[Red Beard]

The short version: the holes on my brackets don't line up with the holes on the bike

As you can see it isn't much but its enough the bolt wont go in.
The long version: After 13 weeks my aluminum bags and brackets finally came in. I know I shouldn't complain about 13 weeks seeing how long others on here have had to wait. My disappointment comes from being quoted 6 weeks for arrival and it taking twice that with no communication or updates from the dealer.
I finally brought them home yesterday and spent 3 hours today trying and failing to get the right side bracket to fit. For anyone interested I think I could have done this job in 30min. if everything lined up properly and harley-davidson says it takes 1.5 hours in the instructions. Since I couldn't get it I called my dealer and asked for help. They said they would get it installed but would have to charge me for it. When I asked how much they said 3 hours of labor. To bend the bracket and install 1 bolt? Not worth it. I could return it but don't want to wait another 13 weeks for a replacement which may not fit either. If anyone has advice on how I can bend it enough to fit I'd really appreciate it. Also if it involves tools I don't own it would still probably be cheaper to buy the tools than pay for 3 hours of labor. I've tried a hammer, clamps, and muscles and so far muscles seem to be the best. My current plan is to have my brother for another set of hands and see if we can pull it into place.

 

[Dozer]

Are the rest of the bolts loose? Can you take another bolt out and get that bolt started? Maybe you’ll have better leverage bending the bracket slightly to get another bolt installed instead of that one. Worse comes to worse maybe enlarge the hole slightly.

 

[Red Beard]

Yes the other bolts weren't tight. I did try them in a different order but with that one in before the two by the foot peg I couldn't get either of the bolts by the peg in. As it is I struggled to get the bolts in the peg and the one under the seat that I did end up getting. The one that's missing isn't to far off so widening the hole might be perfect. Thanks

 

[Skittlemac]

The short version: the holes on my brackets don't line up with the holes on the bike View attachment 1632 As you can see it isn't much but its enough the bolt wont go in.
The long version: After 13 weeks my aluminum bags and brackets finally came in. I know I shouldn't complain about 13 weeks seeing how long others on here have had to wait. My disappointment comes from being quoted 6 weeks for arrival and it taking twice that with no communication or updates from the dealer.
I finally brought them home yesterday and spent 3 hours today trying and failing to get the right side bracket to fit. For anyone interested I think I could have done this job in 30min. if everything lined up properly and harley-davidson says it takes 1.5 hours in the instructions. Since I couldn't get it I called my dealer and asked for help. They said they would get it installed but would have to charge me for it. When I asked how much they said 3 hours of labor. To bend the bracket and install 1 bolt? Not worth it. I could return it but don't want to wait another 13 weeks for a replacement which may not fit either. If anyone has advice on how I can bend it enough to fit I'd really appreciate it. Also if it involves tools I don't own it would still probably be cheaper to buy the tools than pay for 3 hours of labor. I've tried a hammer, clamps, and muscles and so far muscles seem to be the best. My current plan is to have my brother for another set of hands and see if we can pull it into place.

Def. I feel your pain, been there, done that. The issue resolved for me when trying to bolt everything up in a myriad of different sequences and also loosening everything possible to the greatest degree but with threads holding on both sides of the bike and at the back of the rack for the Top Case (keep everything way loose as threads finally start to catch). Also I used some big ass ratchet straps to move stuff around (there's no way I can explain how to do it, but it worked). Also, one socket did get stripped out even when I thought it was perfect. But I easily recovered those threads with a metric M8 bottom tap. You'll get it, and it's worth the effort. SW-Motech knows what they're doing. Bike a nice day, knee caps in the wind.