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Loose Apes on FXD

Now that I stepped down from my tall handle bar soapbox.....

the 03 touring service manual states:

1) tighten front screws until upper & lower clamps make contact.

2) tighten rear screws to 12-16 ft-lbs

3) tighten front screws to 12-16 ft-lbs

Note:
a slight gap will exist between upper & lower clamps at the rear of the handle bars after tightening.

If your screws are 5/16-18 I think it would be similar. Best to check your bikes manual tho.

Maybe this helps..??
 
Cut a small strip of soft drink/beer can to lie in the bottom clamp and trim the width and length to cover the lower cradle. This will allow for more clamp pressure and contact. If not enough add another shim.
 
kdaddy said:
Cut a small strip of soft drink/beer can to lie in the bottom clamp and trim the width and length to cover the lower cradle. This will allow for more clamp pressure and contact. If not enough add another shim.
Click to expand...

Great idea, and probably the best. Use the bolt tightening sequence as mentioned above.

This was covered as the solution in Robert Persig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."
 
I appreciate all the input, I also agree with the fact that knurling is a process that deforms the surface of an object and causes raised ridges. using a dremel would not
create new raised ridges, just cut grooves. I certainly would love to just buy new bars and install them, but there is the cost that I'm not yet ready to spend. I may try some form of a thin shim to give me a bit more bite/pressure. I had also been told (H-D Service writer) to get the clamp area of the bars out of round (Create a slight oval) in one direction, which would create more pressure but only in one direction. Don't really like this approach since it won't be a good clamp around the full surface.

Thanks Everyone! I really appreciate the feedback!
 
Update on the loose apes on my FXD. I found an interesting fix. While strolling through my local big box home repair store looking for some really thin metal and not having much luck, I came across an area in the fasters isle that had these thin metal strips made of S.S. that had double sided diamond shaped perferations. They are meant to be cut and shoved into stripped holes the get a screw to bit again. It was only a few bucks so I bought the pack (8 pcs.). For starters, I put one in a vice to see if I could flatten out the rough ridges. I really cranked on the vice and good news the ridges were still there! So I pre-curved one for each side of the bar clamp bottoms. It fit perfectly and once I followed the torque insstruction in my H-D manual my
12" apes are now solid! No movement! Problem Solved!
Hopefully this may help someone else! :D
 
Bklim imo the best way to fix loose bars is to take some fine metal mesh cut the right size to wrap around your bars and then tighten riser cap as you would with new bars you will never have a problem again with loose bars!
Guess should have read all the posts so you found the exact fix I have been using for years lol anyways nice job!
 
:60:

Next Time Use The Proper Tool.....

Loose APES need a Monkey Wrench to tighten them down....:D

signed....BUBBIE
 
Bklim said:
Update on the loose apes on my FXD. I found an interesting fix. While strolling through my local big box home repair store looking for some really thin metal and not having much luck, I came across an area in the fasters isle that had these thin metal strips made of S.S. that had double sided diamond shaped perferations. They are meant to be cut and shoved into stripped holes the get a screw to bit again. It was only a few bucks so I bought the pack (8 pcs.). For starters, I put one in a vice to see if I could flatten out the rough ridges. I really cranked on the vice and good news the ridges were still there! So I pre-curved one for each side of the bar clamp bottoms. It fit perfectly and once I followed the torque insstruction in my H-D manual my
12" apes are now solid! No movement! Problem Solved!
Hopefully this may help someone else! :D
Click to expand...


Nice find! I like that they are S.S. also.
Glad you found a good fix at the right price.
 
Monkey Wrench

Brian
 

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