for those who have easy brackets; installation question

[mario]

hey guys,
we're installing some saddlebags on my standard, getting ready for the hill country ride (woop!  ) and the front fender bolt bottoms out while trying to install the bolt for the easy bracket.  i called the rep and he said to get a bigger wrench and crank on it until it goes through the collapsible nut that's in there.  we don't want to crack/wreck the fender so just checking with the 'experts' on this collapsble nut.  ???

[Dodis]

Mario,

Just cross-posting for those that may not see the Texas posting...

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,33731.0.html

Mike "Dodis"

[Farther]

That's what I did when installing my Easy Brackets.  In hind sight it might have been better to get shorter bolts.  But I just kept on cranking until they broke through the nut cage.  If I ever go to the "Dark Side" I will probably have to grind the bolt ends down.

[Toledo Mark]

If I remember I think I cut my bolts shorter.  They were hardened steel.

[mario]

That's what I did when installing my Easy Brackets.  In hind sight it might have been better to get shorter bolts.  But I just kept on cranking until they broke through the nut cage.  If I ever go to the "Dark Side" I will probably have to grind the bolt ends down.

so that's where the nut cage is located....

[RonW]

If you remove one side fender rail at a time, you might not have an alignment problem, but still sometimes it'll take 2-hours to get the 2 bolts back in. You're suppose to snug down [edit] *insert the front bolt before the rear bolt. If this is making you shrug your shoulders you'll know what I'm talking about when or if the bolts don't go in as easily as they came off to your utter chagrin. pauljc45 has some pics of the fender rails and the 2 bolts for an unrelated mod here (Darkside Washer Mod). There are captions below the individual pics. Click on the thumbnail pics to enlarge. Disregard the 'shock bolt.'