A couple weeks ago, I was leaving work when some clanking in the rear sounded, then no forward power. Rolled to a stop to find that I had sheared/broken all 5 rear pulley bolts...the studs broken off in the rim. Got some buddies to help me get the bike home and rolled the bike in the shop. The next day, I removed the studs from the wheel (fun), and got some new hardware from a local bike shop. The rim was damaged when the bolts broke...threads are stripped in the rim about 1/2" deep on each hole and the lip that the pulley sits on was damaged as well. Here is a pic of the damaged wheel. Is there a way to fix it, or am I about to get a new set of rims? I have it mounted back on the bike with the new hardware, but it loosens gradually...had to tighten 'em up with more loctite today.

 

My buddy had the same problem happen to him. i repaired it for him. measure the thread bolt depth if there is 1/2 to 3/4 thread depth left then go with it but if most are at the 1/2 mark or lower then you could heilcoli the holes. if you heilcoil do them all

 

Man, I am tired of seeing this exact problem posted up on here. HD really needs to address this issue. Let me guess, you have a 06-up dyna right?

Everyone is gonna jump on here and post up about how you didnt check your bolts, how threadlocker was used wrong, wrong torque spec, you name it!

IMO This is an engineering problem, not a hardware problem. Countless pre 06 Dynas out there and I have not seen or heard of this problem untill recent years.

 

What about the centering ring/lip that is damaged? Can I let that ride? Just paranoid now that the pulley is coming loose all the time. Someone else was telling me about the heilcoil today...is that what you did on your buddy's bike?

 

Are all the bolts broke off at aprox the same depth? About the same depth as where the threads start? 1/4-3/8" down?

 

06 FXD...bought the bike used and didn't have it but a couple weeks. I don't think the right bolts were in there when I got it. Must have happened to the previous owner as well. May be why he sold/traded it...

 

The bolts are still in the wheel in the pic. Yeah, about the same depth.

 

I believe the design flaw is in the fact that 06-up dyna pulleys are thicker where the bolts go through them. Much thicker than older dynas. The bolts have like 1 1/2" or more between the head of the bolt and where threads start. The pulley also has a pretty loose fit if you put all the bolts in just before hand tight, you can rotate the pulley quite a bit. Fast starts and agressive down shifting could make the pulley rock back and fourth just enough to cause stress on the bolts causing them to fracture or shear.....This is my uneducated assment of the problem based on what I saw first hand and what I have seen posted up on this forum about once every 2-3 months it seems like.

I think this problem needs to be brought to the attention of HD, it happens too often.

Good luck to all those who own 06-up dynas. I wish you safe travels.

 

grind the damaged lip off. its going to be centered by the bearing

 

Sounds about right...I think HD changed the design on the 08 up dynas. A guy at a local shop was telling me he had a rim, but it wouldn't work on my bike due to a different design. Something about a rubber piece...didn't hear much after finding out it wouldn't work on my bike..