Not sure what's going on. Walked past the Road King project earlier and noticed the nacelle sides weren't fitting correctly to each other at the bottom. Had not yet bolted the fork lock to frame so did that to see what else might not line up. Also handled the handlebar cover as if to actually install it rather than simply laying it in place for an appearance check. Something is wrong here top to bottom.
The nacelle halves mate (not perfectly, but relatively well) on the bench. On the trees, however there is roughly a 3/8" gap at the bottom where the locating pin from one half aligns with the other half.
The handlebar cover (actually, covers, tried three different covers and all had the same problem) won't slide down over the top of the nacelle. This problem is the same whether the nacelle is on the bench or on the bike.
Thinking the added thickness of the powder coat might be causing a problem for the handlebar cover I removed powder coat on the vertical areas that would be behind the handlebar cover. Could then with only moderate force push the handlebar covers down on the nacelle. With the handlebar cover fully seated on the bike, however, it is an 1/8" too much to the rear and 3/8" too high to line up with the fork lock.
The handlebar covers I have (none of which fit) are part numbers from-97, -02, -08. So cover the range with those. None fit the nacelles well.
The trees don't in any way appear to be the issue. Problem is, or at least appears to be, in the nacelle. A little homework the last half hour showed:
Harley offers a generic nacelle kit (46547-03a) with a fitment description of 94 and up. That is, however, nacelle halves, handlebar cover and spear all as a mated set.
If one looks up the nacelle halves for an 01 Road King the part number given is a -94 number and comes with a description that reads "replacement for 94-02." Looking up the current part number for an 02 model actually gives -03 nacelle part numbers. That -03 nacelle part number is then good to the current year models.
So.....
Harley offers a generic complete nacelle kit intended to fit all Road King 94 and up.
Harley also offers specific replacement halves for 94-02 and 02/03 and up.
Does anyone know the difference between the early and later versions of those nacelle halves? Since I've got early and later handlebar covers it seems something should fit. Or at least set down.
The fork lock is the same -94 part number from 94 up. So no difference there leading to the lack of fit.
The red powder coated nacelles currently using are -03 and were on the bike when I got it. Though there was no handlebar cover on it when I brought the bike home. So I don't have the matched set that came on it to begin with.
I don't know if the nacelle halves I'm using deformed some in the powder coat bake process, if I've got some mismatched parts or if it's some combination of the above. Anything anyone knows with any specificity about the differences in different year nacelle parts will be greatly appreciated.
Author
Topic: Anyone familiar with differences in Road King headlight nacelles? (Read 6988 times)