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(UPDATED) Top Hand Ventures Sissy Bar Instalation Question
I was at the dealer this morning to have a Top Hand Ventures sissy bar installed on my new 2017 Softtail Slim while the decided how to fix the scratch on my gas tank.
They looked at the sissy bar and told me it would take them 4 hours to install it. WTF!! I lost my temper and told them there was no way in hell that it would take 4 hours to install.
4 hours.....am I missing something?
I'm kinda pissed-off at the moment.
Do I have a right to feel like they were screwing me on the labor cost?
UPDATE:
I just finished installing the Top Hand Ventures sissy bar.
From opening the toolbox to polishing the rear fender after the install took me right at 27 minutes and I worked slowly to keep from scratching any paint.
It was pretty easy to do with two people.
My wife held the sissy bar in place while I lined the fender up with the two fender mount brackets and the license plate support bracket and installed the fender bolts in the holes.
After all the bolts were in place, I backed them off and applied blue loctite and the torqued them down to spec.
It makes the job go much easier, as I discovered, if you take some masking tape and tape the two fender mount brackets to the license plate support bracket before sliding the license plate support the bracket in from the rear.
Why is that license plate support bracket under the fender in the first place?
It seems to do nothing, but since it was on their from the factory I reinstalled it.
Unless they were adding in the time that it would take to fix the scratch on your gas tank and not knowing what all was involved in installing your sissy bar, I would say that you are right. I've installed a couple of sissy bars and it only took me an hour or less to do the job and I was screwing around and taking my time.
Ginz Choppers, close to the same price as Top Hand Ventures sissy bars. Put one on my Deluxe, pleased with it. Less than an hour to install, HD service in some areas way overpriced. Anyways, didn't have to use Ginz detachable hardware, their regular mount kit will suffice. You'll just need a allen socket with a long extension, less than five minutes to remove.
Last edited by Tampa Fatboy; May 31, 2017 at 07:03 PM.
Reason: typo
Well, I called Top Hand Ventures a few minutes ago and when I told them my local Harley-Dealer dealer wanted to charge 4 hours of labor to install one of their sissy bars they almost died laughing.
They told me that a trained Harley tech should have to spend no more than an hour from the time he opened up the box with the new sissy bar in it till he was drinking a Coke and rolling the bike out of the shop for the customer to ride home.
Originally Posted by Tampa Fatboy
Ginz Choppers, close to the same price as Top Hand Ventures sissy bars. Put one on my Deluxe, pleased with it. Less than an hour to install, HD service in some areas way overpriced. Anyways, didn't have to use Ginz detachable hardware, their regular mount kit will suffice. You'll just need a allen socket with a long extension, less than five minutes to remove.
Man, that's one beautiful motorcycle!
Both the Top Hand Ventures and the Ginz Choppers sissy bars look fantastic.
Last edited by ChickinOnaChain; Jul 20, 2017 at 08:05 AM.
Put one on my Slim in 5 minutes. Maybe that was combined with the paint work??
They're going to replace the tank under warranty.
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The 4 hours installation charge was just for the sissy bar.
The service manager told me that the installation could not be done "right" unless they dropped the rear tire.
They're going to replace the tank under warranty.
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The 4 hours installation charge was just for the sissy bar.
The service manager told me that the installation could not be done "right" unless they dropped the rear tire.
Take the bar home and do it yourself, or take it to someone else. Even dropping the tire and reinstalling it is a 10 minute job if you had to do it, which you will not. If you need extra clearance, loosen the fender strut bolts so you can spead the covers a little. Id find a new dealership if thats an option.
Take the bar home and do it yourself, or take it to someone else. Even dropping the tire and reinstalling it is a 10 minute job if you had to do it, which you will not. If you need extra clearance, loosen the fender strut bolts so you can spead the covers a little. Id find a new dealership if thats an option.
I just finished installing the Top Hand Ventures sissy bar.
From opening the toolbox to polishing the rear fender after the install took me right at 27 minutes and I worked slowly to keep from scratching any paint.
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(UPDATED) Top Hand Ventures Sissy Bar Instalation Question
