I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TAKE OUT THE CLUNK FOR ABOUT A MONTH, 08 FXDF, HD HAS ADJUSTED TWICE AND REPLACED WASHER, BOTH TIMES BIKE RODE GOOD FOR ONE OR TWO DAYS THEN STARTED CLUNKING AGAIN. HD WANTS ME TO DO THE 20.000 SERVICE FOR $455 THEN THEY WILL DECIDE IF THE BEARINGS NEED TO BE REPLACED AND DISCUSS WEATHER OR NOT IT WILL BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY OR NOT, FOR ABOUT $120 I CAN HAVE THE BEARING REPLACED WITH ALL ***** BEARINGS SEEMS LIKE A BETTER CHOICE TO ME-ANY IDEAS ON THE CLUNK? i THINK 2008 ALREADY HAS THE IMPROVED WASHER.

 

are you sure its the neck bearings?
lift the front wheel off the ground and do check the front end that way. do a fall away test while your there.
the clunk may very well be your brake caliper - see if it's loose.
Also, HD changed the front caliper pad set up to eliminate the rubbing sound of the pads on the rotor as they did on earlier models. they went from a fixed pad set up to "floating" pad set up. The trade off is the pads tend to bounce inside the caliper.
roll on
-L

 

thanks, i and hd have checked fall away and im sure its not the brakes or tank loose, im at a loss if its not the bearings.

 

I think that clunk is just a trait of Harleys. I have an 09 Fatbob that has had the clunk since I bought it. Took it to the dealer twice and both times they said they fixed it. My brothers 08 street bob does it and my other brothers 07 Road King does it. Drives me nuts but doesn't seem like there is anyway to fix it. Maybe just some sort of design flaw.

 

Arnold.

Do the fall-away test and adjust the front end yourself. Make sure, once the adjusting star nut is properly adjusted, that you correctly torque the steering head nut to 70-80 ft/lbs. Having done it yourself, if it starts to clunk again, you will KNOW its more than the adjustment and will be more justified spending money on the new bearings. If I had to wager, I would bet a proper adjustment and torque will fix you up.

 

i had the clunk on my 07 fxd. bitched about it for 20M miles. finally convinced the dealer to do the warrenty fix, M-1215. new washer and torque spec. no more clunk.
scott

 

+1 on insider.

 

Arnold is right. I took mine to the stealer. They said it was like all Dyna's. I adjusted it myself and no clunk. Buy you a service manual and follow directions. Torque properly. Proper tools-manuals will improve your ride and save $$$$$$. Much better than going to the dealer!