Like most cruisers, the Honda Shadow has a wide range of accessories and upgraded parts available from both Honda and third-party manufacturers. Among these is the nearly ubiquitous passenger backrest -- otherwise known as the sissy bar. In most cases, regardless of whom you buy the part from, the sissy bar bolts into the mounting rail that is built into the bike. The leather pads that most people want on their sissy bars may or may not be sold separately, but in almost all cases they aren't installed on the sissy bar out of the box, so that has to be installed as well.
Unbolt the passenger seat (or the entire seat, if it is a single-piece seat) from the mount point on the rear fender. If it is a single-piece seat, there should also be two side bolts underneath where the seat curves down for the driver; remove them as well. Set all pieces aside.
Remove the rearmost two bolts on both of the fender stays.
Line up the sissy bar with the bolt points on the fender stay.
Fasten the front two bolts through the sissy bar back into the fender. If the bolts are not long enough, most hardware stores sell chromed metric bolts.
Make sure the sissy bar is lined up with the fender stays, and fasten the rear two bolts into the fender.
Tighten all four bolts. Do not over-tighten as this may strip the bolts.
Reinstall the passenger seat (or if you have a single-piece seat, the entire seat).
Line up the seat pad with the mounting holes on the sissy bar.
Insert the top bolt first, and tighten it until it keeps the seat pad in place. Make sure not to over-tighten; you should be able to move the seat around a bit.
Insert the two lower bolts.
Line up the seat so that the sides are parallel with the sides of the sissy bar.
Tighten all three bolts.
