I have been reading about washers, heavy duty fork oil, etc to deal with the front end clunk. None of them worked for me over the long haul. Apparently, MOCO used a cheap bearing kit. I hope to have part nos. on Tuesday. I will share them. Anyone else tried this fix?

 

Don't know what all you have tried for a fix but a large number of owners have found the "clunk" caused by loose tank mounting bolts. In my own case the rear tank mount bolt was missing and probably was never installed. A new bolt and the "clunk" was gone.

 

I definitely get a clunk from the fork on hard bumps or stops. Haven't bothered to try to fix it.

 

There is lots of information about the "front end clunk" and its fix here on the forums. There is also a service bulletin which Harley has published about the fix.

If the clunk is caused by improper neck bearing head pressure, Harley has replacement parts to help correct the problem. But, without correct repair steps, the parts will not do any good.

Proper pressure needs to applied to the neck bearings. This is accomplished by adjustment of the star nut located under the upper fork clamp or triple tree. Once this adjustment is made, a fall-away test will verify it is correct.

Next, the upper triple tree is squeezed between the star adjusting nut and the fork stem nut. This is what keeps it all together and is where the Harley replacement parts come in. They are now using a hardened washer under the fork stem nut because the softer old thin washer was not allowing the stem nut to retain its torque value. Using this new hardened washer, the stem nut is now torqued to 75-80 ft/lbs.

A lot of guys have gone to the dealer to have this repair made and soon started experiencing the clunk again because the dealer simply replaced the fork stem nut and washer, then torqued them without adjusting the star adjusting nut for proper bearing head pressure. Thought a little explanation might prevent this.

 

Good job on the explanation. And you even added a graphic.

 

Curious if the MOCO knew about AND ensured the fix was implemented for 2010 models?

I've got a 2010 Fat Bob the exhibits this symptom. Of course I took it in and they checked the tank bolts and torqued the steering head bolt to spec. Still had the problem though....

I'm taking it in for the 1000 mile service next week and will reitterate that I shouldn't have to put up with this on 3 month old $16K bike.

 

Thanks a million for the time and energy. I have been reading stuff on this forum for awhile now and none of it worked (new washer + HD fork oil). Thanks!

 

When I retorqued my steering bolt on my 02 FXD I loosened the lower pinch bolts first, tightened the bolt then tightened the pinch bolts. No clunk since 2006.

 

I took my bike in to two different dealers and an indie shop. The two dealer techs tried to tell me that all dynas have a noisy front end and it was nothing to worry about. Both of them adjusted or checked the fall away and said everything was within specs (one dealer did this twice). Three guys at the indie shop rode the bike around the parking lot and over a bump. They all heard the clank but couldn't pinpoint it but one said he thought the sound was further back in the bike. When I got home I decided to start looking again myself. I happened to lift up on the back edge of the tank and was able to move it slightly. I removed the seat and that's when I discovered the rear mounting bolt was missing. On a sharp bump the tank was able to move just enough to send a loud clank up the frame tube so it sounded like it was coming from the front suspension. You can't always trust the techs. If they can't find the problem they will just tell you it's normal.

 

tank yes.
also the steering head bearings need constant adjustment.