When I worked in body shops we used wide masking tape & stuck several layers on when we were working around paint we could afford to scrape up. Maybe you can keep from making it any worse? Sorry about the hassles.I have no clue how to help with anything more than the tape idea. Good Luck..

Thanks for the replys

This is for a 2006 and has the right part number on the box.

For lack of a better term.........I removed the left and right stock chrome fender struts / braces ( which are wider than the  replacements) and loosely bolted on the new ones. This is pretty simple with just two bolts in the front of each with a chrome nut and one on each from the inside of fender into the brace.

Problem is when you try to slide the sissy bar down into the struts it binds up big time. Wants to pinch the living crap out of the turn signal wire ( re-routed those three time too) and will NOT slide the whole way down in so you can bolt from the bottom of brace and then from the sides as the holes indicate.

Since  I think that all the hardware is not in the bags anyway (missing the emblem and a couple tape ties) I think it's made wrong and was returned. Short of fileing or bending the brackets or bar I'm at a loss, but going to try again.

Was hoping I was missing something (on procedure), but it doesn't look that hard to do this.

Yes there are two bolts that go underneath and two from the inside of the rail. Picture in the Clymer manual looks about right . I did try both loose bolts and tight options

Don't quite understand why they give ya two sets of inside holes on the rail. Would think it would be to give ya two height options, but then theer would be no way to bolt the bottom.

May try as all one unit as I did not try that yet, but would think that would lead to some big time scratches if not going well. I've tried to treat it like nitro and still ended up with some scatches.

also why it is good to have a bunch of people on this site who are so free with advice...

got a picture?

Ma,. when it goes bad, it goes all the way.. Bummer.

Sucks you had such a hard time getting it together. When I got my '87, the old man I got it from didn't like the sissy bar because it was in his way swinging his leg over. Removing and saving the bar seemed like too much hassle to him; because the screws are hard to get to, so he just took a hack saw to it! I bet after about a half hour on the hacksaw he was thinking taking the bolts out would have been easier (and it would be). Anyways, here's what one looks like cut off:


I got my new/used bar on by only loosening bolts and working the parts around, but I've had many, many years
of experience or mechanical assembly, and making things that don't want to fit go together anyways. And I admit this was a bit of a tough one. I probably wrestled the thing for 30 minutes with all bolts loose, before I could begin to tighten anything up. Probably would have been better off to take it all off and do it from scratch as Greg suggested, but I figured there was more chance of scratching things up that way. And I'd have felt compelled to tape the fender sides as another poster recommended.

At any rate, on some assembly jobs it just pays to "bite the bullet" and start from step #1 instead of just loosening things and working from the middle of the procedure. Live and learn still applies after wrenching all your life.