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Hidden Fairing Damage

43K views 86 replies 58 participants last post by  MikeMan 
#1 ·
I have found a small problem that will effect most of you.

It appears that the inside of the outer fairing rubs on the bracket that holds the radio in place.

This will eventually rub all the way through the outer fairing. Mine has 20K miles on it and it has already broken through.

The damage is from the inside and hidden below the windshield trim so it is not seen from the outside till to late.

See attached photo to see what I am talking about.
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Time to junk the stock stereo!!! Have had two friends with problems associated with the way the fasteners secure into the side of the stereo... screws into the side of the stereo making contact with the internals.

anyways, maybe put an adhesive-backed thin rubber vibration isolation mat between the deck and the fairing and also use a dremel to take down the clearances of the bracket/housing of the deck?
 
#3 ·
I don't think this affects my 98 but when I first heard of it I sliced open some vacuum hose and ran it the length of the bracket to protect it just in case.
 
#4 ·
JB Weld

I found the wear when I had my outer fairing off to facilitate installation of the J&M upgraded speakers. I mixed up some JB Weld epoxy to fill in the holes. I used JB Weld because it has steel in it. That was 5000 miles ago, don't know how well the stuff is resisting the wear/tear.
 
#6 ·
I read about it on another forum and noticed it on mine when I installed the JM amp. I just put some thin insulation tape around the edges to eliminate the sharp corners. If I recall correctly, someone took theirs to a dealer and that's all they did, too.
 
#8 · (Edited)
This problem has been going on for at least 5 years that I know of. I don't know anyone anymore who still has a Tour Glide but it might go back that far. For sure any Road Glide out there that was made in the last 5 or 6 years has the problem. Very few riders are aware of the problem because most don't ever take off their outer fairing. The truth is most of the technicians at the dealerships never find it either because unless you look pretty hard in the rights spot it is hard to see. I found mine at 5000 miles and mentioned it to the dealer. He asked if it had rubbed through the fairing yet. I said "No, but it will". He told me to watch it. I told them again at 20,000 miles that it was about to wear through. Again, "Watch it and if it breaks through while you are in warranty we will order a new fairing. Two weeks before my warranty was to run out I told them it had wore through on one side. "Bring it in and we will look at it". I did and they ordered a new outer fairing. It took about 7 weeks for the factory to paint it and send it out. The most outstanding thing about this whole thing is that when they put the new fairing on they did not address the problem with the radio bracket at all. I asked them about it and was told it was not hitting when we put the new one on, so they didn't trim the radio bracket down. After a couple of weeks of riding with the new outer fairing on I pulled it just to have a look see. It was wearing just like the old one. At this point I just took a disk grinder and took about 1/4" off the top of the entire radio bracket, painted it black and covered that with some rubber hose. Problem solved., but nobody should have to do this. I read on a Harley techincal bulletin that the radio bracket has finally been cut down on the 2011 models. Not bad HD, it only took you at least 5 years to fix what should have been fixed the first year. Kind of like those worthless ambient air temp gauges that they have been putting on new bikes for years.
 
#9 ·
Fairing fix

I know of three with the same problem. My 'o6 my wife's '07 and my buddy's '04. we ended up placing a spit piece of vinyl tubing over the bracket. On mine it was really bad. we wet the area inside the fairing where it was rubbing through and applied Gorilla Glue. Once it expanded and dried I sanded it down and poof... Good as new. Never thought it would work but it did. Turns out to be an old trick my friend (who services R.V's) uses to fix fiberglass panels that rub through in the engine compartment on Motor homes.
dh
 
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#10 ·
Haven't noticed this wear spot on my 2000 RGSE, but wasn't really looking. Will check when I pull the outer off to check some J&M audio connections.

and those ambient air guages, wonder whose bright idea that was. Had an oil temp guage on my 89 Tour Glide, and now I have up-graded my 2000 to an oil temp guage kit from HD.

Tinker:D
 
G
#11 ·
You guys should ask the administrator to make a stick and do a poll. This way if someone is out of warranty it may help them to get Harley to fix their screw. I ran into a issue with my Dodge truck and the rear differential.
Sorry for the interruption.
 
#12 ·
This got me so paranoid that I went out to the garage and pulled my fairing apart . Not a mark on my 05 with 35,000 miles.



Whew ;)






.
 
#13 ·
I pulled my outer fairing off & there was some damage to the outer fairing so I took a hacksaw & trimmed the radio bracket . For some time I was wondering why when the bike was at a idle or going slow I heard a rattle in the fairing , I thought that it was a wire connector hitting the inner fairing but after I trimmed the radio bracket the rattle went away so if you hear a rattle in the front fairing chances are it is the radio bracket hitting the outer fairing .
 

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#18 ·
Took the fairing off my (new to me) 2000 RGSE wear marks on the outer were about 1/16" filled them with JB weld and will ease the mount before I reinstall. This forum has provided so much information and insight. Many of the modifications that I want to do I have found on here.
 
#19 ·
its real

I just found wear on my '05 and will fill the wear marks with JB weld and grind down the radio bracket too. Also showing wear in the headlight pot area that the faring hangs on the front two hooks. Not sure what to do with that.
 
#23 ·
That is great! Now if they would just fix the other fifty eleven things that they have been ignoring for years. Most things they ignore, hoping it won't fail in the first 24 months. In my case, they replaced the outer fairing as well as the inner fairing because the radio bracket rubbed holes through both of them. Even though I told them about it 9 months before my warranty ran out. Each time I reminded them that it was going to eat all the way through both fairings they just said "keep watching it". It was clear to me they were gambling that I would not force the issue until after the warranty was up. Two weeks before the 24 months were up the radio bracket broke through both the inner and outer fairings. I took it in and told them to fix it. They ordered the parts and nearly 90 days later the MOCO shipped them to the dealer. I took the bike in one morning and they had it ready the next day. That was nearly a $3600.00 warranty claim that they clearly could have fixed much, much earlier. The strangest thing was that when I picked the bike up after repairs had been made I asked the service manager if they had cut off a 1/4" from the top of the radio bracket. He said "No", it didn't need it. I rode the bike for a month and pulled the outer fairing off. Sure enough the radio bracket was starting to do it's dirty work on the new plastic. I didn't even bother telling the service manager at that point. I just cut 1/4" off the bracket, painted it and covered it with some rubber hose and went on with my business.
 
#24 ·
The sad thing about YOUR story is that I'm sure yours is not the only dealer to gamble with the warranty the way they did; sucks! But to avoid taking care of it properly on the new fairing seems blatant stupidity!
Good for you for taking care of it yourself though.
Peter
 
#28 ·
Just to be clear here; I did not say they don't make anything on warranty work. The service manager eluded to the fact that they don't make "any" profit when doing warranty work. What I did say was that I did not believe "everything" he told me. What the service manager really should have said was that they don't make near as much on warranty work as they do when they sock it to a not warranty rider. Most of them do not have the balls to say that though. Some of them really do think we are stupid as a stump. Like I said, that is going to change because money goes "where it is most appreciated". Trying to pull the wool over a clients head when they 'think" we are uninformed is never a good idea. The really good service managers and service writers already know this.
 
#29 ·
I understood what you were saying and I was agreeing with you.

It's perfectly logical that dealers charge MOCO less for labor on warranty claims than non-warranty work for customers. But that they don't make "any profit" from warranties (as you were told), doesn't make sense and like you, I don't believe it. No one could ever get warranty repairs if that were the case.

Whether or not we're steered away from a warranty claim by the dealer or "let's bring it in, it needs to be fixed" probably has a lot to do with how busy they are with the full-up $85 hr work. It'd be interesting to know how much dealers charge MOCO, though.
 
#30 ·
Fairing damage forensics

Just thinking out loud.... but suppose the repositioning of the fairing in 2010 (tilting down) was to correct the rubbing problem on the inside of the fairing described here. A side benefit was the ability to fit HD vented fairings. However, a slight air passage problem cropped up after tilting the fairing down and hence the development of the $29.95 FLTR wind deflectors as a quick fix.... all seems logical to me. :confused: :rolleyes: :eek:
 
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