Tank side panel fitting

nickwst4 · Dec 5, 2020

Some while back, I posted a picture of the mod I made to be able to hold the thin sleeve-nut behind the lower front of the tank panel. This nut and the screw feed through a rubber double-grommet that is virtually impossible to install into the panel and the metal plate behind at the same time. Simple solution: cut the grommet into two pieces! The big bit stays in the plate and the outer end sits on the retaining screw, and the two cut sections come together as the screw and sleeve-nut are tightened. So much easier!

Nick

Araitim · Dec 5, 2020

That is exactly what I did. I HATED that nut. Absolutely HATED it. LOL. Made life so much easier.

gatdammit · Dec 6, 2020

It's not my least favorite. If you have everything else aligned, it wants to mate up. If you put the right pressure on the stop sign washer-nut, it hand tightens pretty secure, which gives me hope for roadside shenanigan's...though, I've had about the worst of roadside trauma and never had to remove the side fairings.

nickwst4 · Dec 7, 2020

Just to reiterate, in case the point was missed: I'd got the better of that nut already. It was the grommet that struck me as well-nigh impossible to fit correctly, but surgery has corrected that.

Maybe it's premature to say but the Eldor coil fitment has worked, insofar as the motor fired up nicely afterwards. I've learnt a lot about the HS and it's packaging foibles in the last few months, what with the starter motor and coil changes. It's a pity that the weather and the filthy roads around here mean I won't have the pleasure of riding the bike until Spring 2021, hopefully the year that sanity returns!

Nick, UK

Araitim · Dec 7, 2020

So we are all on the same page. I believe this is what we're are all talking about, correct? Cutting it in half made life so much easier.

nickwst4 · Dec 7, 2020

Yep, that's the little rubber devil! What were they thinking of, making it in one piece?

Nick

Araitim · Dec 7, 2020

It's such a pain. Not anymore though. Lol

gatdammit · Dec 9, 2020

I've honestly never had this problem in the 20+ times I've removed the fairings.

Araitim · Dec 9, 2020

gatdammit said:
I've honestly never had this problem in the 20+ times I've removed the fairings.

I believe we have had our bikes apart about the same amount. I did this after the 2nd time I had it apart a few years back. It was extremely frustrating and difficult for me. Maby yours is different but it is pressed fit into the dose planel and then you has to thread the other side through the steel tab on the frame side with little room for a hand. Having large hands and teaeing the bike down as often as I was, cutting this in 2 made life so much easier for me.

nickwst4 · Dec 9, 2020

Of course, it wouldn't be a problem if you just clamped the rubber up against the outside of the steel tab on the frame, rather than feed the rubber grommet into the slot in the steel tab as it appears to be designed to do. Perhaps that's the method used by those who find it very easy? Believe me; even small hands don't fit in easily behind that panel!

gatdammit · Dec 12, 2020

I'm almost certain my grommets stay in the fairing. I put the fairing back on, fish the large flange washer through the frame mount and into the fairing grommet, then just hold pressure against the washer with my fingers and tighten the hex bolt.

Tank side panel fitting

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