Broken fairing brackets
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,044
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From: Lawrenceville,GA/Rome,Italy
Broken fairing brackets
A couple of days ago I noticed a strong vibration of the batwing at idle,went to the dealer and they diagnosed "broken fairing brackets"!The mechanic replaced the following parts:58938-96C,58479-96B,58478-96B at a cost of Euro 168.00=US$ 220.00!Note that my Ultra has only 10,000 mi,is that normal?Shouldn't HD use better quality components instead of this flimsy POS metal?
Advanced
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 82
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From: Marysville, OH
That does seem like a lot of money. They must charge 2 hours to change them! I priced them once for about 10 dollars for one and 40 for the other. I still need to replace mine as both of my left brackets are broken. I could make my own for that kind of money though!
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 143
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That's about when mine broke. It is a bit of work to replace them but I took then out, and made them better by beefing them up when I fixed them and haven't looked back. There seems to be no sense to it either I know folks that haven't had any trouble. And really the are in my opinion on the thin side and I would expect them to break sooner than later especially the top ones which are a joke.
Big Kahuna HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 38,428
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If ya have a batwing, sooner or later your brackets are gonna break.....assuming you actually ride the thing somewhere other than in & out of the garage.
Judging by the strength of construction, I believe HD wants the bracket to be the weak link.....in other words, in the event of a problem...(drop, crash. bump, etc) I think they would rather the bracket break rather than the attaching point in the fairing.
JMO....
Judging by the strength of construction, I believe HD wants the bracket to be the weak link.....in other words, in the event of a problem...(drop, crash. bump, etc) I think they would rather the bracket break rather than the attaching point in the fairing.
JMO....
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,485
Likes: 232
From: Ohio
When I looked at my 2008 earlier this summer, all 4 were broken. I don't know what was still holding it together. Anyhow the 2 smaller ones by the speakers were replaced with a newer heavier bracket that they sell now. The 2 main ones were broken near the top and I fixed them both for about 3 dollars with a couple 90 degree brackets from the local home improvement store and they are much stronger now.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2009
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If HD used higher quality parts they'd lose out on the money made from people replacing the bad parts
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Thread Starter
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,044
Likes: 145
From: Lawrenceville,GA/Rome,Italy
That does seem like a lot of money. They must charge 2 hours to change them! I priced them once for about 10 dollars for one and 40 for the other. I still need to replace mine as both of my left brackets are broken. I could make my own for that kind of money though!
Last edited by luisan; Sep 19, 2012 at 07:38 AM.