Harley Davidson Softail and shabby screws...

My 2014 Harley Davidson Softail has a few quality issues that I'm taking care of one after the other.

Because I'm planning to get a high quality detail and ceramic coating for the paint coating and the metal (motor, wheels and so on) I tackled the issues with the shabby screws and exhaust clamps on the bike in the last few days.

Even some of the chrome parts start showing little rust spots... yiuk!

Even the not rusted screws look corroded. No way to give them a halfway decent look with "nevr dull" or other metal polishes.

First of all I got to say it's a shame that on a pricey bike like mine the manufacturer uses such low quality parts!

But I also have to admit that I'm guilty of this crime here for instance...

...and this thus I have a nice bike cover or could've made some room in my shed for the bike. So yeah... there's that too... ;-)

I'm sure that some Harley riders don't even run into such issues because there bikes actually never "see" water. Sounds like a plan to some I bet but for me a bike has to take me as I am and I am a rain or shine rider! As long as there is no ice or snow on the road there's a good chance you will catch me on my bike.

When I bought the bike back in November of 2019 I had seen that some of the screws on the bike really looked ugly. Some were rusty others were otherwise corroded. In contrast to the many shiny, chromed parts and acceptable paint job quality these screws really bothered me a lot.

So I started to research what was up with Harley and screws especially with my make and model a 2014 Fat Boy.

I was surprised to learn that the motorcycle community had more or less accepted it as a given that the HD bikes have these issues. Not only with my model but others as well.

I was told by some shops that I talked to that there've been even worse production years/models and that the newer Fat Boy's (2018 and up) don't have these issues anymore.

After some further researching I learned that there are specific, high quality screw sets available in the aftermarket for all kinds of Harley's but also other bikes.

They come in stainless steel or titanium for instance. But, there are some caveats that come with putting them into the bike!

Stainless steel and titanium don't mix well with aluminum. If not taken care of stainless steel screws will seize to the aluminum. To address this the stainless steel screws have to be coated with "Anti Seize" paste. The screw tighten torque values don't change though.
Getting the old, worn screws out of the bike can be quite frustrating because the old screws, even if handled with care and all the tricks in the box like heating or cooling them down, giving them a good whack before trying to untighten and so on, tend to sheer off. So you better be ready to drill some of them out after they rip off. Not an easy task though without the proper equipment (bike lift, precision, low rpm power drill and so on) and you can end up messing up the aluminum screw threads or do even more damage to engine parts for instance. Another issue could be leaks after changing the screws because it is best practice to change the screws one after the other in typical "accross and in star manner" without renewing the seals.

So... a bunch of good reasons to take the bike to a competent bike shop instead of diy'ing this.

https://www.screws4bikes.de/Motorschrauben-Komplettsatz-Softail-07-17-Edelstahl

I brought the bike over to "Sonnet Custom" after I asked a bunch of other bike shops in the area.

They actually did an excellent job and as expected they had a few screws that broke/sheered off while unscrewing that had to be drilled out.

Here some pic's of the old screws...

They had a bunch of extra work to reach some of the ugly old screws and they had to take a bunch of parts off to do that. So, I'm really glad that I didn't give it a shot with those screws.

While they were at it they also replaced the rear brake pads which were down to 10% or so.

They did an excellent job and I'm happy that I've found a Harley Davidson shop almost around the corner from where I live!

Another plus it's a small family business and the boss has lot's of bike stories to share! Love eeet!

Maybe I'll do a follow up project with them this summer already. I'm thinking air ride... ;-)

Here their website: https://sonnetcustom.de/