Broken side plate= dangerous

[Azgunner]

I heard an unusual rattling while on a ride on Sat. Finally decided to pull over to see if I could find something loose & look what I found! Man, am I grateful my wife wasn't on the back or my 60+ year old mother who I occasionally take for a ride. You call it what you want, but I call it the grace of God considering the wife & I just did a 400 mile ride last weekend & my Mom had been on there just a couple weeks before.

Just had side straps replaced due to damage in an accident in October so they are brand new from a company that sells in Custom Chrome. I've been using a set of their side plates for the last 6 years with no problems.


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[Memnar]

That does not look good. So do you think they are defective?
Or because the bike was in an accident, did the accident some how, now be putting a stress on the plates?

Glad nobody got hurt, that what counts.

[codyshop]

Since that's a Dyna I'd say you've got a bent strut rail.  If they're not exactly parallel, one of the sideplates will torsion-snap over time.  Ray

[HroadhogD1]

     You can probably sell it to someone for their wife or mother-in law.    No, really it to bad that happened, but nobody got hurt.  See what the company that you got it from says, maybe they will at least return your money or replace it.  Let us know what happens.

[RK101]

Ray, Could a out of whack sissy bar cause that same thing to happen? Was thinking maybe it's not the fender struts but the sissy bar itself is not made quite right.

[04glide]

That must be made out of that new high quality steel I been hearing about.

[CraigArizona85248]

I think Ray is right on track.  Based on the location of the crack I'd bet that the side plate was pulled tight against the sissybar by drawing the bolts down.  It needs to sit flush against the sissybar before tightening up the bolts.  If not, it's going to put a lot of constant stress on the plate that will lead to early failure.  As RK101 suggested, checkout the sissybar and see if it's tweaked.

-Craig

[RK101]

MY thinking was if the fender strut rail was bent you'd certainly see that with the fenders alignment in conjunction with the tire. Just a thought.

[Azgunner]

I have an email out to the mfr. so I'll give them a chance to respond.

I've had 2 sissy bars, the lowboy & a tall, installed in the new side plates & they both fit the same. The width of the sissy bar to the side plate is not exact, the side plates bend in about a total of a 1/4" or so. No different than the way they've always fit.

[CraigArizona85248]

That's interesting.  Both sissybars I use on my wideglide slip between the plates with no play on either side.  I also have a tall and a short sissybar.  They are both H-D brand though and my side plates are the OEM pieces.

-Craig

[RK101]

That's interesting.  Both sissybars I use on my wideglide slip between the plates with no play on either side.  I also have a tall and a short sissybar.  They are both H-D brand though and my side plates are the OEM pieces.

-Craig

Same on my softail Craig I used to switch them from the short sissy bar to the higher one depending if the wife was going to ride with me. All pieces were OEM.
What seems odd is it broke below the mounting bolt hole and not through it. I'm thinking it's just a bad side plate.

[Memnar]

This IS the quality I would expect from Harbor Freight.

[mp]

I had two of the luggage rack supports that bolt to the sideplate go bad like that, back in the 90's, on my FXRS.  Both were Harley pieces.  I had a guy weld the second one and it's not happened since.  I would guess the parts are made of cheap pot metal, and normal use, along with the inherent vibration, is enough to make them crack.

[codyshop]

I still think you have a damaged frame.  I'm guessing by your description that it's a KromeWerks set-up and in my opinion it's good quality stuff.  We sell and install a good deal of their stuff and the only times they're hard to fit is when the bike has been smacked in the rear end or t-boned.  If the side plates don't go in by hand or if the sissy bar doesn't drop in the mounted plates by hand, you've got frame or fender strut problems.  Ray

[Azgunner]

I took a closer look at the tall & short sissy bar widths & the tall one is 1/8" narrower. Lining the tall sissy bar up with with the intact side plate it would only have flexed/pulled the other side plate in an 1/8". IMO that should not be enough to cause it to completely crack. Either sissy bar fits the side plates just fine, the tall one just pulls them an 1/8" closer together. Neither the frame nor fender struts are bent.

The side plates were made by Khrome Werks. They responded to my email today with an apology & stating they've made side plates for FXDs for 13 years & have never had one break like this. They also offered to replace with a new set as soon as I can send them the defective bracket & they can verify that they are the mfr. A reasonable & respectable response.

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[RK101]

Ok My guess, and it is a guess, is after seeing that last pic with the height of that sissy bar and mounted on a rubber mounted bike and the vibration that comes with that, and the pressure being put on that side plate with someone leaning against the sissy bar from that high up caused it to break. That sissy bar alone must weigh in at three pounds. JMO

Glad to hear there going to work with you on it.