Sissy bar struts install

[DragonStang]

I know this is kind of dumb and easy to do but I was curious if there was a write up of how to properly do this. I just don't want to mess anything up. I've seen in a couple posts where people have had problems with removing the tail lights.
Do any of you have any tips and tricks to changing these out?
I just don't want to break anything and wanna get this done.
I looked in the forum for a how to but didn't find one surprisingly.
Figured this would be common seeing as there are foot peg how to walkthroughs.
I know and have the Allen wrenches for the main bolts.

Thanks in advance

 

[pknowles]

do you have a service manual. if not there's a copy floating around here.

 

[firedog19]

the only issue I had was the taillight mounting. I drilled the threads out of the light housing and ran the bolt from the inside out with the nut on the inside of the fender. The rest is pretty straight forward

 

[woodbutcher]

just make sure the bolt isn't so long that it will cut into the tire. and make sure the wires that are run inside the fender cannot get up against the tire.

 

[firedog19]

Because of the extra width of the struts this is not an issue. Its been 2 years since I did the install but as I now recall the struts are tapped for the bolt which because of the extra width will not go all the way through to the fender. That is why I drilled out the threads in the housing and ran the hollow bolt from the inside and into the strut.

 

[DragonStang]

Ah, gotcha, you ran a hollow bolt. I was sitting here reading this like "how the hell did you run the wires with a bolt in there???" Lol

 

[stlmikie]

If you don't have the tools or space you can bring it over here and knock it out.

 

[firedog19]

There is already a hollow bolt in there you just have to run it the other way it takes a little finking to get the wires through but you can do it

 

[Rex Winters]

Not tough at all. I changed my 06 K-9 to 07 struts for the sissy bar and it was really simple. YOU CAN DO IT!!

 

[DragonStang]

Mike I might do that. Of course right now the bike won't start. New battery, new plugs, it cranks and cranks and cranks but won't fire.
My buddy is supposed to come look at it.

On the sissy bar how the hell do I disconnect the wiring running through the hollow bolt???
And naturally I have standard Alan wrenches and not metric.
Been a very disappointing day.

 

[LamboV12]

I’ve done my 06 K9 several times, but it’s been a while. Don’t know if 04 is similar.

Pull the seat. You‘ll see the 2 wires from each side and they come together as one wire, like a “Y”. Follow the single wire toward the battery and you should see a quick disconnect on the single wire, now you can pull the struts with lamps in place.

Get a towel to put over the fender if you are doing this alone – as I pulled the both of them at the same time with the wiring still in them.

Unbolt the struts with lamps attached. Have a large soft towel or carpet around to lay the struts down on, good side down or should I see the inside of the struts with the wires in them facing up.

Remove wires – This is where you have to be careful, or at least on mine there is a “groove” inside the struts where you place the wires in. This is there so you can mount the struts flush to the fenders with no gaps or pinch the wires. On mine, there was some kind of clear silicone or something that I had to carefully cut to remove the wires.

Now place new wires inside your new struts. Make sure the old strut bolts are Ok with length, as someone previously mentioned, you don’t want the bolt to hit the tire. On K9 BDM used 2 styles with different widths (prob diff vendors) and I remember I needed new bolts – got them from a local Fastenal store.

When you put in the wires inside the strut groove, put some tape there to keep the wire in the hole (you’ll understand this when you do it, but they will want to move around). Then mount and your good to go.

Easier to do than to explain – sorry for typos on tablet.

 

[DragonStang]

Thank you! Figured there had to be something simple I was missing. On mine the wires run inside the fender so will have to see how they are mounted. Dunno if I have to take the fender off or not :/
Probably do. Hmm...
I know the style of bars changed later on.

 

[LamboV12]

Yes - i did it that way before also. Just two bolts to lull the fender then move everything off