[QUOTE=tunaman;7819558]That's fine, but it isn't just the suspension parts that are metric.

What else is metric??? I'll tell you who made them as well... HD does not make any of the parts that they assemble into bikes... they merely put together the parts that are built for them, usually to minimum specs on a lowest bid contract. This is common practice in almost all that HD does today... from T-shirts to Ultra Classics.

It's also common practice for many other "manufacturers"... they are assembly lines rather than the "makers".

 

That is true, but when wrenching on my 'vette I don't have to have sae and metric sets of everything pulled out... nor do I typically have to have two sets of wrenches, sockets, allens, and specialty tools.

And while I'm on the rant, it is also ludicrous that they have so many different configurations of parts for any given year class, rather than leveraging cost efficiency and using common parts across models. Case in point - decided to replace the rear brake pads on my '07 Fatboy while I had it on the lift and torn apart. I had stopped by the dealer some time back and bought a set of pads, so was all set. I fought with trying to get the pads back in the caliper for quite some time, double-checked the part number twice via the HD site, and ended up pulling the caliper off the bike. Even with the caliper off, I still couldn't get the pads quite seated. My buddy stopped by, and called another dealer in the area and asked them to look up the part number - yep, it was the same set I had in my hands. However, on of the tangs on the new pads was just a tad wider than the original, and when he explained that to the parts guy he did some more checking and found there was a different part number that also matched. Apparently there are two different caliper configurations in use for the 2007 Fatboys.

Certainly keeps it interesting!

Roger

 

If nothing changed from '06 to '07 someone is feeding you a bunch of bullcrap. There are two types of tangs on the brake pads, noted with a diagram included in the shop manual. They fit different softails... NOT the same softail version such as a Fat Boy. You got the wrong pads... period.

I say this to anyone that will listen. If you don't read a shop manual for your bike when working on your bike, you're asking for trouble. Are there mistakes in it? Yep... but not many that I have found. What I do find is one little tidbit of information with about every task I do that when you are going by the seat of your pants you would never know. (e.g. the bolts on your exhaust are to be tightened in a specific order and two different torque settings in stages when you put in a new gasket).

C#

 

Well, I have a service manual and do indeed follow it when wrenching. There are no part numbers in mine for brake pads FYI.

I got the first set from Devil Mountain by going to the parts desk and just asking for the right pads for my bike. I double and triple checked the part numbers on Harley's web site:

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

If you read the description, it does indeed include my model. Also, that query was generated using year and model-specific filtering.

As stated above, my buddy stopped by to help and called Eagle's Nest and was given the same information initially.

I agree about the value of the service manual procedures... invaluable information for many of the jobs.

Roger