i was at a bbq yesterday and was lookn at my rear wheel and noticed the bolts on the pulley were hanging out , i couldnt believe it i thought they were just loose so i tried to hand tighten em and roll the bike two blocks over to my house to fix it, on the way home one of the bolts came out and caught my swingarm and locked up the rear end. i pulled it out and turns out it was snapped in half so i checked the other one and sure enough i pulled it right out and it was snapped in half too. it spooked the crap outa me , had i not noticed it and hopped on the freeway i would have been a skidmark right now.

anyone have this happen or heard of this before? pretty scary stuff.

 

Wow, glad you caught it before you rode off. Could have been really bad.

 

There have been several stories now of this very thing. One guy did lock up the back wheel at high speed. This seems to be becoming a very serious safety issue.

Check yer bolts daily!!!

 

yeah its pretty messed up the bolts failed.

 

Have you had the rear pulley off before? I had 3 snap off on mine, but it was after I had the pulley off and re-installed it. Spent some time trying to figure out why they snaped and found in the service manual it tells you not to re-use those bolts....I am guessing from the type of loktite they use and the torque that when you take them out it stressing them badly.....my guess anyway. I picked up a new set and all has been good so far.

 

good call... you are not supposed to reuse the bolts. (not saying you did, just bet many did)
also be sure to use the loctite red when reinstalling the new bolts.

 

Just a little info: Those are Grade 8 bolts. Proof load 120,000lbs, Miminum Yield Strength 130,000lbs, Miminum Tensile Strength 150,000lbs. I'll bet the sheer strenght is 200,000lbs. How could something that strong break on a pulley ?

 

well i wish i would have read this one about a week ago. I rode up to milwaukee from rockford, il....about an hour and a half ride. almost home the rear locked up at about 30, luckily i wasnt in heavy traffic because i would have been road kill. all 5 of the bolts were snapped and it mangled the pulley and the hub. i bought the extended warrantee but im not sure if hd covers that, anyone know?

anyways, morale of the story, check those bolts.

 

well, they do, or several members are just making up stories

 

was your pulley ever taken off and were the bolts then reused...if you have bolts and a pulley that was never taken off I would think this is a warranty item unless there is somewhere where H-D informs the consumer to check torque at specific intervals (part of a service procedure or critical fastener)