Hi All,

On my 2014 Sportster had the upper belt guard brake/snap just where the rear shock bolt is back in Dec 15. Harley replaced under warranty and now just yesterday bang same again in pretty much the same place.  Took it into Harley and they will order one in and I hope it is under warranty again.  So posting this for info and to see if anyone else has had the same thing happen?

Main concern is that this is going to keep happening.  I do a lot of k's.  So far getting about 10-15'000 k's per belt guard.  IF they stop replacing it under warranty thinking about welding another tab over the same place to make it stronger.

If it isn't happening to other people I'd be more concerned with why it's happening to your bike, than just doing a band-aid fix.

Do you happen to have a photo of the break?

the belt guard was the first thing I took of my bike back to 2006 , they look much better without it, Did the same thing with me first Dragster Push Bike back in 1972

What length shocks are you running? Have you checked whether the belt guard is hitting the oil bag at full bump? Maybe you need to up the preload on the rear as a simple fix?

To drop in as a Dyna vice Sposter rider, for reference my belt guard busted due to a combination of being over-tight from purchase and whacking against the rear fender a couple of times on a big trip (crap roads and and even worse stock HD suspension).

Solution = making sure it is installed properly and save for better suspension. BTW - HD was good to replace mine and fix the damage caused. No complaints with the service received on that score, they have looked out for me.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. 

I too am concerned as to why, however when I asked the guys at Harley they hadn't seen it before until I reimded them this is my 2nd one.  They then went on to say other branches had them in stock which they reckon suggest there might be an issue with them.  The first one broke with the standard shocks on it. the 2nd 80% with standard shocks but recently changed them to JBS as I was sick of the pain in my back from the standard shit shocks.  I fitted them myself and torqued them as per the workshop manual. The steel looks shit (bad colour) and suggest it shit steel from China.  I've seen a lot of broken steel over the years and this looks dirty i.e low grade steel.  Its possible it broke a while ago and the nut kept it together and thats why it looks dirty.  The other one broke above the bolt and was rubbing on my rear belt drive.  This one started making a rattle noise the other day on a short ride.  I had washed and polished it the day before and it was solid.  When I got home I checked the exhaust first as I had just installed quite baffles so I assumed a worm drive had come loose on the heat shield but found hte broken belt guard instead.

Im with Walka it looks better off but not sure if this adds to the items the boys in blue will pick on whne and if they pull me up.

On a side note what shocks are you running and what are they like?

Mate, can you confirm that the belt guard wasn't coming into contact with anything else on the bike (i.e. above the guard) during normal suspension movement? If you run your hand over things you should feel it if it banged into anything. That rear sprocket looks shocking ... mine is currently the same.

2015 model. Everything is made to a price these days.

Well good one Harley Heaven, they supplied a new one FOC and fitted it as well. Lets see how long this one lasts.

Can't remember now if the '86 Softy had a lower guard originally but the top one let go from metal fatigue at the last fuel stop after riding around Oz. Shit myself at first with all the banging and clattering coming from the rear. Just ripped the remains off, never bothered replacing it. 

So number 4 has broken in the same place.  Dropped the broken one off to HH last night so will see what happens.  A few comments from the service guys, "must be vibrating" my reply "show me a sporty that doesn't". HH "oh well it will be the V&H short shots and the stage 3 making it vibrate more". me "um all Harleys vibrate, maybe the design is wrong or it's shit steel, or mounting it on the shock bolt adds to the problem"  Anyway will wait to see what they come back with.