have a bike that has the leak, open it up first to see if a billet plug will work. It would mean making sure the hole diameter is correct, there is a mounting bolt hole, and your primary cover has been replaced with one that has no shift hole. This means the leak is coming out of the back of the primary between the drive and the case.