Bent trans main shaft?

[egstandard]

04 Flht. Clutch slipped a few times this weekend under load. Pulled it apart to check the plate thickness.i got the clutch pack out and spun the hub to feel the bearing. What I saw was a wobble and the primary chain going up and down. Pulled it all off and found the the first quarter inch of splines on the hub are all messed up and some missing. Trans shaft shows no witness marks and looks like it always has in the past. Put it back on without the chain this time, and it is wobbly on the shaft. Any ideas. No dial indicator at the moment to check shaft. Thanks in advance for any insight.

[Tacocaster]

Rear wheel raised, trans in 5th, spin the rear wheel while eyeballing the shaft (hub removed). Shaft wobble? Doubt it. Use a dial indicator if you have one and not convinced.

You didn't mention if you've been experiencing hard "clunky" starts.

Assuming adjustments are good, your clutch "might" be slipping from the damaged hub material being deposited on your clutch plates (less friction). I've seen this twice where the owner complained about slippage.
Let us know what you find.

[smoserx1]

Pulled it all off and found the the first quarter inch of splines on the hub are all messed up and some missing.

Had  the exact same thing happen.  Time for a new hub & bearing.  I doubt the mainshaft is bent...was not in my case but u might want to dress the splines a little with a small file if your new hub seems like it doesn't want to slide on.

[les]

Pulled it all off and found the the first quarter inch of splines on the hub are all messed up and some missing.

Had  the exact same thing happen.  Time for a new hub & bearing.  I doubt the mainshaft is bent...was not in my case but u might want to dress the splines a little with a small file if your new hub seems like it doesn't want to slide on.

Had the same thing happen to my 2001 E-Glide.  Hub had missing chunks in splines and mainshaft splines were fine.

[egstandard]

Hey smoserx1. Yeah,the new hub will not go on. Looks like on the end of the shaft, the splines have been flattened out. Hope I can get it by filing. That's a bunch of filing.

[Hossamania]

A friend of mine had the same issue, a little patience with a sharp file can do wonders.
Can you post a picture?

[egstandard]

I got it cleaned up with a small triangular file. It slipped right on. So on to assembly. Thanks guys.

[egstandard]

Back together and all good. I don't understand though how the hub can rock on the trans shaft and chew the splines out of the hub end that goes on first. And then blunt the splines on the end of the trans shaft. I bought this 2004 flht brand new. Never abused it, but it does have 196,000 miles on it. Great bike.

[fbn ent]

That hub owes you nothing....

[egstandard]

Right. Lol

[smoserx1]

I don't understand though how the hub can rock on the trans shaft and chew the splines out of the hub end that goes on first.

It has to do with metal fatigue due to repeated strain deformation.  Unlike aluminum which has a finite number of times it can be distorted before it fatigues, pure steel is not supposed to do it unless its elastic limit is exceeded.  At least that is what they used to teach.  Anyway most metals are alloys and we all know most things do this eventually.  That hub twists a little every time you accelerate.  Mine went out at about the same mileage as yours.

[egstandard]

Makes sense. Thanks for that explanation.