Firebrand Upstarts on 2016 48

 

After 5 months recovering from an accident (motorcycle, got hit by a pickup truck who run away) where my left leg got broken in 4 parts, i took my sportster, washed her and rode her for couple hours ... what a mental and espiritual relief !!! ... foot still hurst to change gears, but i dont care ... still have 1 1/2 months recovery ...

ride safe !

 

My son and I rode up to an HD dealer north if Indy, he bought a hoodie, we had some lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon riding county roads and state highways. Great way to spend 6 hours on a Saturday!

 

Brought my wheel in for tire replacement. The local HD shop did it, $40 bucks, but the tech said the bearings were so/so, and for 1/2 labor could replace them. Eh, 10 years old, probably could use them. So I had them do it.
Got it back yesterday afternoon and threw the bike back together, because of course the axle comes out where the exhaust sits, so thats gotta get loosened, ect..
rode it around the block and at the first corner, i could hear some dragging, at which point I had been using the back brake, ugh, and the brake pedal was pulsing.
so I stopped and turned around. Got home and after looking - the belt guard had scratched up the pulley, and the rotor had splinters on it.
So I took it apart and tried to re-align it again, but the issue is that brake caliper bracket Follows the adjustment because the axle passing through it. Messaged a freind who immediately called it out that HD had put my bearings in the incorrect order. the twin fronts need the drive side put in, THEN the brake side, opposite of all the others.
so now I have a damaged brake caliper bracket (not a big issue probably) but my pads and rotor are basically toast, not a big issue, just wish Id taken a few minutes to Test the tire before getting on the road. lesson learned. HD is open, but the guy who did it isnt it, but I need to get a new rotor and pads anyway - rotor on ebay is $25 with free shipping, pads are like 10$.
Also tried to install my new TC BROs Lane Splitter bar. brake line is too GD short. Cables will reach, but brake line too short. Thinking it might be SS line time *cue Cvaria*


one side of the rotor has no curve to it anymore, not sure if thats normal


damage to the bracket. dont think it should affect its usability


metal deposited on rotor


some of the bracket melted to the rotor, Might come off with a couple of hard stops but..



alignment issue with the incorrect bearing procedure

 

been there. glad you caught it. dealers no touchy my bikes...

i still have the ebc that tore through my dyna caliper mount. coundn't bring myself to throw it away because it's still good (ebc quality is no joke), scar'd on the wheel facing side but, fine. you are welcome to it, free .99

 

 

 

Just parted with $130 for this years plate sticker. Highway robbery...

 

I'm another "dealers no touchy my bikes", have had to fix too many mistakes in the past. I think you've done enough that you could handle wheel bearings, and there's plenty of photo how to and threads with tips and good pointers. A good wheel bearing tool can be had for $100 or less; a Pit Possee is solid and mine has done several bearing sets with no problems. A Jim's might be better, if you don't mind gold plated prices. As you've found out, Harley's are pretty critical on how you put the bearings in, and the mechanic obviously didn't check his work. Even though I feel I know what I'm doing, I always rotate the wheel by hand while it's still on the jack to verify there is no unusual rolling resistance - that would have showed right away yours wasn't done right, that had to be dragging pretty hard. Lot of little things we owner perfectionists do that a shop skips.

Those wheel bearings - you shouldn't reuse the ones in there now, and a shop might try. They've been exposed to excessive side load, very likely not enough to damage them, but the risk is there. Can you tell if they're the new Harley style with an outer metal shield? I'd never use those; every bearing I install gets the plastic seal popped off to inspect inside for grease, none of that clear stuff so many Chinese bearings use, and plenty of it, a thin hair of grease around one side of the bearing doesn't come close to enough, and that's common, too. You'd destroy the bearing seal getting those metal shields off, and if I can't check inside, I don't use it. I had to get a new front wheel for my 1200 2 or 3 years ago, and ended up throwing the bearings away that came with it, they had the thin line of clear stuff and plastic ball cages - I've seen those crumbling apart before. If the dealer can't show you a well greased well built bearing, AllBalls are easy to get from Amazon, cheaper than Harley, packed with Chevron synthetic and have heavy steel ball cages. When I can't find Timken, these have become my second choice. I bought all my bikes used, and all, Harleys too, needed new bearings with the first tire change, people tend to run wheel bearings till they fail, not a good idea.

Bummer getting that mechanic, hope they make it right for you financially at least, I think the least they could do is replace that brake disk at their cost.