Something like this can only happen to me
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Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 57
Likes: 2
From: Greensburg, Pa.
Something like this can only happen to me
So, I mentioned on my very first post that I bought my 07 FLSTC last week. After all said and done I brought it home (about three miles from my HD dealer) where my son and another buddy stopped over to check it out. We decided to go for a ride. They follow me on their bikes up to the red light about a mile. The light turns green, I start to pull out and .....cling, clang, ting. I'm looking around thinking what the hell was that. I look to my left rear and there's one of my passenger floorboards laying on the highway......lol. We picked it up real quick and pulled into the bank beside us. It turns out the bolt that was holding it on just snapped. At that point I went back home because I wasn't sure if the remainder of the bolt was threaded through the frame or not and I didn't want the bracket that was attached to it to start vibrating around. On one hand I was very mad but on the other hand......how was they(the dealer) to see or know that bolt was flawed? I called them and they had me bring it up the next morning where they fixed it in just a few minutes. I could have fixed it myself but figured......hey, 3-4 miles. The mechanic who fixed it said he could see the flaw in the metal on the snapped bolt. I think I was embarrassed more than anything since it happened at the red light and cars had to stop while we picked up the bracket and the other part of the bolt.....lol. I was thinking......I'm glad it happened at the light, if I would have been flying down the road and it came off it could have went right through a windshield.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,181
Likes: 488
From: Central California
What DC Mike said.
Over the winter I was doing a check over on the bike while the sheet metal was off getting painted. Only because I had to change out the fork shrouds did I find one of the fork clamp bolts in the lower tree broken. I had to slide the fork tubes out to change the shrouds, and what I though was just a loose bolt turned out to be a broken bolt.
So yeah. Bolts break. Usually due to fatigue.
Over the winter I was doing a check over on the bike while the sheet metal was off getting painted. Only because I had to change out the fork shrouds did I find one of the fork clamp bolts in the lower tree broken. I had to slide the fork tubes out to change the shrouds, and what I though was just a loose bolt turned out to be a broken bolt.
So yeah. Bolts break. Usually due to fatigue.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,926
Likes: 959
From: Texas
Similar thing happened on my old bike with the bolt on the shifter peg. Went in to buy a new peg and the guy said try not to shift as hard. lol You could see there was some clear defect in the bolt. Sometimes it happens.
Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,294
Likes: 16
From: in a van down by the river in Ga.
I was on a ride Tuesday with 24 bikes,most were Harley's a Yamaha or two, a Suzuki and BMW. Guess which had a mirror in the fairing fall off? Yes it was the BMW. Today we rode again with 14 Harley's and the 1 BMW today he had a strip of Duct tape holding it in . 
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 553
Likes: 57
From: Chicago
I had that same bolt break I have no idea when or where my footpeg ended up. I also had the tail light on my sportster fall off once.
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Club Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 22,861
Likes: 17,917
From: Lafayette, Louisiana
I had a shock bolt break a few hours from home. Was not a good day, with a shock on a Softail hanging down dragging on the highway.
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My shifter pedal fell off on I-95 one morning, it fell onto my boot and I managed to keep it there and ride towards the dealer which luckily was the next exit. Red light at the exit so I coasted into the light, switched off the bike, grabbed the shifter pedal and put the bike into second gear with my hand. They put it back on for me.
The very next day at the exact same place on 95 the shifter pedal fell off again onto my boot. I exited for the Dealership, this time the light was green so I coasted into the dealer, retrieved the pedal and had them use red loctite on it. It's still there 2 years later.
The very next day at the exact same place on 95 the shifter pedal fell off again onto my boot. I exited for the Dealership, this time the light was green so I coasted into the dealer, retrieved the pedal and had them use red loctite on it. It's still there 2 years later.
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