1-1/4" Highway Engine Guard Crash Bar Protect Compatible with Harley Sportster 883 1200 Iron XL XR 48 72 2004-2021 for Softail Seventy Two Forty Eight Heavy Duty Upper Support Mustache

This bar is very robust. The mounting plates are welded on very well, and are 1/4” thick. Mounting wasn’t bad…I did have to put in the bottom bolts first and use the top engine mount bolts to “stretch” the bar to snug up against the frame.The bolts provided (1 1/4” chrome-plated socket heads) are not the right length for top or bottom. They are too long to use for the bottom bolts (they run into other frame elements), and they are too short to replace the top stock (1 1/2”) bolts, so I used 1 3/4” long (because of the additional thickness of the mounting plate) Grade 8 automotive bolts to connect to the top and 1” (you can also use 3/4” long) Grade 8 automotive bolts for the bottom bolts. All four bolts are 3/8”-16, available at Ace Hardware.If you check the installation instructions for the HD version of this bar, you will find that you should torque all four bolts to 25-35 ft. Lbs. I also used red Loctite.The footpads look like they are supposed to have something inserted through the holes in the tabs (see picture) to lock them in place, but the holes didn’t line up even with several attempts. Since these are too far away for my short legs anyway, I left them off. Planning to add foot pegs that I can mount lower.

Easy to install and looks great

Bought for my fiance's 2021 Iron 883 and fit fine.Here's your step by step install to ensure it goes easy:1. The rubber pads are a pain, heat them up with a hair dryer to loosen the rubber and put them on before putting the bars on your bike. Heat will really help you, otherwise I don't think it's possible to reach the last hole with the pin.2. Remove the horn (if you need to) just a couple screws with a T25 wrench3. Screw in the bottom part of the bars until snug, and push back the bars to stretch the bottom of the metal a little.4. Loosen those bottom lugs so that the top is easier to screw in.5. Screw in the top, then the bottom making sure everything's aligned nice.Step 4 is probably the most important step :) happy riding.

The bar itself is great! The little rubber pieces are hard to put on; slip out of place, and are too close together. If you want to put your feet up, add pegs to the bar.

For the money this guard is fantastic......however, the installation is somewhat of a nightmare. The bolt holes do line up which is always good but spreading the bottom portion of the guard takes some effort. It is at least 3 inches too narrow so you will need some way of spreading it apart to attach it. I employed my son to push it over with his foot while I started the bolt. So in summary, I started the top bolt and one of the bottom bolts before pushing it over for the last bottom bolt. Also it appears I will need to grind a notch into the brake pedal to allow the brake to be fully engaged. No biggie. So I saved a couple hundred by not buying one from Harley and for me the adjustments are well worth it. One last thing I have forward controls with pegs on my 12 Heritage Classic so I can't speak to fitment with floor boards.

Holes aren’t lined up, not worth the headache. Mounting plates aren’t straight

06 XL883L Sportster is my bike and this engine guard bolted up no problem. Everything lined up ect only problem we’re having. Is getting the pin to thread through the holes on the rubber foot pads.FYI. When you open the bolts package there is 2 long pins. They are for the rubber pads. lol since the rubber goes on last. You wonder what the pins are for. Well at least we did.

This bar is what you need if you’re in the market for one. The rubber grips are impossible to get on 100%. Either leave them off or put them on best you can like I did. (There’s a metal rod that slides through rubber 8 holes to close the circle. I got 6 of the 8, it works).