Rear Drive pulley bolts loosened up!

Wow...after reading this thread..although I haven't made any tire changes yet, I just had to go out and check my pulley....thanks for the tips...
 
A word to the wise from someone that has been selling Loctite for 30 years..."blue" does the same as "red" but will allow you to remove the fasteners without breaking them. "Red" is for one inch diameter and above fasteners. Both compounds cure in the gaps between the threads keeping the fasteners from vibrating loose. I would never use "red"(high strength) on anything the size of the bolts in the drive sprocket. If applied properly, "blue"(removeable) will do equally well and still allow easy disassembly.
 
Maybe theyre thousands of the 08's out there, but I doubt there are thousands of 07 conversions out there. Never the less I can wait until I do some more of my own research from an engineering/mechanical perspective before I pull the trigger.
 
Odd that HD would be specific in the service manual and you claim it's not important.

While you're giving us the differences in the 2, care to tell us the difference of the 2 colors that HD has pre-applied/dried on their bolts when you purchase new ones?

105 years in business...you'd think they at least got that right by now.
 
The preapplied Loctite is put on by Loctite for customers that want that specific product...it's called "encapsulated thread locker" and when a new bolt with this stuff on it is threaded into the mating thread, the encapsulation "breaks" returning the sealant to a liquid and then it recures. This is typically done by OEMs saving assembly time and cost. The encapsulated/preapplied material is not necessarily the same strength as the threadlockers sold and used for industrial or aftermarket applications. It is easy and inexpensive to do your own test(providing you already have the Loctite). Take a bolt approximately the size of your sprocket bolt and apply red(262) and another one and apply blue(242 or 243) and put a nut on them. The next day, remove the nuts from each. This will give you an idea of each product's strength. The idea is to prevent loosening from vibration...not permanently fixing the fastener.
 
I'm glad you pay close enough attention to your bike to hear this problem. There are so many people the are so oblivious to there surroundings and would ride it until it locked up.
 
Well you may be going down the freeway when one or more of the bolts works loose and hits the swing arm (happened to me) feels like you hit a piece of retread. Then if you are as lucky as I am all the other bolts shear off with one of the bolts going through the drive belt and ending up in the front pulley. This makes the speedo and revs peg and the bike feels like it is neutral. I was able to coast to the shoulder and stop. Harley replaced the rear swingarm, rear sprocket, rear wheel, rear shock on that side, the drive belt, the front pulley, and the needle bearings in the tranny all under warranty. They said that the torque on the pulley bolts should be checked on every 5000 mile maintenance and since all of my maintenance (23,000 miles as of now) was done by Harley they fixed it all. So check them if you do your own work.
 
Back
Top