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General Topics/Tech TipsDiscussion on break in periods, rider comfort, seats and pad suggestions. Tech tips as they become available will be posted here.
I have a 2014 FXDF. I recently removed the quick detach sissy bar and installed some saddlebags with a quick detach bracket. I can definitely get the bracket to lock but it takes some time, manipulation, a few taps with a mallet, and plenty of cursing to get them in the right spot. I feel like they should just slide without any issues. I think that the problem is that there is a cone shaped concave area on the face of the strut cover. The hardware that I removed had some cone shaped ends that fit perfectly. I know I can buy a set and dremel the ends off to create a cone shaped spacer, but is there anyone who makes these already? What I need is the part that I circled. Thanks in advance.
other than buying a set as in the jpeg, have not seen anything from hd.
dremel tooling it would be interesting to say the least. what i would do if i had no lathe would be to chuck up a nut on a threaded shaft in a drill and use a coarse file to get basic shape and finish off with a fine. the issue will be finding the right nut. from a garage point of view would be a chrome plated brass (maybe a plumbing shop) for ease of machining and a stainless if you have a lathe.
now one trick that MAY help would be to fill in the concave with a conical washer even if you have to make it from a thin ss washer if it will not screw up the spacing.
making conical spacers is not hard, have a set of m/f spacer shimming out my air cleaner.
Not sure but maybe you should spin the black spool some, maybe 90 degrees. Loosen off the mounting bolts. Put you sissy bar on as you are locking it. While applying pressure on the latch, spin the black spool and see if you you don't fine the sweet spot where the latches engage. It may be necessary to spread the legs a little bit. Hope this is helpful.
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Need advice on mounting hardware.
