Swapping out the battery on a 2003 Fat boy, and while hooking up the negative, I dropped the brass terminal spacer. Can't find it anywhere. Lifted the battery and spent 45 minutes shining a flashlight into every crevice I could see, and nothing. Swept the entire garage, as well. I've cranked the bike up but haven't ridden it anywhere, yet. What are the chances that it's fallen somewhere that will cause damage?

 

That happened to me once and I finally found it on top of the transmission, on the primary side by the front pulley (Dyna). Took me over an hour to find that little bastard!

Then it took me 30 minutes to take off the belt guard and fish it out with a coat hanger because my hand was too big to get any fingers on it. Best of luck

 

Funny how those little dropped objects can disappear.....!!

The only place it could drop and possibly cause damage would be at/around the rear drive pulley....

If it got somehow wedged between the pulley and the case, it could gouge the case/pulley. If it got wedged between the belt and the case or belt guard, it could cause a furrow in the outside of the belt as it spins by the obstruction (like rocks/stones sometimes will do). More importantly if it fell and is resting on the top (inside) of the rear drive belt (probably a one in a million chance), it might damage teeth on both the pulley or the drive belt.

Bottom line is to inspect very closely around the rear drive pulley, the belt, and the belt guard near the trans...... and don't forget to look around the bike, on the floor, up to 5+ feet away. That little spacer could have hit the ground and rolled a bit away from the bike.

Good luck with the search....

 

Take an air compressor hose with a nozzle on it and blow around the engine / trans area. Hopefully it will drop out and you can put it back on.