I'm still in disbelief, I don't want to call ou a liar, but you saying you had your 14 YO son HELPing you in the garage?? Having a 14 YO son myself I find this very very difficult to believe. Just playing. But keep in mind, he probably feels pretty bad about it, $hit happens and you're lucky, a front fender is a simple replace, just be glad it hapened at the end of the season and not the begining. Sounds like the boy owes you a few shovelings of snow and some yard work, and maybe even a few detailings on your new bike, that is, if he's allowed near it again.

 

+1 on checking out the paintless dent repair option if the paint is solid. I had doubts but $70 later I was a believer but it’s a bit on an art so check references. I watched and learned a lot so it might be good for your son to watch and learn.

 

If you want to check out the 2 tone option you could price out a fender for a EG Classic. It comes in the 2 tone Merolt - Black combo but the Black is a stripe on the top of the fender and Merlot on the sides...... The pin stripe looks like the same on both bikes on HD's web site.....

http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US...ssic.html#/pnw

 

+1.

Glad to hear you didn't lose it on the boy. I'm sure he feels bad enough as it is. I remember I was showing off the new pipes I had just spent all day putting on the bike. My daughter, who was about 7 at the time, and my #1 passenger, was making the appropriate "oooohs" and "aaaaahs", when she let go of the empty Walmart bag she had been holding. And like a moth to the brightest light it fluttered right to those new pipes, still hot from the test run, and stuck right to 'em. Melting in place and making a HUGE mess. She must have cried for an hour. And the whole time all I could do was comfort her and tell her it was ok, when all I WANTED to do was scream, and get started on trying to "fix" the damage. Now she's 15 and we laugh about it all the time.

 

Tinman, thats a great idea if i decide i do want two tone, i think id prefer the black on the side and subtle like the rest of it, but thats a really good idea.

Thanks to everybody for your stories and advice, I really did just want to curl up in the fetal position and cry, but in the end it is just a bike, it can be fixed or replaced. It is important to remember that.
As a divorced father of three great kids, it has been a tuff last couple of years, the kids are with me 5 days a week, sometimes more if mommy doesnt want to see them(long disgusting sad story), so to be brief i was mad when it happened, a little hurt/sad cause it was new, i might have muttered a few curse words, but i gave my son a hug and told him i knew he didnt mean to do it and that i still loved him. i did jokingly threaten to get even when he got his first car in a couple of years, would i do it? naaahh, but he doesnt know that