Casualties of War

Well, I got my pullbacks on my Harley! I can say that I really like them!

It was a minor project and one that I would have had done last night—except I was missing a particular socket. So this morning I was headed off to the tool store. While I’m there, I’m not looking at anything else…I don’t need to buy anything else!!

Stay focused. Need... tool... to... wrench... Harley.... nothing else..... Don’t need another wrench…but hey…that one looks really cool…..

Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!

Back home, the disassembly continues. My son notices that something is amiss with the motorcycle and keeps asking me why Mr. Chubbs is broken. He’s too funny sometimes. I tell him that I’m putting pullback risers to move the handlebars closer to me. His response was “okay, just as long as he’s fixed soon, mom”. Gotta love that boy!

I ordered the 5.5” pullback risers from Drag Specialties. My friends over at the Fatboy forum had some great advice on what they had done to move the bars back. One rider had put these same pullbacks on without having to change out the cabling. That’s the project I decided I needed to do. I did not want to change out the cables!

Getting the stock risers off and the new ones on were no problem. After I had the right tools, that is. Putting the top clamp back on was a problem. The screws were too long! I wasn’t interested in getting back in my van and heading down the road. It seems that is always the case—I need some crazy bolt and screw and end up having to get out again.

Solution: Dremel.

I cut the bolts down. Measure once, cut fifty times. Oh, no, that’s wrong. Measure 50 times, cut once. It’s all good. Did it right the first time and they are now short enough.

Got the top clamp on, wrenched it down. Unfortunately, I stripped out the socket, so I have to run out to Sears to swap it out. Seems I did a pretty good job of stripping it too!!!! Don’t ask me how I did it, it doesn’t work. Then again, I could have stripped the bolt head, eh?? Which in my opinion is a much bigger problem than the issue I had!!!

Not only that, the bolt doesn’t have a lifetime warranty. Craftsman tools do!!

The title is plural…so what’s the other casualty?

I broke a nail. Sigh.

Okay, a girl’s got to have some vanity. After all, I have chaps that match the Harley. What can I say *smile*.

All back together and took the Fatboy out for a ride. I should have done it a long time ago! Putting the pullback risers on brought the bars up and back and now I feel like I’m not hunching over to reach them. I could have put new bars on, but that’s more of a pain than I want to tackle. I already had the chore of taking most of the stuff off when I put my heated grips on! It was not a difficult job at all, however, if I could avoid it, I would.

I like the risers; they do what I needed them to do. AND was an inexpensive fix as well.

Alright, so one stripped out socket and one broken nail…I’ll take it!!

Keep the Shiny Side Up!

~The Rainbow Wahine