Inspecting Harley Critical Fasteners

Mike is ready to inspect the tightness of some Harley critical fasteners on the rear end of our Evolution model Heritage Softail. Starting with the large swingarm pivot bolts on each side of the rear frame. It is not common for these bolts to loosen. However, if you do not know your motorcycles history, you will not know if someone had ever loosened or disassembled this area of the motorcycle and inadvertently did not properly torque the hardware to factory spec. Using a heavy foot pound torque wrench, verify that these two Harley critical fasteners are torqued to 120-150 ft lbs.

Next, Mike checks the rear shock bolts for proper torque. Softail shocks have always been beneath the motorcycle on Evolution and Twin Cam Harley Davidsons.Both shocks are retained by two shouldered bolts. These Harley critical fasteners can be tightened with a 3/4″ wrench. It is easier to access the hardware with the rear end of the motorcycle raised with a flat jack. There should be a large flat washer beneath the head of each shock bolt. Do not be concerned if the washers turn freely. The shock bolts are shouldered and the washers are meant to be this way. Washers should not be crushing the rubber shock grommets. A torque wrench can not be used in this area. Simply verify that the bolts are correctly tightened.

Another Harley critical fastener that should be inspected is rear pulley hardware. 7/16″ hex bolts are used to retain the pulley. Early Evolution models use a hex bolt with a 7/16″ nylock on the back side of the pulley. On later models, the hex bolts thread directly into the wheel hub. If this hardware is incorrectly tightened or becomes loose, it can damage the pulley and wheel hub by severely elongating the bolt holes. If hardware is loose enough to back out, it can be extremely dangerous. Checking proper tightness of rear fender/fender strut hardware and rear turn signal mount hardware is also important during a thorough service inspection.

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