Loose front fender

[Jer]

While washing the bugs off of the front of my fjr this morning I notice a loud rattle when the fender was moved. I was late leaving for the Golf Course so thought I would tighten the bolts when I got back from golf. I later found that the bolts were tight but the fender was loose. Any thoughts on this?

I remember someone wrote that he had solved the mysterious rattle coming from the front of the bike. To get to this rattle source requires raising the tank and removing the heat shield. I had considered doing this before leaving for South Dakota. I am not as good as searching as the forum search experts, so no results for my problem was found. I couldn't find the rattle solution I mentioned above.

 

[Fred W]

Jer,

The front fender has a flange bushing that is supposed to be behind the fender, inside the mounting surface of the fork. It is item #3 in the exploded parts diagram. Make sure that bushing is there and also the washer (#4) is on the outside, as those parts clamp the fender when the bolt is tightened. Also make sure that nobody swapped a wrong bolt in there that is too long and bottoms out in the blind hole before these parts are fully tight. The rear two bolts are "through bolts" and go completely through the nut clips

Hope that helps

(edit - fixed my link)

 

[Jer]

Thanks Fred. I will check it out tomorrow. I called the dealer that installed tires last summer and was told that they don't remove the fender for installation. He told me to bring it in and they would check it out. I had a slight rattle before, but this is much noisier.

Fred I went out and looked and apparently the bolt has to be removed and the fender pulled aside to see if the bushing is there?

 

[escapefjrtist]

<snip> I went out and looked and apparently the bolt has to be removed and the fender pulled aside to see if the bushing is there?

That's correct Jer. The flange is on the inside of the front fender. You could loosen the two front fender bolts, remove the back ones [assuming they're both there] and pivot the front of the fender down slightly to see the inserts.

--G

 

[Fred W]

Actually, if you just remove the bolt you should see the barrel part of the flange bushing, as that protrudes through the (larger) hole of the fender. Just wiggling the fender around while eyeballing it should tell you if this is where your looseness is.

 

[Jer]

George and Fred you two will probably be interested in my loose fender solution. I took a little ride this morning that ended at the dealer that sold me the bike. They had the bike in their shop for 30 minutes and solved the problem. I am still not sure of the cause, but they ended up installing a larger collar. They did not know what caused the problem other than the collar was too small. It was repaired at no charge.

Jer

 

[Fred W]

Ah, yes... the old defective collar problem...

Really?

In any case, glad that you got it sorted out, Jer. Ride on with no more fender vibes.

Though I think I heard that fender vibes save lives, or something like that.

 

[Jer]

Ah, yes... the old defective collar problem... Really?

In any case, glad that you got it sorted out, Jer. Ride on with no more fender vibes.

Though I think I heard that fender vibes save lives, or something like that.

Fred, I could have put up with the noise, but the neighbors were complaining and I was stopped by a cop for inadequate noise suppression.

 

[FJRay]

Just hit it with your putter Jer.

 

[Jer]

Just hit it with your putter Jer.

I would rather use a club long enough that I could get both hands on it.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Glad the problem's solved Jer...I'd hate to ride around making all that racket!

--G

 

[art miller]

Something is amuck here. If that fender was loose from new, the dealer put the front fender on the bike when assembly from the crate. If the wrong collar(?) was used it was because they put it on. Presume they are calling the flanges a collar. Anyway, glad it is fixed and the fender is not damaged.

 

[Jer]

Something is amuck here. If that fender was loose from new, the dealer put the front fender on the bike when assembly from the crate. If the wrong collar(?) was used it was because they put it on. Presume they are calling the flanges a collar. Anyway, glad it is fixed and the fender is not damaged.

A few days after the repair was made I got to thinking that there was a slight rattle from the time the bike was new. I never thought too much about it because my 07 had a slight rattling noise also, but this became much worse. No noises coming from the front now.

That is pobably why there was no charge for the repair.

I am sure you are right, Art.