Hey guys, gotta ? about my 18+ breakout drag bars and risers i scored off of ebay for my 21 bob build, the bars dont have any knurling so im curious the best approach to clamping the top cluster clamp down so to not crack it, also so the bars don't move.

 

When I purchased my 2019 Heritage last year, I swapped the bars for Carlini apes. When the bike was delivered, the bars were loose. I didn't know it just sitting on it in the garage in February - waiting for nice weather to get her out. They were not sloppy or dangerous, but after adjusting my mirrors for the test ride, after a half mile, I found myself looking at the road instead the traffic behind me. Being a bit lit up, I turned around and headed home to tighten them. I do not have a torque wrench so I did the best I could. I figured it was not Chinese metal so it wouldn't crack.

A few weeks later I took the bike to a local dealer (not the one 2 hours away where I purchased it from), and asked them to take a look. Fix it up, whatever they do in the shop. A few days after that, I was on a group ride and about 5 miles down the road - loose again. Better than before, but the dealer had actually loosened them from what I did. I am guessing the HD torque specs are conservative. And not correct!!

All that said, I suppose if they can custom knurl it, that will help. If the Harley dealer won't then you may have to go to a custom shop. At the end of the day, I would check it first before your first ride (and every so often) and always carry an allen wrench with you.

Note: Along the way in all this mess, I did ask a third-party technician about the problem. They did mention that the clamp on top is not supposed to be "even" with the bottom part. One side should have a slight space. Front or back I cannot remember.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the responce, but i think that the bottom bolts on the upper clamp gets snugged down first, then the top bolts second so to pinch the bar but im not 100% sure. But given that the bars are 1.25 and drag bars, Harley decided no knurling was needed for whatever reason. Theres a top cluster clamp on Ebay for sell thats cracked so i figured id get some perspective before i crack mine howbowdit.

 

Yeah, it sounds like this will involve a bit of research prior to pulling the trigger. I was taking the chance on tightening mine as much as I felt comfortable with. Luckily I am not that strong so I think I will be alright LOL. I do check it before every ride and have the wrench with me just in case. Not that my late model Heritage has a lot of vibration - because it doesn't. But it obviously does work itself loose. I have had to tighten it slightly few times. Maybe every few hundred miles.

Unfortunately for the next owner, who would know all that if I sell the the bike and forgot to mention that?

 

Yeah man, i did a bit of googling on some ideas for bars without knurling, and it looks like some old school recommendations are to use drywall sanding cloth thats gritty on both sides, and or taking a small punch an making small divots in the bars for griping. An automatic spring loaded center punch sounds like a plan Stan.

 

For what it's worth my 2020 Fat Bob 1 1/2" bars are NOT knurled. Here is a random ebay pic. When I adjusted the angle of the bars up, I tightened the bolts in a upper clamp lower clamp sequence crossing them, (Upper Right, Upper left, lower right, lower left) evenly until they felt snug. The gap was equal front to back.

 

I heard that i did, so you dont use loctite or use a torque spec on the bolts ?

 

Wow now I am wondering if the dealers didn't use the crossing tight method either time - on installation or re-checking? I am also wondering if I didn't help any when I tightened them myself. I was not even thinking it would be like lug nuts on a car. I'll have to take a real close look when I get my bike back in the spring

 

I did use blue loctite on the bolts before tightening. I'm old school and just did a "Tight plus a bit" when tightening them down. Not sure on the correct tightening sequence but the left to right top then left to right bottom with a quarter turn on each until tight felt right. They don't budge at all.

I have since swapped the stock bars to Trask V-Line and those do have the knurling. I also had to use the HD space to go from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 as I still use the stock risers.

 

Welp according to Harley which i just looked it up, once you get the bars where you want them, run down all 4 bolts, snug the front two with a slight gap, then snug the back two and then torque the back two down to (12-15 ft-lb). Then torque the front two to (12-15 ft-lb).