I'm wondering if I can insert the rear axel on my '08 heritage from the left side instead of the right...

As it is now, every time I want to pull the rear wheel I have to remove, or severely loosen my rear muffler... If I put the axel in from the other side I won't have that problem.

I don't see any problem with the idea but thought I should ask here as some of you guys have a lot more information than I....

 

It is a common thing to do. No adverse side effects at all.

 

Thanks... I went ahead and did it... I couldn't think of any reason not to...

 

As long as the bolt doesn't stick out too far and skin your mufflers when your suspension moves you're good to go.

 

Perhaps the thinking on the way it's installed was safety/redundancy, that with the exhaust effectively trapping the axle, it could never fall out by itself, even if the nut fell off (why they add a snap-ring outboard of the nut on some axles).

On Dynas, simply disconnecting the shocks allows enough drop on the swing-arm to remove the axle. Not sure what's normal on a softail.

 

i flipped the rear axle on my FXDB, so i didn't have to drop the rear wheel to do brake maintenance. i don't think my bike can tell the difference.

 

Yeah, same here. I did it years ago on an FXR. It's such a no-brainer that it spooks you into thinking you might be doing something wrong. Like when the computer asks, "are you SURE you want to delete that file?" Uhhh, I dunno computer, what do you know that I dont?

 

This cracked me up! or i just gone crazy from lack of sleep!