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It may come as a shock to everyone, but the shifter linkage on a Harley is prone to coming apart. (Insert sound of gasps of disbelief!) I know, I know...it's a well known problem. I was just being sarcastic.

Anyway, I bought two 5/16" X 24 right hand thread female Heim Joints at the local hardware store. They look pretty substantial for $8.00 each. No nylon or plastic...all metal. Took the linkage shaft off, removed all the stock OEM fittings and nuts, and chucked it up in the electric drill. Set it to spinnin' and got out the sandpaper. Ran up and down the shaft with 600 grit, then 1000, then 1500, and last 2000. Finished it off with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish. I didn't think to take any "before" photos of it...just some "after" photos seen below. It's not quite as shiny as chrome, but pretty close if ya ask me.

Then I sanded the big parts of the Heim Joints with the above listed grits. They weren't easy to work with so they aren't as shiny. Cleaned it all up with brake cleaner and hit the moveable parts of the joints with G96 gun cleaner/lube/protectant. Used some SS bolts and nuts to attach it to the bike. Even though I used a Nylock lock nut on the front bolt, I still used blue Loctite just to make sure. The back connection is threaded on the bike, so I ran a bolt (with blue Loctite, of course) through it. It had enough threads showing on the back side that I could put a nut on it. Yup...used Loctite on it, too.
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Wish I woulda thunk to take a "before" photo, but you can go look at the one on your bike and see what it looks like before polishing...unless you have one o' them fancy chrome jobbies already.
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The joint on the right has been sanded and polished the best I could do.
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I think it looks pretty good for an $18.00 modification in my opinion.
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That looks great. Much better than my effort--I just grabbed some NAPA parts and slapped them in there.

 

Whats the part number for the Heim's?

 

Hmmmm. I have no idea. I'm not sure they had a real "Ace" part number. Our Ace store is a franchise and he carries a lot of stuff besides the Ace products. These joints were non-Ace stuff. I need to go into town again today, so I'll stop in and see what brand they are, etc.

Otherwise just look for 5/16" - 24 thread (right hand thread) SS heim joints. I found a bunch on Amazon but chose to buy locally.
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Superb job. I am fixin' to do a polish job on my front rotors, and I may just add some linkage to the mix.

 

Look's good and you got the pleasure of making it from scratch ��

 

Took some photos of the Heim Joint box at the local hardware store. It's a Midwest Fastener product. I found their website and it appears they sell only in bulk. The joints I bought were those shown in the top center of the lid in photo #2.

 

I've had D-Ks Heim Joints on my bike for 2 years. No problems.


http://www.dkcustomproducts.com/Pair...DK-HJ-PAIR.htm

 

Nice upgrade, that shaft looks great!

 

Interesting, no doubt that. Looks good.