As a result of a huge hole adjacent to rail road track crossing that I hit, I now have a dent in my front fender. I also learned not to hang anything up front within suspension travel area because the bell hanging there is actually what made the dent. The dent is has the circumferance of a cantelope and is depressed about an inch.

My question, the service manual says you must remove the front tire to take the front fender off. Based the description, it seems to because of the castle nut on the inside of the fender. Has anybody ever removed the front fender without taking the wheel off? I don't have a bike jack and was hoping I could just remove the four bolts holding the fender to the braces. Just finally got my service manual yesterday and was planning on doing the job today (maybe not).

Also, is it resonaable to have that much travel in my front suspension?

Thanks.

 

did it last weekend.

EG front fender... removed the batwing to get at the connector for the fender light, cut the wire ties holding the wire to the brake line.

Removed the caliper bolts ( 10 mm 12 point wrench or socket) and let them hang.

rolled the bike to a point where I could get a clear shot at the front bolts from the opposite side of the bike. took one 6 point socket
(forget the size) at least 12 inches of extention, and one big effn hammer and beat the retainer into submission. removed the 2 front bolts, rolled the bike till I could get the back 2 and repeated the beating. Don't go wild, just increase the force till the socket fits over the bolt head. Aluminum mounting bosses look beefy but I wouldn't want to be paying for a new set of fork lowers because I broke one ear off.

Once I did that the rest was a snap came right off. a drop of blue locktite will replace the stays when I put it back together

you might want to change your fork oil to a heavier viscosity too. I've heard of cases where the lightbar did the same thing .

Now we can discuss WTF HD was thinking when they made connectors that don't easily come apart so you can get the wiring out of the fender! Can you say SNIP?

My plan was to replace my damaged fender wth one I got off EBAY and repainted in PPG DBC 9700 a real close match for the vivid black, but I couldn't part with that little 100th anniv. decal on the FLHTPI fender, and it is unavailable from the MOCO. I hammered and dollied, picked and filed the depression the lights my buddy mounted on the light bar made in the fender out. Those fenders are made of real metal.. so they can be repaired easily. I should have the factory fender back in paint/clear some night this week. Just going to do what HD did and clear right over the decal.

BTW having the fender off allowed me to get easy access to the wheel to clean it.

Anyone need a freshly painted fender?

 

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He's got a way with words...................and I like it!