XR650L front axle pinch bolt broke! *&%^$!

[sgifford]

I was feeling pretty good as I was finishing up adjusting the valves and changing the fork oil. I'm torqueing everything down and things are going fine.

I go to tighten the axle pinch bolts and I get nervous because the wrench seems to be spinning to far. I'm sure (wrong!) I've got the wrench set to the right value, so I back the nut off and retry it. SNAP!, and a very sick feeling! ?

After I got past the sick feeling, I discover that I read the wrong torque value. The wrench was set to 20ft lb for the fork clamps, rather than 9 for the pinch bolts. ?

The schematic on bikebandit.com seems to show the bolts are pieces that can be bought/replaced individually. I'm hoping that's the case and I don't have to replace the left slider.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Seldon

[savageracing]

I Have Done It On My Older Bikes. They Just Thread Into The Fork Tube. I Got Some Grade 8 Studs At The Local Auto Parts Store And Good To Go. You Might Need To Use An Easy Out On It If You Can't Get A Pair Of Vice Grips On Them

[BWB63]

They also sell the studs at your local Ace Hardwear store. I stocked up on most of the common bolts from the hardear store for a lot lower price the the MC shop and get a higher quality bolt, nut or stud. Remember to tighten the top two first and then the bottom two back and forth between the two bottom ones till they are close to 8 pounds

[sgifford]

Well, no luck so far getting it out. I've tried heating up the area with a torch and backing the stud out with vice-grips. No-go.

I've drilled into the bolt and tried backing it out with an extractor bit, but there's so much resistance the extractor bit is just spinning in the drill.

Grrr

[savageracing]

Use The Extractor Bit By Hand And Tap It Into The Hole With A Hammer To Get It To Bite.

[sgifford]

Well, things have gone from bad to worse. I've used an extractor bit several times successfully before, but I guess I've never had a bolt as frozen as this one. I managed to break the extractor bit off in the hole I drilled. ?

My final plan of action, before I break down and take the fork to a mechanic, is to hope that WD40 will do its magic. (I probably should have done this to start.) I'm going to let the bolt soak in WD40 until Monday evening. Then I'll heat up the area and try to remove the bolt with vice-grips.

WD40 has worked magic for me before, I hope it will do it this time.

When I finally get it out, is there any reason I need to use another stud? Or can I just use a hex-head bolt of the appropriate size?

Thanks for the feedback.

Seldon

[BWB63]

The only reason you use a stud, is to cover-up that you broke your stud like everyone else ?

[mountainrider]

Sounds like you need to drill and tap and install a Heli-Coil.They work great and it is easy to do. ?

[sgifford]

I've never done that before. Does 'drill and tap' mean drilling the remains of the stud out, rethreading the hole (tap), then installing the Heli-Coil? If I were to do that, I guess it would make sense to just cut the stud off so I don't have to drill through as much?

I'm going to give the WD40 a shot first. I had a KTM 520 once with a seized chain-adjuster bolt (notorious problem on those bikes). I had to drill a tiny hole in the swing-arm, spray a bunch of WD40 in the swingarm, then raise the front of the bike way up in the air and leave it there for 3 days. After three days of the bolt soaking in WD40 I was able to turn it.

[mountainrider]

I've never done that before. Does 'drill and tap' mean drilling the remains of the stud out, rethreading the hole (tap), then installing the Heli-Coil? If I were to do that, I guess it would make sense to just cut the stud off so I don't have to drill through as much?

That is what it takes.

I'm going to give the WD40 a shot first. I had a KTM 520 once with a seized chain-adjuster bolt (notorious problem on those bikes). I had to drill a tiny hole in the swing-arm, spray a bunch of WD40 in the swingarm, then raise the front of the bike way up in the air and leave it there for 3 days. After three days of the bolt soaking in WD40 I was able to turn it.

I do not think the WD 40 will work this time.They make a left hand drill bit that might take it out.I have used them several times and the bolts will screw right out.Most people do not even know that they make drills bits that work backwards.

[sgifford]

Are you referring to an actual 'drill-bit' that turns left-handed? The extractor bit I used turns counter-clockwise, but it isn't intended to drill, but rather to bite into the bolt/stud and back it out.

Seldon

[mountainrider]

Are you referring to an actual 'drill-bit' that turns left-handed? The extractor bit I used turns counter-clockwise, but it isn't intended to drill, but rather to bite into the bolt/stud and back it out.

Seldon

Yes a drill bit.They work great while it is drilling counterclockwise it is also working the bolt loose.

[MotoChris521]

If you broke off the extractor in the stud,your not going to be able to drill into the extractor.Instead of WD , try to find some P.B.Blaster.That stuff really works.

[XR4DEZ]

That stud is glued in pretty well. I did the same as you with the torch and visegrips and it came out. I had to fix 3 of em that my nephew broke,seems it took him three tries to figure out he was tightening and not loosening.Got a buddy who is a machinist?Mine has saved my butt many a time.Most of the time it's such an easy fix for them,10- 20 bucks will get you on the trail again.

[savageracing]

If You Broke The Easy Out Off In The Fork, Good Luck Drilling It Out. They Are Hardened And Usually Harder Than Your Drill Bits. You May Need To Take It To A Machine Shop With An Edm Machine And They Can Bore It Out That Way. It Uses Electricity To Bore The Hole. It Is Very Precise.

[sgifford]

Yesss! ???

I don't know if it was the 32 hours of WD40, or the 10 hours of PB Blaster, but the studs came right out tonight. I heated the slider near the studs for about 10 seconds, grabbed the stud with the vice-grips, and it came loose easily. What a relief.

I took all 4 studs out because I was afraid I had weakened the others by torqueing them too high.

I'll get replacements tomorrow and be back up and going!

Thanks for all the feedback.

[XR4DEZ]

Glad for ya dude!

[NORTEXED]

Also next time (a little late now), try some Liquid Wrench, and heat gently with a propane torch, and then squirt the Liquid Wrench on it. The cappilary action will suck it in. Also, Liquid Wrench has graphite in it also which stays behind after the volitile carrier evaporates. My Dad restored old single cylinder engines for a hobby, and it freed up some pistons that had been siezed for 50-60 years that I would have sworn were hopeless, but they turned loose after 8-10 cycles of heating and cooling over a week or so.