Possible that they were overtightened at some point, they have a torque speck that should be applied.

 

Thanks for the feedback... No one but the factory had a wrench on it. I took it to the stealer for the first oil change/service and I watched him the entire time. So it must have been the case.
Aloha Jim



[IMG]local://upfiles/8315/59279F19262645D2ABD08AD907EA05BB.jpg[/IMG]

 

i've heard of the pinch bolts breaking before too. I heard it was a batch of either wrongly labelled bolts or just a bad batch.
Worth checking out anyway.

 

I had a pinch bolt snap on my 02 FLSTF the bikes front end was making a clunking noise and stearing was shaking just before the right folk leg unscrewed itself and slipped down, I was lucky to be going slow. At the time I was out of town so had to thake the bike to a stealer for reapirs and he claims he has repaired dozens. He replaced the bolts with a higher grade but I sill check on them as this was not a good experience.

 

Mahalo for the responses. I called the factory this morning and was actually able to talk to a warm body. The guy was going to setup an appointment with the one & only local harley dealer, but I don't like anyone working on my baby unless I am standing there and they don't like that so I am doing my own repair. Besides, they won't come and pick it up & I have no way to get it there without a lot of hassle. The factory guy talked to a "mechanic" at the factory while I was on hold. He told me that the bolt came loose and sheared but I say B.S. !!!!!!! This is not a shear but a stretch.

I looked at the specs for a 7/16-20, grade 5 bolt, and the breaking strength is 14,400 pounds. This bolt shows no sign of a shear. It was over-torqued, or the bolt is an inferior, not grade 5, we got a good bid on these, bolts kind. I just finished getting the first broken piece out without not much problem but there is still one more to go. I asked about replacing it with a grade 8 and he thought I should go with the "Factory reccomended spec" ......?????? Is it possible the engineer who did the calculations could just maybe been wrong?

The roads here on Kauai aren't the best you've ever seen. Lots of potholes! I am going to do a little web surfing and see what I can find out, but my first inclination is to go to grade 8 since all I have to choose from is a home depot and ace hardware for my bolt selection and I am sure they are using the same "We took the low bid" approach of buying.

Well, back to the basement shop..... If you're getting a clunking noise and shimmy...... Check those pinch bolts! I'll let y'all know what happens with mine.

Aloha & Mahalo
Jim

 

Sounds like the bolt was overtightened, I'd stay with a quality grade 5 bolt and torque to spec. A grade 8 bolt is harder but more brittle and has less stretch before breaking. I remember a FOMOCO recall to replace grade 8 rear brake backing plate bolts with grade 5 because the bolt heads were breaking off. good luck

 

Thanks for all the advice,
I got it all back together and working like a champ. I am lucky all the components were not tweaked. I'm going to keep an eye on it and if it happend again I'll let y'all know. I'm going to be shipping the bike to California for a 2 week ride in July. guess I'll pick up a couple extra for the road.

Aloha & Mahalo
Jim

 

Ok I just checked my bike 2004 FLSTF. I have a Fork Stem Bolt. The manual says to tighten the fork stem bolt until the bearings have no noticeable shake. But it does not give a torque value and I can't not fine the value in the manual. Any Ideas should I go with the 75 ft. lbs.

Bill

 

I had the same problem with my 05 Heritage Classic. It may be more than just retorqueing. They had to realign the bearing on mine. It solved the problem.

 

hey guys... thanks for all the info in this post. I had been hearing a sound once in a while but only when hitting good sized bumps in the road...

I just called the dealer and asked about it... They said it did sound like the head bolt. So of course... since they do all my service i asked how it is that it could be like this since they SAY that they check it. Apparently they do a "fall away" test and they said that sometimes they will be find during service but they will go out between services... So I am at 3800 miles right now and my next service is at 5000. He said it should be okay to continue with the way it is. I am not getting any weirdness in the riding so I am inclined to believe him.

I would take it in tomorrow but I have a feeling that I would have to wait an incredibly long time for them to deal with it...

btw... not sure if I described the sound very well... to me it sounds like something hitting the back of that plate behind the head light. Not sure if it is the same thing... it is a tinny kinda sound. Not loud and not all the time.