sheared mine off too my muffler free floated for 40 miles

 

Sheared one of the studs, and lost a nut on another around the 1100 mile mark. Dealer fixed without any concern for the slip-ons I put on - regarding the warranty. Been solid the last 5500+ miles

 

same happened to mine. One bolt on the head, two on the bracket mount. This is my third bike but my first harley. Not impressed with the build quality thus far. Not at all....

 

Same thing happened to my friends 08 fat bob. 2 broken studs and the 3rd rattled around so long it wiped out all the threads in the hole. 2 hours later broken bolts were extracted 3rd hole was heli-coiled and everything back together. Been checking the bolts on my 11 fat bob before every ride. So far no problems with mine.

 

I just suffered this exact problem. One bolt sheared off in transmission casing, one busted with nut missing, and the bottom one loose. I took it to my service guy to get it fixed and he told me to bring it to the dealer because it should be warranty. It was, and they fixed it up no charge. I asked if this was happening a lot and they mentioned that they were seeing a lot on the Fat Bob, but mine was the first Wide Glide.

 

It is now a month later and at last the work is being done - Harley took a long time to agree to do it under warranty - another Fat Bob at dealers waiting as well with the same problem.
I have raised the question over a recall with Harley but no reply as yet.
The dealer said will take five hours to fix as they have to take the gear box out to drill out sheared bolts!

 

I dumped the stock exhaust pretty quick on my 2008 Fat Bob.

When I changed the mount to use the V&H short shots I used Blue locktite on everything.

No problems so far but gonna check later just in case.

 

So, the first problem with my exhaust started when I noticed the bike start popping on deceleration. It had broken the trans mount studs and the exhaust flange nuts vibrated off on a ride. It was under warranty so I took it to dealership. They denied anything being wrong and blamed it on my exhaust. An aftermarket exhaust that I purchased from them.

I purchased new exhaust nuts and studs and replaced them along with new gaskets (at my expense ). This didn't last 3 months and the exhaust nuts (at the header flange) fell off on a typical ride to work. I lost 2 and the 3rd was almost all the way off and I had used locktite on all of them. I replaced them again, at my expense and made sure to carefully torque them in pattern sequence with a SnapOn torque wrench. I purchased new exhaust flange gaskets when I replaced them, also at my expense. I was using the recommended Screaming eagle gaskets every time I replaced them (which was every time the nuts came lose).

Then I started to hear a popping on deceleration (again). The last couple of times the exhaust nuts (at the header flange) came lose, my bike would pop on deceleration. I thought, oh great, my Damn nuts fell off again WTF! So I immediately pulled over to the side of the road (I kinda knew "the drill" by this time). When I shut the bike down and went to see how many nuts had loosened this time, I was amazed to see they were all there and appeared tight (I actually carried a wrench and spare nuts in my saddlebags by this point because of this problem). I continued my ride to work, noticing the popping was getting worse. I was pretty worried at this point, but I had already checked the nuts and they looked ok.

When I got home that night, I confirmed that they were almost all fine, but one was lose. This time it was on the rear header pipe, odd I thought, every other time it was the front ones coming lose first. I retightened it and then took it to the dealership for a service and told them about the popping. They did the service and called me and told me my bike was good to go and I could come pick it up.

I got there later that day and when I started to pull away, I heard a horrible rattling and thought something might be wrong with the engine! I went back inside and the told them about the noise. The Tech and Service Manager came out to look at it. The service Manager noticed my trans mount stud (lower) had fallen out and only one upper nut remained, but it was lose. The Tech said he would go fix it for me and I'd be on my way in a few minutes. They did, at no charge to me yay I thought, finally they did something to help me! On the ride back home, I noticed the deceleration popping was still there . So when I got home, I decided to get a flashlight and check every inch of the the exhaust system.

That's when I found this:





I talked with the Dealership and they said it was the exhaust manufacturer's fault, not theirs. Gee, big surprise I thought

So, I contact the manufacturer and they are very surprised about the pics and my story. They apologize all over themselves and inform me they will have a replacement header pipe to me A.S.A.P. They say it may have been a manufacturing defect and even offer to Ceramic coat the new one ($130 option) for free AND pay shipping both ways for the parts.

I am overjoyed that I do not have to pay for it and thank them after giving all the information needed. 3 days later, my new header pipe shows up. What a Beauty!! I was really stoked



So, I go to install the new pipe, but the threads on the nuts don't seem to go on all the way. Weird I take it off and measure the flanges with my dial calipers and it all checks out. OK, I messed something up I think, after all, I am human... So I check the gaskets and the studs and the studs seem too short. Another trip to the dealership (& $16) to get 4 new studs and nuts.

I come home and put the new studs in, but think they seem to be going to far in....Ok, well I try anyway. The nuts still won't get on with enough threads for me to feel comfortable.




So, I do some research and find Alloy Blotz kit for the header mounts ($45). I order them, but think, maybe some brass locking nuts from the Auto Parts store will do the trick. I have to wait for the Alloy Boltz kit to come in, so I figure for ($2.50) the cheapest cost yet, why not try them and see if they will work....they don't.

Here is a shot of the nut:



And before anyone asks, yes, the flange was square to the head:



So I wait and while I"m at it, I decide to go get new O2 sensors to put in when I reinstall the exhaust....another $50. I get the bolt kit and intall everything and am happy as can be...for about six months...then disaster strikes again...My almost new ceramic coated header pipe (I already described the details about popping on deceleration that indicate a problem earlier, so I will not go into it again) has cracked!! AGAIN in the same place!!



And guess what, this time not only does it crack and shear off the lower trans mount stud, but the upper bolt left on cracks the transmission case!!



So I go to the dealership and they give me the same old song and dance, yeah, we will fix it (and charge YOU), but it is still a defective exhaust. "This would not be happening if the exhaust were stock" they say, yeah, well, Bull$#!*!! I say, but again call the manufacturer and explain everything to them.

Amazingly, they send me an entire brand new exhaust system AND payed shipping both ways. The dealership says they can drill out the cracked hole for me (only $80, Gee, thanks for nothing) and they will even install the new system for me too (another $80)!

What would you do if you were me? I have had a list of warranty issues with this bike since the first day I got it and Harley is not making good on this problem bike!! I am so pissed off, I can barley explain it. They have replaced the neck bearings, wheel bearings/spacers, triple trees, disc rotors (both front warped at 15K miles), engine mount, clutch cable, throttle cables, switches (starter switch went out around 20K) and they tell me my starter needs replacing as that is what is causing my problems.

Sheesh, I am ready to set the bike on fire....maybe in their parking lot!!

 

Dude, that sucks. Props to the exhaust manufacturer, but something is seriously wrong with this dealer and the bike for the exhaust to crack like that.

What dealer in Georgia are you using? I need to try and avoid them.

 

Have to wonder if you got a bad set of motor mounts stressing the exhaust mounting points. Sorry about your bike, nobody should have to put up with the greif that the dealer is giving you. Its obvious this is their problem. They need to own up to it!