Tour Pack Cracked at the Hinges!

[Vod]

Hello, I apologize that this isn't really "off topic", but since I figure more than the Tri Glide uses the King tour pak, I wanted to ask this in the general forums.

I had just finished a few hour ride with some friends, and noticed that my tour pak had cracked right at the hinge. At first I thought it was just the paint, but upon further inspection, the crack goes through the entire box. After some expletives, we decided to drill a small hole at the bottom of the crack to hopefully keep it from expanding further.



The picture is pre drilled hole, and is dirty from the day's ride. I am guessing that I have to buy a new lower part of the tour pak, unless anyone here knows a way to fix it? Also, my question is, once I get it replaced, is there a way to keep this from happening again? I am assuming that the lid flexed it enough to break it, and maybe some vibration while riding it. The pak is from a 2014 Tri Glide, so it might just be aging. I have the stock tether on it, and had figured it was enough support for the lid, but maybe not, after seeing this. Will the cable tether from Harley keep this from happening on the next one I get? Or should I MacGuyver an aluminum plate on the next one to distribute the load?


Thanks for any responses. Also, if anyone wants to sell me a new lower tour pak piece for a 2014-2023, I am now in the market for one. Blackened Cayenne Sunglow if possible, if not, a friend of mine that has a few full custom bikes knows a good painter. I dunno the rules for requesting to buy a part outside of the trade section though.

 

[14TG]

Hello, I apologize that this isn't really "off topic", but since I figure more than the Tri Glide uses the King tour pak, I wanted to ask this in the general forums.

I had just finished a few hour ride with some friends, and noticed that my tour pak had cracked right at the hinge. At first I thought it was just the paint, but upon further inspection, the crack goes through the entire box. After some expletives, we decided to drill a small hole at the bottom of the crack to hopefully keep it from expanding further.

View attachment 133356

The picture is pre drilled hole, and is dirty from the day's ride. I am guessing that I have to buy a new lower part of the tour pak, unless anyone here knows a way to fix it? Also, my question is, once I get it replaced, is there a way to keep this from happening again? I am assuming that the lid flexed it enough to break it, and maybe some vibration while riding it. The pak is from a 2014 Tri Glide, so it might just be aging. I have the stock tether on it, and had figured it was enough support for the lid, but maybe not, after seeing this. Will the cable tether from Harley keep this from happening on the next one I get? Or should I MacGuyver an aluminum plate on the next one to distribute the load?


Thanks for any responses. Also, if anyone wants to sell me a new lower tour pak piece for a 2014-2023, I am now in the market for one. Blackened Cayenne Sunglow if possible, if not, a friend of mine that has a few full custom bikes knows a good painter. I dunno the rules for requesting to buy a part outside of the trade section though.

@Vod , unfortunately I’ve heard of this problem more than once. Personally, over the years, I’ve never had this experience, but it’s a problem that has indeed been blamed on the tether.

I’ve had aftermarket tour packs too (AdvanBlack makes a good one, among a few others), but I have always added a product from: eGlideGoodies and it’s called the ULTRA BRACE made for HD Tour Packs.
You can purchase direct, or JP Cycle & Dennis Kirk. I’ve also seen them on eBay, but have not seen them on Amazon.

Now: The price on this simple bracket/brace is $80.00.
Many (including myself) have looked long and hard and checked with local hardware stores to try to find this cheaper, but to no avail, we all came back to only buy this brace that seems to be a proprietary item.
But I will say, it works GREAT!!! And it keeps that Tour pack lid in place without overextending.
I still kept the OE tether on it, but is basically just useless now as the Ultra Brace takes over.

There are also YouTube videos on this too.
My best advice for you is to get the replacement Tour pack bottom (or buy a complete tour pack through the aftermarket) add this brace and you should not only be problem free, but you’ll like it!
This is also perfect for when you have some luggage/weight on that upper rack and will not twist or tweak the hinges either. Well worth it, in my opinion!

Pics of it on my 2014 Tri Glide tour pack.

 

[Rogue1]

I used the ultra brace also. You never know about that tether.

 

[Rogue1]

TG14, how did you get your liner to fit so well? I have one that looks just like it, Hog Works, but it doesn't fit as well as that one does.

 

[14TG]

TG14, how did you get your liner to fit so well? I have one that looks just like it, Hog Works, but it doesn't fit as well as that one does.

Hi Dale, hope all is well!
The liner in have is from AdvanBlack.
But what I also did, since they don’t give you enough “Velcro” to use, I bought a roll off Amazon (“Hook side only”) and lined about 90% both top & bottom….
Pics:


Then work the shape all the way around starting at one of the corners and push into all the “body lines” of the tour pack.
Also, in the past, some of the adhesive may start loosing its adhesion … so I always use an adhesion promoter too. (“Pro Bond” and 3M are the best, but prefer 3M).
I’ve done this on my last 3 bikes with same great results.

Amazon Link to the Velcro will help this:

https://a.co/d/e0Cg2v5

Amazon link to the 3M adhesion promoter:

https://a.co/d/epUN6bo

 

[Notgrownup]

Over time the flexing probably was a bit too much for the pak to handle. Peruse the web for a used one.

 

[Vod]

@Vod , unfortunately I’ve heard of this problem more than once. Personally, over the years, I’ve never had this experience, but it’s a problem that has indeed been blamed on the tether.

I’ve had aftermarket tour packs too (AdvanBlack makes a good one, among a few others), but I have always added a product from: eGlideGoodies and it’s called the ULTRA BRACE made for HD Tour Packs.
You can purchase direct, or JP Cycle & Dennis Kirk. I’ve also seen them on eBay, but have not seen them on Amazon.

Now: The price on this simple bracket/brace is $80.00.
Many (including myself) have looked long and hard and checked with local hardware stores to try to find this cheaper, but to no avail, we all came back to only buy this brace that seems to be a proprietary item.
But I will say, it works GREAT!!! And it keeps that Tour pack lid in place without overextending.
I still kept the OE tether on it, but is basically just useless now as the Ultra Brace takes over.

There are also YouTube videos on this too.
My best advice for you is to get the replacement Tour pack bottom (or buy a complete tour pack through the aftermarket) add this brace and you should not only be problem free, but you’ll like it!
This is also perfect for when you have some luggage/weight on that upper rack and will not twist or tweak the hinges either. Well worth it, in my opinion!

Pics of it on my 2014 Tri Glide tour pack.
View attachment 133357View attachment 133358View attachment 133359View attachment 133360

Thanks for the response, and with pics too. I'll check out that ultra brace for sure, but if it's 80+ bucks, I might see about fabricating something similar in my buddy's full on machine shop he has in his hangar with some extra material he has.

I was looking at aftermarket tour paks last night, and I'll probably just stick with an OEM one, as it will be much less expensive. Although, so far I have no seen any 14+ on FB or Ebay. My buddy knows a guy who owns a custom paint shop, that might have some laying around that I could probably get from him at friends and family discount.

 

[14TG]

Thanks for the response, and with pics too. I'll check out that ultra brace for sure, but if it's 80+ bucks, I might see about fabricating something similar in my buddy's full on machine shop he has in his hangar with some extra material he has.

I was looking at aftermarket tour paks last night, and I'll probably just stick with an OEM one, as it will be much less expensive. Although, so far I have no seen any 14+ on FB or Ebay. My buddy knows a guy who owns a custom paint shop, that might have some laying around that I could probably get from him at friends and family discount.

Sounds good! & glad to help.
I do see them frequently on FB groups, BUT most are scammers so high alert must be taken there!
(take a GOOD look at their profile).

 

[Trail boss]

Hello, I apologize that this isn't really "off topic", but since I figure more than the Tri Glide uses the King tour pak, I wanted to ask this in the general forums.

I had just finished a few hour ride with some friends, and noticed that my tour pak had cracked right at the hinge. At first I thought it was just the paint, but upon further inspection, the crack goes through the entire box. After some expletives, we decided to drill a small hole at the bottom of the crack to hopefully keep it from expanding further.

View attachment 133356

The picture is pre drilled hole, and is dirty from the day's ride. I am guessing that I have to buy a new lower part of the tour pak, unless anyone here knows a way to fix it? Also, my question is, once I get it replaced, is there a way to keep this from happening again? I am assuming that the lid flexed it enough to break it, and maybe some vibration while riding it. The pak is from a 2014 Tri Glide, so it might just be aging. I have the stock tether on it, and had figured it was enough support for the lid, but maybe not, after seeing this. Will the cable tether from Harley keep this from happening on the next one I get? Or should I MacGuyver an aluminum plate on the next one to distribute the load?


Thanks for any responses. Also, if anyone wants to sell me a new lower tour pak piece for a 2014-2023, I am now in the market for one. Blackened Cayenne Sunglow if possible, if not, a friend of mine that has a few full custom bikes knows a good painter. I dunno the rules for requesting to buy a part outside of the trade section though.

I made a little “T” post out of 1/2” PVC to prop the tour pack lid up. I don’t trust the hinges. When I get back to my trike I’ll post a pic of what I made.

 

[hardwickbv]

I also use the Ultra Brace in my tour pack.
My son in law got in the bike while I was not home to borrow my air pump that I keep in there to air up a tire for my wife on the lawn mower.

He was not trained in the function of the brace and closed the lid without pulling it out of the locked position bending the brace and shutting the lid not knowing what he had done.

When I found it I had trouble opening it. I then removed the brace but did not connect the strap. Figuring I could get by without it until I got a new brace in a couple days.

I went out day or two later to ride to work and forgot about the situation and snapped off the front hinge with a big chunk of the lower box and cracked the box on the back hinge.
I used JB weld to put it all back together with the new brace in place. It didn't look great but it has functioned without any issues.

The problem was even my TG is only a 2017 they have discontinued color matched boxes for it.

I was able to get an unpainted box from HD and got some matching paint from Colorite in an aerosol spray can, to paint it and also fix the front fender damaged from a rock that creased the paint when it rode up between the tire and the fender.


It took me 3 months to paint the box since I my pole barn doesn't have heat, and it was too cold to paint as it all happened in the winter.
Bottom line the JB weld and did not crack any more before I got the new one painted.

Bob

 

[JUSTME1951]

Hello, I apologize that this isn't really "off topic", but since I figure more than the Tri Glide uses the King tour pak, I wanted to ask this in the general forums.

I had just finished a few hour ride with some friends, and noticed that my tour pak had cracked right at the hinge. At first I thought it was just the paint, but upon further inspection, the crack goes through the entire box. After some expletives, we decided to drill a small hole at the bottom of the crack to hopefully keep it from expanding further.

View attachment 133356

The picture is pre drilled hole, and is dirty from the day's ride. I am guessing that I have to buy a new lower part of the tour pak, unless anyone here knows a way to fix it? Also, my question is, once I get it replaced, is there a way to keep this from happening again? I am assuming that the lid flexed it enough to break it, and maybe some vibration while riding it. The pak is from a 2014 Tri Glide, so it might just be aging. I have the stock tether on it, and had figured it was enough support for the lid, but maybe not, after seeing this. Will the cable tether from Harley keep this from happening on the next one I get? Or should I MacGuyver an aluminum plate on the next one to distribute the load?


Thanks for any responses. Also, if anyone wants to sell me a new lower tour pak piece for a 2014-2023, I am now in the market for one. Blackened Cayenne Sunglow if possible, if not, a friend of mine that has a few full custom bikes knows a good painter. I dunno the rules for requesting to buy a part outside of the trade section though.

In regards to the tether: the "wire" itself is strong enough but the connection at the box is a break in waiting. I installed a backup tether made out of 80lb fishing line. Cant imagine the damage when the hd tether breaks. The lid is heavy if you have a rack and flag mounts....

Just babbling

Ride safe