Hard to get into neutral

[golftodd]

Hello,

I am new to this site and I just recently purchased a 2005 Royal Star Midnight Venture. My issue is that after riding for a little time, the bike seems hard to get into neutral. Does anyone know what could cause this problem? Thanks in advance for any advise.

[gibvel]

How long has it been since the oil has been changed. I know mine is harder to get into neutral when the oil gets old.

 

How does the clutch fluid look? Do you have problems shifting other than neutral?

 

May need the clutch bled.

[V7Goose]

This is not a particularly common complaint on these bikes. First step would be to lube all the joints/pivot points in the shift linkage. You might start with WD-40, just to clean out the joints, but that is not really a lube, so after you blast them good with WD-40, use something like a spray-on grease or chain lube. And do not ignore the shift arm - pull it off the pivot arm above the floorboard and grease it (that is what that groove in there is for).

 

Next, I'd change the oil - sticking clutch plates often cause such a problem in motorcycles.

Goose

[V7Goose]

How long has it been since the oil has been changed. I know mine is harder to get into neutral when the oil gets old.

 

How does the clutch fluid look? Do you have problems shifting other than neutral?

May need the clutch bled.

That is an excellent suggestion, but I wouldn't bother just bleeding it - that bike is at least six years old, and the fluid should be changed every couple of years. If yours has old fluid in there with lots of moisture in it, then you could easily be loosing some clutch action when it is hot. Change that fluid.

Goose

[wes0778]

How long has it been since the oil has been changed. I know mine is harder to get into neutral when the oil gets old.

 

How does the clutch fluid look? Do you have problems shifting other than neutral?

 

May need the clutch bled.

 

Make sure the IS fluid in the clutch master cylinder. Don't rely on the sight glass!!!

Pull the top and look. The rubber seal may be sucked down making it appear there is fluid in the sight glass.

[gibvel]

And DON'T get any brake fluid on the paint or plastic. I will eat through the paint and totally destroy the plastic. I always cover paint and plastic with a large trash bag.

 

If you do get some on it, wash it off quickly. Don't pull the handle back without the cover on. It makes it harder to keep filling, but when you actuate the lever it can splash brake fluid up and out of the master cylinder.

 

Just some things I learned the hard way.

[Greekdog]

Save yourself a lot of trouble and get a vacuum pump (at the auto parts store, under 20 bucks) Take off the cover and suck all that old fluid out. Then clean it out with a rag and refill. Take the pump and hook it to the bleeder valve and suck the rest of the old fluid out. Takes bout 10-15 min. No air in the system and you're all done. Just keep an eye on the reservoir and don't let it get too low....

[Mike G in SC]

I had your EXACT problem on my 2006 RSTD.

 

Usually with cold engine I could find neutral.

But after riding could not get there. Had to either hold in the clutch lever at any stop or try a dozen times, maybe get lucky. Only way was to kill the engine, then no problem.

 

Changing oil did not help, fluids did not help, lube did not help.

Even dealer, did not help. Said, sometimes they're like that.

 

So I just lived with it a year or more.

 

At about 50k miles I went ahead and replaced the clutch. Wasn't that bad but wanted to try the Barnett clutch plate. I also changed all disks with OEM.

But GUESS WHAT!! My "finding neutral" problem was 100% gone.

I'm at 82k miles now and just fine.

 

If you can find a lesser fix,,, great. but that absolutely did it for me.

 

Mike G in SC

[Naugh-T]

Im having problems with that to

 

Naugh-T:bighug:

[BradT]

As goose mentioned lube pivots and linkages. Make sure you get them all, there is one pivot at the bottom near the back that gets missed real easy.

 

Brad

[muaymendez1]

I have the same problem. New oil, fresh clutch fluid, bled,still have the problem when hot.

i find it easier to find neutral if shifting while still rolling.

if already stoped. Pull teh clutch lever put pressure up on the shifter from 1st and light hit the friction zone and. Presto!!

Not a fix but a way around changing the clutch.

[golftodd]

Thanks for all of the advice. I just giot the bike and didn't notice this during the test drive but oh well. I will try lubing the joints to see if that helps, and i will replace the fluids. If this doesn't work, I will deal with it until I feel the clutch needs to be replaced.