Some place on here. A tri glide owner had mentioned that a Dealership said that they remove the rear fenders for service under there. I know that the rear wheels can be coaxed off, without removing the fenders. Ive done this myself. 1st off I need confirmation that they indeed do remove the fenders. That the removal of the fenders is in fact the procedure the techs follow. 2nd. For anyone that has removed the fenders. Where do you disconnect the tail lite wires at? Also, I noticed that HD mounted the fenders to the body. What Im getting at is they mounted 2 painted surfaces together. I will today see if they put a protective barrier between these two surfaces. Whether they did or not. I feel that since these two surfaces will eventually be separated on different occasions. Tri Glide owners should look into putting something between the 2 surfaces. Like which is found on the older style VW Bugs. Where they mount their fenders to the body of the car.

FENDER WELTING FOR VW For 54-78 VW Beetle and Super BeetleStop body-to-fender squeaks and rusting. Quality coated vinyl, 1-3/8" wide with 1/4" black bead. In pairs, fits front or rear. May require trimming.

On the tri-glide I have here. I see where little bits of gravel have accumulated down in this area where the 2 surfaces mount against each other. The fender welting for the VW will IMO prevent this from happening.

Also, I advise any owner out there. To go around and wrench every nut and bolt. Other than what is specified to be torqued as on the engine.

On this exhaust system. I found loose clamps for the muffler slip-ons. Even the bolts for their mid frame air deflectors were finger tight.

RJ

 

There is a stick on tape between the fender and the box.

 

Carlo, your absolutely right about there being a rubber strip in there. But it doesn't do diddly squat! Take a close look at the photos and you'll see that the builder didnt take the extra measure to prevent the damage that's caused by mounting the two painted surfaces together. The below picture is the inner fender and I marked where that tape ( rubber spacer ) is, that you were referring about. (which is on the otherside)



Below - One can see the tiny pebbles that get caught in that crease where the fender mounts to the body.



Below - This picture shows the damage already at hand from mounting the two painted surfaces together. As you can see there's no rubber tape or padding here, where it's needed most.





RJ

 

The only time they need remove the fenders is when the repair requires it. They don't remove the fenders to remove the tire because its not that difficult to remove once you've done it a couple times. I watched my dad pull his back tires and it took more time to tie down the front end and jack the trike up than it did to pull the tires off.

loose bolts, you bet and not just the back either. When working on my dads when he first got it we found many loose fasteners. I found the pinch bolts for the front forks to be just barley finger tight, the fork caps where hardly tight as was the muffler clamps, the muffler mounts. This was on a trike that only had 5 miles on it and they were from the dealer road test. I have to say the QC from both Lehman and the MoCo sucked on the day his was built. The mid frame heat deflector bolts being loose is the dealers fault because they install them as part of set up, both he and I didn't have them installed when we took delivery.

On my 2010 I found the fork caps and the pinch bolts not as tight as they should have been. For the most part everything was as it should be on mine. I can't speak to the exhaust since I had the dealer install the mufflers when they did the set up. They have a pretty good bunch of guys who I trust to work on my stuff. When I did remove the exhaust to install the cams I found everything tight as it should have been. I'm fortunate that I have a dealer who I trust to the point I take my bike or trike once a year to them to be checked over as a cross check to make sure I didn't miss something.

 

Another solution.

 

Actually,...the main reason I inquired about the technicians task of fender removal being part of their procedure is because I am in the process of writing an installation pamphlet that covers the required steps to mount the new SS backing plates behind the Tri-Glide mags.



RJ

 

From looking at your picture with the fender skirts installed, removing the rear wheel with them on will not happen.

 

I've not taken the rear wheels off my 09 TG as of yet. I know about holding down the front end. Jacking from the rear of the frame just around under the dip stick. I would think there should be no problem. If it was tight. Id let the air out the tires. JUST A THOUGHT Its cold and im board so I think of things. Talk about PEBBLES , gravel between the fenders. I must of had some on the bottom of my boots. When I lifted my right leg over the TG to get on. The pebbles fell between the front of the seat and gas tank. I did not no this till I took the seat off. Talk about damage. I cleaned it up put some clear coat on the marks.

 

Your correct. But the skirts come off easily enough. My main concern is the SS mirror polished plate behind the mag.
(If you didn't notice it. I had also installed the SS plate in back of the Mag in that picture of the fender skirt).

Without loosening the fender. I can still get the tire off. Only problem I foresee is that when tilting the tire/mag inwards, at it's top and over the hub and outwards towards you, at it's bottom. That tilt increases the chances of marring the back of the disc on the ends of the threaded wheel studs.

Loosening the fender is really a piece of cake.

Just by loosening the nuts that hold the fender in place. Loosening them out to their last thread. Allows for about another 5/8 inch clearance.

This is why I was asking if the tech would normally, as in routine. Loosen or even remove the fender before servicing that area. It's also a precaution to the Tri-Glide owner/customer that they may have to remove their SS discs before letting a dealership do any service pertaining to their rear wheels. I know first hand that most technicians are mainly knowledgeable on just harley parts. Not aftermarket parts. Though they may be able to guess about how to put an aftermarket part on without instructions. There's a very good chance they don't know if there's a precaution or certain sequence for removing an aftermarket part. I like to be as informative as I can.

RJ

 

I"ve been thinking about what you wrote about. Loosening the nuts that hold the fender. Would be kinda interesting if someone made a filler to go between the fender and the box. To extend the fender out from the box (Trunk) would be a nice custom look. Then if there was a wider rim to put a wider tire on.