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nothing wrong with getting new fasteners. i replace them all the time. like firehawk6 said/did above, i just replaced all the the standard stuff on my bar controls with chrome bits. most of my exposed engine hardware has been replaced with gardner-westcott chrome. the details matter to some owners and not to others. no big thing. just gonna cost some money. hd even sells upgrade chromy fasteners. ARP'ing your bike will hurt $
there is something wrong with hopping on the net and throwing a tantrum over stock bolts though. they are actually quality parts. just not pretty
nothing wrong with getting new fasteners. i replace them all the time. like firehawk6 said/did above, i just replaced all the the standard stuff on my bar controls with chrome bits. most of my exposed engine hardware has been replaced with gardner-westcott chrome. the details matter to some owners and not to others. no big thing. just gonna cost some money. hd even sells upgrade chromy fasteners. ARP'ing your bike will hurt $
there is something wrong with hopping on the net and throwing a tantrum over stock bolts though. they are actually quality parts. just not pretty
You said it better than I did... It's all what matters to YOU, it's your bike.
i actually have to take some of that back.. the chromy hd rocker hardware was weaker than stock and failed on my bike. caused a headache and had to be replaced with stock hardware.
I've seen some of the chrome replacement fasteners that would rust too easily. And you are right some of them are too brittle. Chroming causes hydrogen embrittlement that if not heat treated right can cause problems.
Not sure how different your bolts are from the ones on my 2007 but I used a dremel tool with a 1/4" polishing pad and metal polish to do all the bolt heads on my engine and cases, they shined up just like chrome and look a lot better.
With the black engine they really stand out and look awesome, only took about 2 hours and a case of beer, great winter project.
the bolt cover/caps you mention would, to me, be a hassle in regard to routine maintenance.
Remember that any fastener with locktite on it should not be retorqued during regular maintenance, as soon as you move a fastener with locktite on it you loose the holding power of the locktite and you will have bolts falling out all the time.
On a forum where guys will start a thread to show off how they relocated their mirrors, and I'm chastised for not being happy with the hardware on my bike.
On a forum where guys will start a thread to show off how they relocated their mirrors, and I'm chastised for not being happy with the hardware on my bike.
Buncha hateful, preachy judgy people here.
Harley does two things rather well: fasteners and gaskets. You just chose the wrong thing to be unhappy about. 😜
On a forum where guys will start a thread to show off how they relocated their mirrors, and I'm chastised for not being happy with the hardware on my bike.
Buncha hateful, preachy judgy people here.
no offense but, read your original post. i think you got off easy for that performance. it's not like the hd folks snuck up to your house in the middle of the night and swapped out all the bolts after you bought it.
just match up the quality/grade and replace what you dont like. no biggie
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they are actually quality parts. 
just not pretty
it's not like the hd folks snuck up to your house in the middle of the night and swapped out all the bolts after you bought it.