I thought that my clutch cable broke on my 03 Road King Classic. After pulling the lever, the clutch is still engaged. I took the dipstick out of the side case and saw that the cable moved while pulling the lever. Removed the case and found a what seems to be a small locking ring broken and laying in the bottom of the case. What is the purpose of the ring and what role does it play in the function of the clutchs disengagement?

The source of your problem is "a friend of mine". Sorry, but you will have to spend real money at a shop where they understand the problem and can fix this. I'm a certified HD tech. Paying someone like me to work on your bike is worth the money. Having an expert named "my buddy" doing it for free costs you nothing but grief.

You're clutch cable needs to be adjusted. Most likely you can gain enough "pull" up at the hand lever. The adjustment will be turned clock wise, your goal is to imagine you're pulling the inside cable more-farther to dis engage the engine from the wheel. You should have a little play when the lever is at rest to be absolutely sure it's completely free. Might be worth a couple bucks to have a shop do it and ask to watch. It's a quick, easy adjustment but should have an experienced hand.

Clutch discs worn out, pressure plate burned/worn out, diaphragm spring damaged or retaining screws loose or clutch adjustment or cable adjustment way out or basket/hub wear or release mechanism defective, bound up.

Make sure you properly adjust the new cable so that it has the proper amount of play - that you don't have it too tight (no engine engaging) or too loose (engine won't disengage).

Chances are either the nut on the compensating sprocket is loose or the primary chain is loose.

Hi, this is a clutch adjustment issue. If you have maxed out the cable adjustment at the clutch lever, you will have to make adjustments down below, where the cable contacts the clutch cover. There's a million YouTube videos that will walk you through the process. If the bike still pulls forward when the clutch lever is engaged then your cable has probably stretched past its adjustment range over the years and needs to be replaced.

Ok, let's adjust the cable again. In the middle of the cable, there is a rubber bellows type boot or something covering the cable adjuster. Move this cover out of the way, break the lock nut loose, and adjust the cable to have as much slack as possible.

Stand the bike up straight and remove the derby cover from the primary cover. In the middle of the clutch assembly, there is bolt with a locknut on it. Loosen the locknut and turn the outward a turn or two to make sure it's loose. Then turn it inward until you feel the resistance. Do not force the bolt, turn it inward just until you feel the resistance and then back it back out 1/2 turn. Lock the lock nut.

Go back to the cable adjuster and adjust the cable adjuster outwards until you got only 1/8" freeplay in the cable. Lock the locknut. Now work the clutch a few times. Does it feel right. If not, you've got something else wrong. If it feels good, replace the cable adjuster cover and the derby cover.

Good Luck
Steve

I have a 99 FLHT. The issues are the same with finding neutral. This was because of a gear design change in the tranny to supposedly make the trans quieter.
So that said, do this, while in 1st, clutch pulled in, rev (blip throttle) motor slightly with upwards pressure on the shift lever. This blip breaks the friction between the plates in the clutch pack taking the pressure off the trans gears which helps get it into neutral.
BTW, this issue was present in my 1990 Softail as well, what worked then still works now.

This is by design. When you have new pads on the bike and a rotor within limits the lever has very limited travel before engaging.
As these parts wear the position of which the lever engages changes. Unless you know that at the last brake pad change the caliper was "centered" this could account for the travel and will result in premature wear on the components.

JP

The oil dipstick is located on the right side of bike almost directly under the football cover for the air cleaner. It's a round knob that pulls directly out (Kind of wiggle as you pull on it). Just check like a regular car dipstick pull, wipe and reinsert and then look at dipstick.