Sportster won’t go past 2nd Gear

[sungod]

The shift pawl adjustment starts with the bike in third gear.
The the two arms of the pawl need to have exactly the same clearance from the
drum pins and then tighten the hold down nuts. In other words the two pins need to be centered between the arms.
Lastly there can be no gaps or slop in the shift linkages.

[MODO SIKLER]

This is amazing. A couple of years ago my wife and I were at a used car dealership looking at a trailer. After a brief conversation with the owner of the dealership, he mentioned he had "a 2 speed Harley for sale. It's a factory modification that makes it a 2 speed only".

HAAHAA!!! After reading this thread I don't know whether to think that dude was dumb as a box of hair or was lying through his teeth about it.

When we left (didn't buy the trailer after all) my wife asked me about this 2 speed Harley thing ... I told her he was seeing how far he could lead a donkey without a carrot.

[bustert]

cover on or cover off
cover on, check for alignment of the cover
cover off, it is normal to a degree since the tranny will behave diff when engine is not turning it.