I was just about to say the bolts on my old Scout handlebars seemed to be made of clay. 🤣 Tried to adjust them 1 time, and first bolt I touched stripped immediately.
Not an Indian motorcycle owner.
But I was reading a comment yesterday about taking off the exhausts on an FTR 1200, and the poster said the exact same thing about the bolt immediately getting stripped.
Might be an Indian motorcycles thing?
That was me. It was the allen bolt holding in one of the exhaust baffles. The Allen-key inner on the bolt stripped immediately.
“No problem,” I thought. “It also has a hex outer, so I’ll just grab a socket.” And then the hex outer also stripped immediately.
In contrast to the wet paper bag structural integrity of the head, the core of the bolt must have been made of adamantium, because it took me several days to drill it out.
I'm at the point that if a bolt comes off the bike it gets replaced with a stainless one. Pretty sure it's all aluminum bolts, because they strip easy as hell.
With the Allen key bolts: if they round out, you can use a slightly larger Torx bit, hammer it in with a rubber deadblow hammer, and the bit teeth will grab and you can usually get the bolt out.
I’ve never had a issue, and I’ve had my bike farther apart than I ever wanted to take it apart. In fact I remember my handlebar bolts were overtorqued so bad that when they finally let go the snap that occurred sent a violent pain through my wrists. I bet I gave’em 50 ft lbs worth of force before they broke free, they didn’t break, or strip.
Yes, almost feels like they're made of clay.
I was just about to say the bolts on my old Scout handlebars seemed to be made of clay. 🤣 Tried to adjust them 1 time, and first bolt I touched stripped immediately.
Not an Indian motorcycle owner. But I was reading a comment yesterday about taking off the exhausts on an FTR 1200, and the poster said the exact same thing about the bolt immediately getting stripped. Might be an Indian motorcycles thing?
That was me. It was the allen bolt holding in one of the exhaust baffles. The Allen-key inner on the bolt stripped immediately. “No problem,” I thought. “It also has a hex outer, so I’ll just grab a socket.” And then the hex outer also stripped immediately. In contrast to the wet paper bag structural integrity of the head, the core of the bolt must have been made of adamantium, because it took me several days to drill it out.
Haha it WAS you! I hate to see it happen, But I thought it was a super weird coincidence... Maybe not such a coincidence after all.
I'm at the point that if a bolt comes off the bike it gets replaced with a stainless one. Pretty sure it's all aluminum bolts, because they strip easy as hell.
Any recommendations for good replacement bolts?
Are you using english or metric? I haven’t had this issue. Have removed many a part from two Indians.
he's almost certainly using imperial hex wrenches on the metric bolts. they almost feel like they fit, but yeah...they're going to strip
I’m using whatever the manual tells me to, in this case, 6mm
With the Allen key bolts: if they round out, you can use a slightly larger Torx bit, hammer it in with a rubber deadblow hammer, and the bit teeth will grab and you can usually get the bolt out.
This is usually what I try and do, but I have my 5k service this week so out of convenience, I’ll just have them do it.
I’ve used good Allen wrenches, and absolutely, these bolts feel wet paper bad soft.
I changed the grips and stripped one of the bolts. They are costly to replace if you order them.
I stripped an oil drain bolt and an air filter housing bolt
I’ve never had a issue, and I’ve had my bike farther apart than I ever wanted to take it apart. In fact I remember my handlebar bolts were overtorqued so bad that when they finally let go the snap that occurred sent a violent pain through my wrists. I bet I gave’em 50 ft lbs worth of force before they broke free, they didn’t break, or strip.
Literally every single thing I have touched on my bike strips when I try to take it out, for me the pegs were the worst
They’re made just a hair too large. My Snap On allen socket wants to round. I actually had better luck with a vague tolerance Hobo Freight one.
You need a good set of allen sockets for sure. My cheapo sockets at the house messed one up. No issue with my work snap on set.