I recently bought my FXDXI back but the previous owner hasn't found the shop manual to give me so I would appreciate any advice. I'm getting a slight clicking noise coming from the steering head when holding the brake and rocking back and forth. Also the slight handling "looseness" associated with loose bearing preload. To snug up the steering head bearings do I loosen the lower triple tree fork tube bolts, then simply tighten the steering nut on top? Or is there something else I'm missing? Is there a torque figure for the triple tree pinch bolts, or steering head nut? Thanks.

 

I'm not sure how an 05 is configured...

On my 08 I losen the top nut till it's hanging on by a couple threads. Then I losen the UPPER tree pinch bolts & pull the handel bars up, which pulls the top tree up & away from the star nut.

I'm then able to tighten/losen the front fork stem bearings, slide the top tree back into place, tighten the top nut - then the pinch bolts and preform the 'fall away' test as per the service manual.

 

You need to take the top nut off to allow you to turn the serrated collars which live under the top triple tree. ...these are the adjusters, sometimes, 2 of them and sometimes only 1. Then slacken the lower triple tree pinch bolts (onto the fork tubes) adjust the collars, tighten it all up and check.

Don't get hung up on fall-away, just make sure there is no slack and it doesn't feel notchy when you turn the bars with the wheel off the ground.

 

Thanks much guys, I'll tackle it Sunday.

 

The 06's had a stewering head clunk problem, maybe your bike will fall into that category. They fixed my '06 for nothing.

 

The forks were enlarged for 06 so I'm guessing the steering head was changed? But thanks, I'll check with the dealer anyway.

 

my 07 streetglide has the same issue. I'm going to have to tackle this soon. keep us posted with your progress, take pictures if you have the time

 

Clicking makes me think it might need to be greased. Too bad there is not a grease zerk on Dyna's.

Drew

 

Man, thanks for simplifying what would have been a bunch of annoying hoop-jumping. I followed all the other steps and successfully eliminated the "thunk" from my front end.

Last week I had my local HD dealer do a fork oil change and bushing rebuild in hopes of solving the "thunk". It did not but to be fair to them I didn't ask them to. I followed up with the mechanic. He told me to adjust the steering tube. "Dyna's have a problem with going slack. Don't know why but they're bad about that."

So for all the things Dyna's do GREAT this is one of their few deficiencies.

Thanks for the thread!

 

Had the same problem click on my 2013 SB . About 2 years ago I just placed some motor oil about the top stem nut and let it leak under the washer. I also placed some oil in the upper and lower dust shield( page 2-73 in 2013 service manual) . Did the trick. Lasted about a year and then had to repeat. Used a syringe and needle. I posted it about a year ago, but it seems that no one noticed. In my case it worked like a charm. I did not have anything loose. As a side note, I had the same thing on my 2005 v rod. We did everything to stop the click, but nothing worked. I just learned to live with it.
Roger