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Side Cover

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BAR1

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I have the Iron 883, and after the first month or so of riding it, my side cover fell off. It appears that I only have 2 clips holding it in place, when some of the other sportsters show 3 clips. Well, long story short, I took into my dealership, and they supposedly fixed it. I went riding this past weekend for a couple of hours, and what do ya know...it fell off again! Is anyone else having this same problem? If so, how many clips do you have? I'm taking my bike in again tomorrow to have them "fix" it, but I want to make sure what they're doing is correct.
 
I had that problem with mine too. I had to take it in 3 times before they actually got it right....But Im pretty sure it only has 3 clips...But I may be wrong, its been like 3 years since it happend, lol.
 
Kinda sad that zip tie is required on a $10K bike...just to be able to "say" that it was "tooless" entry to get at those fuses and such. Don't forget to carry extra zip ties in case you are doing some "road-side" service.
 
Like Hobbit and NHDF74 said. My 09 Sporty has 2 clips and the side cover fell open a couple of times when I was first riding it. When Hobbit and I staged 1ed it last month - he put a Zip tie into the hole in the cover at the front end. It is a pain having to do that on a new bike but that's the way it is and I carry a knife and a few spare ties with me always in case I should need to open/close it. I've had to do this a couple of times since as I was tweaking the Pots on the TFi to get it singing just right.
With the TFi in place under there - there's no way it was closing shut securely. Before fitting that it wasn't too loose - but that's just not dependable enough. Zip tie dependant now.....
 
It has happened on my Nightster too (even on the test ride bike I looked down and found it resting on my left leg!) - I think it is quite common, you either don't push it into the clip enough, or push the clip off the frame rail. There are two clips, I just take extra care when putting the side panel back on that it is alligned properly with the slot in the clip, then push it fully home.
 
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Do the zip tie thing to be sure...those clips lose tension after a while, just easy and inexpensive insurance! :small3d015:
 
Zip tie it is then! It's just frustrating when you spend money on a brand new bike, and you have to constantly take it in to get fixed. Oh well....thanks for the advice guys!
 
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