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One of my favorite Harley-Davidson motorcycles is the Sportster Roadster.
In Matt Laidlaw's online review of the 2020 Roadster, a poster asked about the apparently poor quality of the casting of the rear fender struts.
Do they all look like this?
The fender struts on the 2015 Forty-Eight and the 2017 Softail Slim I used to own were smooth and looked nothing like this as far as denting and pitting goes.
I took a screenshot from Matt's video and it's easy to see all of the dents and pitting on the strut. If you enlarge the pic, it really looks awful.
I put this post in general chat because I felt more people would see it.
If it needs to be moved to, please do so, mods. Thanks!
Kinda reminds me of the way shovel & Evo cases were cast back in the day..all kinds of flaws & irregularities.
Maybe it would cost more to machine the area as it is recessed.
If these are cast items, these are marks in the mold/pattern. If this is a forging, these are due to marks on the die. These are cosmetic, not structural and have no impact on fit/finish/safety. They just look bad. I can't answer if older models had better finishes....I don't remember my Sportster frame area much...it's only been 8 years!!! But these look bad, not a safety item. I would hazard a quess the quality control department is pretty lax on the inspection and visual process.
Those are cast or forged steel parts. They used to cover them with nice chrome covers but on that bike they omit the covers in keeping with the stripped down aesthetic theyre going for.
When I was younger if that bothered me I would grind, fill, sand and repaint that area. These days Im a little more laid back about such things.
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2020 Fender Strut Casting Question
