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just a reminder!!

ron1978

ron1978

Active Member
i was washing bike and looked at my shift linkage, the front ball joint had little excessive slack in it verses the rear of it, so i told my self i need to change that, but didn't, after a week of riding to work and back, i stopped at road sign went to cross 4 lanes of traffic, went to hit 2nd gear, would not shift , i looked down to see the front ball joint had opped out and shifter was hanging down, so i learned my lesson, fix it when you see it going wrong!!
 
Good reminder Ron...when doing routine maintenance it is good to go over critical fasteners and at the bottom add any options you may have added from stock bike...i.e. if you added forward controls...add the aftermarket part torque specs...especially if it is a safety related part, cause you never know...!:s
 
Also, really go over the bike after trailering for a distance. Things definitely loosen up. :D
 
Yea, never saw mine go (probably because I was a little ignorant)....went from Houston to Key West and back. Mine let go just east of the George Wallace Tunnel coming into Mobile, AL on the way back to Houston. Had to milk 2nd gear all the way through the tunnel and traffic until I emerged on the other side and limped off at the first exit.

My ignorance was centered around being so used to the reliability of the bike and simply enjoying the heck out of being on a road trip (with my brother). I got so accustomed to just throwing my leg over the saddle, cranking her up, and riding on, that I neglected to go over her each morning and do a visual inspection of critical operating features.

Great lesson. I guess that's part of the adventure of owning these puppies and how you learn to be a great rider and owner/operator (i.e. wrencher). To be honest it all turned out to be a great part of the adventure and added to the story of the road trip (because there is always a story afterwards), but to be in a critical situation like ron1978 isn't fun, but this just gives a different perspective on the idea of preventative maintenance.

vicegrips-1.jpg
 
Why doesn't Harley just put the good helm joints on at the factory? Surely it wouldn't raise the price of the bike very much. I replaced my complete shifter linkage with a Kuryakn for $42 and it's chrome.
 
How do you fix this? Would it be easier/better to just replace? I don't see anyway to tighten mine up. This is why I carry zip ties in my saddle bag.
 
geezer said:
Why doesn't Harley just put the good helm joints on at the factory? Surely it wouldn't raise the price of the bike very much. I replaced my complete shifter linkage with a Kuryakn for $42 and it's chrome.
Click to expand...

Same reason they don't come with premium tour pack hinges, better speakers, oil temp gauge, etc. If they included all the better items it actually would drive the price of a new bike up considerably. Plus they'd miss out on the chance to take our money $100 at a time after the sale!



Mavagrand said:
How do you fix this? Would it be easier/better to just replace? I don't see anyway to tighten mine up. This is why I carry zip ties in my saddle bag.
Click to expand...

As mentioned, get the replacement that has heim joints. But don't be surprised if the salesman has no idea what you're talking about. I had to walk him over and show him what I was talking about.
 
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