Spokes come loose
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Spokes come loose
Yesterday I posted about a problem I had july 4th when my bike stsrted woobling around, Was told at first that front motor mount was bad. Come to find out just about every spoke in the rear wheel was loose. dealer told me they would fix today but that I would have to pay for it because loose spokes not covered by Harley. 2100 miles on bike I would think thats something Harley should cover[?] Anybody run into this?
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Joined: Apr 2005
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RE: Spokes come loose
That's dangerous stuff. Spokes do work loose, and I had a Harley in the 70s that was very bad about spokes coming loose and breaking. But of course in that case, it had to do with the wheelies and burn outs that I loved to do. In the 5 years and 30,000 miles on my 01 RKC, I've had maybe two or three spokes require a half-turn at most to tighten up. If you've not been abusing your bike, then 2100 miles seems much too short of a period to have spoke problems. It sounds like an assembly problem.
That being said, if you've been to York, you know that they run every new bike on a dyno at the end of assembly, and one would think that a badly laced wheel would show up then. I'd think it would be hard to mount the tire on a rim with loose spokes.
If you have a bike with spokes, it's one of the best reasons to buy a jack. I put mine up on the jack every couple of weeks and spin the wheels with a screwdriver lightly touching the spokes. They should all make a 'ding ding ding' sound as you go around. If you hear a 'thunk' then you've got a loose spoke. If you've been staying on top of this, then you can tighten that occasional loose spoke up and be on your way. If you let several spokes get loose, then when you hit a bump, the forces are carried by only the tight spokes, increasing the likelyhood that they will break. If nothing else, you start driving the wheel out of true, and things get bad quickly after that.
Spokes are strong, and they look good, but you have to do the inspection and maintenance.
That being said, if you've been to York, you know that they run every new bike on a dyno at the end of assembly, and one would think that a badly laced wheel would show up then. I'd think it would be hard to mount the tire on a rim with loose spokes.
If you have a bike with spokes, it's one of the best reasons to buy a jack. I put mine up on the jack every couple of weeks and spin the wheels with a screwdriver lightly touching the spokes. They should all make a 'ding ding ding' sound as you go around. If you hear a 'thunk' then you've got a loose spoke. If you've been staying on top of this, then you can tighten that occasional loose spoke up and be on your way. If you let several spokes get loose, then when you hit a bump, the forces are carried by only the tight spokes, increasing the likelyhood that they will break. If nothing else, you start driving the wheel out of true, and things get bad quickly after that.
Spokes are strong, and they look good, but you have to do the inspection and maintenance.
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2005
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RE: Spokes come loose
Didnt the dealer check the spokes at your 1000 mile? Iam not a violent man but if I were you I would be raising hell!
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Road Master
Joined: Aug 2005
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From: Yorkville Indiana
RE: Spokes come loose
If you have the smooth profile style wheel that is why Harley discountinued them early this year on 06 Touring bikes. My dealer said they loosen up thats why my 06 has the old style spoke wheel.
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RE: Spokes come loose
Hmmm. Was hoping this wouldn't turn into a spokes versus mags issue again. I thought we'd kicked that thing around plenty the other day.
That said, I never really gave much thought to having a jack and testing the sound of the spokes. Can anyone tell me about the kind of jack used and where I might find one?
That said, I never really gave much thought to having a jack and testing the sound of the spokes. Can anyone tell me about the kind of jack used and where I might find one?