It was 1996. It was 5:00 in the morning. My bike was packed and I was heading for Sturgis. I had about 1/4 tank of gas. Usually the tank was full as one of the many checklist preparation items to ensure a great start to a 1,200-mile journey. I ran out of time so my intention was to hit the first gas station on the interstate and fill up. There was no such thing as tapping a credit card back then so I had to get off the bike and go inside the station to pay each time.
When I walked back to my bike I saw something scary that had the potential to end my trip before it started. One of the shocks was hanging down underneath the Softail Custom. The shocks on a Softail are parallel to the ground, hidden underneath the bike to give it the look of a “hardtail”. The V-shaped swing arm that holds the rear wheel axel has the look of an old-style motorcycle before they put rear shocks on them – kind of like a bicycle. The shocks are attached to the swing arm at one end and the frame at the other, tucked under the bike and out of view.
I turned around and headed for home. I wasn’t about to start this trip with half my rear suspension. I put the bike on my lift and inspected the shock. Numbers 5 and 6 in the image below were missing and the thread they were on was damaged, causing the shock to hang down from the frame.
I was puzzled as to how this could’ve happened because it was good when I left and I didn’t hit any large bumps – at least none that would cause damage like that. I removed the shock, went back to sleep and set my alarm for 8:30. The Harley dealership opened at 9:00. I was waiting at the doors with shock in hand when they opened. Then I heard the words from the parts counter guy that you never want to hear when you’re trying to fix your bike during riding season, especially when you’re trying to leave on a trip.
“We don’ have any in stock, but we can order you one.”
The look of disappointment on my face caused him to rethink his answer.
“Just hang on, I might have a used one in the back,” he said. He returned with a replacement shock in his hand. “Here you go,” he said, and handed me the shock with the cup washer and locknut attached.
“How much?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Nobody’s here. Just settle up with us when you get back from your trip.”
I went home, installed the shock, and set off for Sturgis, five hours behind schedule. I was content with the delay, since it all worked out. It could’ve been much, much worse. The excitement of overcoming that obstacle in record time, the luck of the dealer having a used shock in perfect condition, and the anticipation of the week ahead with nothing to do but ride had me focused and in the zone, blowing through several gas stops before taking a bathroom and coffee break.
I ended up pulling into the Dakota Spirit campground about 25 hours after I left, with a 3-hour nap in a truckers’ lounge. I unloaded my bike, set up my tent, and crawled inside for another two-hour nap in the late morning sun. I awoke from my deep sleep to the sound of someone unzipping my tent, and a buddy sticking his head in yelling “You made it. I wasn’t sure if you were coming.” I smiled and went back to sleep.
Let’s Ride
When I got up I had a long, hot shower and changed into clean clothes. I grabbed something to eat at the campground bar while I sipped on a large coffee. A couple of friends picked up my tent with everything in it and walked it about 100 yards away, then set it down next to where they were camped. I rode over. I preferred to travel alone so I could ride as many miles as I felt like, stop when I wanted, and get back on the bike on my timeline. There was too much of what I call “hurry up and wait” when traveling with a group. But the main reason is that I only had a week off work. I didn’t have a couple of days for travel to tack on to each end of the trip.
The “I wasn’t sure if you were coming” comment was because my plans were loose and I hadn’t confirmed my intentions with the group before they left. There was no way to communicate with each other except in person. Cell phones hadn’t gone mainstream yet. We all did what we came there to do and went riding.
The next day I got smacked in the face with deja vu, only this was a repetition of reality. As I walked toward my bike after paying for gas, I saw the same shock hanging down under my bike. Upon further inspection I realized the damage was exactly the same. There was no use trying to find a replacement shock again. Something was obviously wrong that was causing damage to the shock. I zip-tied the shock to the frame so it wouldn’t hang down and hoped the other one wouldn’t meet the same fate in transit, which would be disastrous.
I’ll take it easy for the rest of the week and if I still have one shock at the end of the week I’ll ride home, I thought to myself. In the meantime, I asked a lot of people, including motorcycle mechanics, if they had any ideas about what caused this but they all came up empty. The bike didn’t feel any different with an inoperable rear shock. I enjoyed the rest of the week riding around the Black Hills with no other suspension related issues. I had another issue with the “magic box” quitting on me. This is the voltage regulator mounted to the front of the frame. There was a motorcycle shop on the Interstate service road behind the campground. I was able to push my bike there and get it diagnosed and repaired.
The magic box failure and repair caused me problems on the ride home. But I’m going to skip that for now because that’s another story in itself, which I will write about in my next post. I now fast forward to after the trip, safely home.
The Right Call Got An Instant Answer
I asked several mechanics and Harley aficionados about the shock absorber damage but nobody had an answer. The softail was a “rebuild”. The previous owner had bought an aftermarket frame and added the rest of the Harley parts to it. Although it was 90% Harley, the title had the name of the frame building company. I knew the previous owner, who had built other bikes with aftermarket frames, and sometimes aftermarket S&S motors, with no issues.
I had another friend who had built several custom motorcycles for himself, for others, and to sell. His hobby and his passion had turned into a lucrative “side hustle”. He also built complete custom order Harley wiring harnesses from scratch to sell for profit. They were very expensive to buy from the dealers. While not a licensed mechanic himself, he seemed to know more about Harleys than anybody, including the mechanics that worked for the dealerships.
Everybody who rides needs a connection like this guy. I happen to be lucky enough to know four such characters.
I called him up. He knew my bike and knew who built it. He instantly diagnosed the problem. After I provided the information, our conversation went like this:
Him: “Let me ask you this. The bolts that hold the motor to the frame, they are Allen bolts with nuts at the other end. Are the Allen heads at the top or the bottom?”
Me (stretching the spiral landline telephone cord out into the garage so I could see): “They are at the top.”
Him: “There’s your problem. They are upside down. For that year the Allen bolts go from bottom to top, and the nuts go on top. When you reverse that, one of the nuts gets in the way of the shock and destroys it as soon as you hit a bump.”
Me: “Wow, thanks. That makes total sense.”
Sure enough, the end of the motor mount bolt and nut were damaged and I could see that there wouldn’t be enough clearance to clear the nut when the shock compressed. Back to the dealer for the other shock in the pair, and a new motor mount bolt and nut. I replaced the damage nut and bolt, reversed the remaining ones, and torqued them down to spec.
I was very lucky that only one of the shocks had the clearance issue when the bolts were upside down.