Evo / 5 Speed not shifting to 3rd to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd.
1993 Harley Evo 5-speed transmission issue that has me completely stumped.
Original symptom was a hard stop trying to shift into 3rd. Transmission would go 1-N-2 but physically stop before 3rd. Pawl wasn’t slipping — the drum itself physically could not rotate farther by hand, even while rocking/spinning the rear wheel.
With the drum removed, all 3 forks/sliders can manually be moved into all 5 gears. Drum also rotates/indexes freely by itself.
I initially suspected the pawl spring, drum, forks, or support blocks. Replaced pawl spring, then swapped in:
- another known-good drum/support block assembly from a ‘92 Dyna
- another set of forks + shaft from a ‘99 Electra Glide
Issue still exists.
What’s strange:
If I seat the drum initially in 1-2 before torquing, it’ll run 1-2 no problem once torqued but will not shift up to 3rd, if I seat it in 3-5 before torquing, it’ll run 3-5 no problem once torqued, but will not shift to 2nd, has a hard wall.
So the issue is specifically the crossover transition between 2nd and 3rd.
Before final cover assembly I briefly had all 5 gears, but once fully assembled the issue returned.
At this point I’m suspecting some kind of slider/dog/spline interference or possibly shaft/bearing alignment issue causing two gears/sliders to partially conflict during the 2↔3 crossover transition.
Anyone seen this exact behavior before on an Evo 5-speed?