I was riding my bike to work the other day and noticed the exhaust note change a bit, so I figured I had a leak of some sort. I was about 15 miles from home, but only about 4-5 from work, so I pushed on. About 2 miles out, I started hearing what I can only describe as a bunch of loose change flying around in a washing machine.

When I stopped to investigate, I found that the nuts holding my exhaust headers on had vibrated completely off the front header, and the metal flange was flopping around.

I called my dealership back home in DFW, TX and they said to just take it in to the nearest dealership, so I took it into HD Baton Rouge. They kept it for the day and did the 1000mi service while they had it in.

It was all good to go when I picked it up in the afternoon, so a buddy and I rode down to New Orleans. When we got back, lo and behold one of the nuts on the front header is gone as well as one on the rear header.

Has anyone else had this problem with a rubber mounted engine and a D&D Fat Cat? (The engine is stock other than Stage 1- exhaust, A/C, and download.)

 

Not had it on that particular model/exhaust combo but definately seen it on several Harleys.

Fix I have used is to put some spring/lock washers under the nuts. Torque up, go for a run and torque again.

 

I have Fat Cats on my FXDC, no problems.

 

That is a fairly common problem on most Harleys . trick is to torque to spec, ride, re-torque . And occasionally check them before you start the bike up when going out for a ride .

 

+1, just be sure you do not re-torque when hot, let the motor cool and then check the torque. You should not need any lock washers on these.

 

They did a download with your stage 1 and Fat Cat???? I have a Fat Bob, Fat Cat and Stage 1 AC. D&D tech support told me there IS NO DOWNLOAD that the dealer can do and that I needed some type of fuel management device. I went with a PC-V. The service manager at Longhorn Harley in Grand Prairie also confirmed this. I haven't had any issues with my Fat Cat though. Torque to spec, ride, cool down and re-torque.

 

Best/cheapest solution I've found - "double-nut" them. Mine have never backed-off, or loosened.

 

Bought mine at Longhorn HD as well. They told me NOT to do the SERT/SEST (whatever it's called these days)...that all I needed was the download. If I paid $140 for a download that doesn't exist, I will definitely be sorting it out with them.

Thanks for the advice on the nuts/bolts. 2 of the nuts are gone, so I'll be dropping it off when I head back to DFW this week. Between 2 dealerships, if they haven't gotten it right in 2 tries, then they are going to figure it out. It's under warranty, so I'll let them fix their own problems.

 

Well, I took it in a second time and they replaced the bolts, then tightened them down. The mechanic went for a test ride and they back out again... He re-tightened them, but I haven't ridden it yet to see if they loosen up.

The bolts seem to be too short. They are flush with the top of the nut. Seems like they'd be a little longer.

 

Went for a ride yesterday only to hear MORE rattling. I checked the bolts before taking off and all were torqued to spec, so I couldn't figure out what the deal was. After turning around and going home, I found that the bracket for the exhaust had broken in half at the weld and my exhaust was vibrating/rattling. Basically, the only thing holding the pipe on is the bolts that keep coming loose (by the time I made it home, I had already lost one of them as well).

I wonder if the two problems are related and if so, which one is causing the other.

What I do know is that this crap is getting old. Memorial Day weekend and I can't ride my bike. The dealer tried to find a welder who was open so they could at least put a bead on it and make it able to be ridden, but no such luck. Have to wait until Tuesday to get a new bracket from D&D.