HD dealer stripped screws on outer fairing

[ironmark]

Took bike in to get rear bearing fixed & told service manager that the rubber strip that is between the inner & outer fairng is coming off as I ride , so the dealer took the fairing apart & put a little more glue on the rubber strip . I did some work on the outer fairing today & one of the screws was STRIPED the dealer did it . I took the bike back to the dealer & told them about it & I am going to take the bike Wednesday to have it looked at . I know that the dealer is going to pass the buck & blame me . Is there a fix for this problem besides getting a new fairing , you would think this has happened before & HD would have a fix . I was thinking about filling the hole with fiberglass resin & drilling & installing the stock screw .

 

[STEVE07]

There are brass inserts in your outer fairing,if the dealer won't do anything about it they are large enough in diameter to drill carefully and install a helicoil .Measure the depth and wrap some electrical tape around the drill bit so you don't drill too deep.We just did this to a buddies 05 because he got rammy and cross threaded the lower one between the fork tubes and a thread chaser wouldnt clean it up

 

[kemo]

Harley dealers also have a threaded brass repair insert available for a couple of bucks that will repace the pressed in insert. The mounts are pretty flimsy. Mine are cracked so I had to drill through the fairing and put nuts on the outside for now.

 

[lv2ride56]

Happened on my last bike. Gorilla glue cemented the metal threaded portion back to the fairing and held fine.

 

[walleye]

I bet they fix it for you. Too cheap of fix for the bad publicity they would get in excahnge for bad service. Let us know.

 

[ironmark]

The 08 Road Glide does not have brass inserts , it screws right into the plastic outer fairing , the plastic is threaded to accept the screws . It can be easy to strip if you dont know what you are doing , you can not use a air or electric screw driver , you can use a 1/4 inch drive rachet with very little tourqe applied , I use a tourqe bit screwdriver for the best results . I do not believe that there is enough material on the outer fairing to install the brass insert or HD would have done that in the first place . The 4 short screws should be tighten to 6 - 12 in-lb the 2 long screws should be tighten to 10 - 15 in-lb according to 08 HD touring service manual . HD should have a repair proceedure or the only other repair would be a new outer fairing . It seems that everytime I take the bike to the dealer it gets a new scratch or something & now this happens .

 

[TQuentin1]

the plastic is threaded to accept the screw

Here is a suggestion. Get some of that two part epoxy putty, mix a bit and cram the hole full of it. Once it cures, carefully drill and tap the hole to accept the screw.

I messed up the screws at the top of the outer fairing that hold the windshield secure. Those are brass inserts molded in the plastic that the screws thread into. I pulled them out by over tightening. My fix for this was to drill all the way through the inner fairing and run some stainless screws from the inside out. Put acorn nuts on the outside. Actually looks kinda good!! See:

TQ

 

[supermario1]

u can just use a thread chaser . its very simple since the insert is soft brass.

 

[Sgt York]

Mine came loose after my indy worked on the front forks. put superglue on the brass inserts and pushed them back into the inner fairing. Inserts hold now even after removing the windshield a couple of times.

 

[glider]

I have heard of a few using some JB weld in the holes and replacing the fasteners. The dealer also has replacements for this problem too.