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Not to sound like an amatuer here (well, I'm a new HD owner, but not a new motorcycle owner), but I am having a hard time getting the pinch bolts loose on the triple-trees on my 2008 Sporty.
The reason I'm loosening them is because the bike dropped while it was in storage, and twisted the forks in the clamps. It fell pretty hard (it was in a repo storage before I acquired it....I had to do some rewiring of the handlebars, too, and those are a bit tweaked. I'll be getting a new set at a parts swap soon.), and did a few other things. I've gotten almost everything else fixed up, but the handlebars/triple trees point about 10 degrees to the right when the front wheel is straight.
The bike handles fine, it just drives me crazy to look down and see everything out of alignment!
So, anyways, I've tried soaking these pinch bolts in PB blaster, and no matter what, I CANNOT get two of them loose! I don't want to strip the puppies out, either, but I think I almost did it to one of them. The tool slipped when I was really torquing on it. Any tips on this? I don't want to heat them up, as that would discolor the chrome on the fork-tubes.....and heat up the oil in 'em, too. But, if heating is the only option, I guess I'll have to do it....
Thanks for any help or tips in advance!
Doug
The reason I'm loosening them is because the bike dropped while it was in storage, and twisted the forks in the clamps. It fell pretty hard (it was in a repo storage before I acquired it....I had to do some rewiring of the handlebars, too, and those are a bit tweaked. I'll be getting a new set at a parts swap soon.), and did a few other things. I've gotten almost everything else fixed up, but the handlebars/triple trees point about 10 degrees to the right when the front wheel is straight.
The bike handles fine, it just drives me crazy to look down and see everything out of alignment!
So, anyways, I've tried soaking these pinch bolts in PB blaster, and no matter what, I CANNOT get two of them loose! I don't want to strip the puppies out, either, but I think I almost did it to one of them. The tool slipped when I was really torquing on it. Any tips on this? I don't want to heat them up, as that would discolor the chrome on the fork-tubes.....and heat up the oil in 'em, too. But, if heating is the only option, I guess I'll have to do it....
Thanks for any help or tips in advance!
Doug