spinning bolt

man from africa · Post by **man from africa** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 3:25 pm

trying to fit clear brake lense but one of the bolts holding rear cowl to subframe is spinning and wont come off.dont really want to drill it out.any suggestions please.

chuxsta · Post by **chuxsta** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 3:28 pm

one of the plastic bolts?

have you tried pulling it out, the bolt that is not thy sausage.

if its spinning it means its loose and not attached to any thing..
unless it has a bolt on zee back of it of course.

fishface · Post by **fishface** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 8:42 pm

big fcuk off hammer or hacksaw blade

marravtr · Post by **marravtr** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 8:23 am

if its not got a bolt on the back and its loose but still wont come out sound like some of the thread is fubar! can you get anything behind the bolt head to leaver it out as you unscrew it ( had one in the past like that)

if that fails refer to timbo and fishface

Stratman · Post by **Stratman** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 9:04 am

Surely you mean the plastic fastnener? It won't screw right out but once you have loosene it a bit just pull the cowl away from the frame and it will pop out. Then unscrew it completely when you can get your fingers on the other side. To replace, just push it back in when the cowl is lined up with the hole.

They get worn quite easily. New ones are a Â£1 or so each from Honda but I replaced the screw part in mine with a small metal bolt of the same diameter.

marravtr · Post by **marravtr** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 12:24 pm

which bolt/fastnener are we talking about ere

picture of the offending item would be good

man from africa · Post by **man from africa** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 5:28 pm

sorry dont know how to download picture.you have two bolts ,one either side on the subframe near to the battery.the bolts thread into a thread which is in the subframe.does this make sense to anyone.please help

clayderman · Post by **clayderman** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 5:32 pm

The allen key bolts that hold the subframe to the frame, the big ones at the front on either side?

Hankie · Post by **Hankie** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 6:00 pm

You mean part No.20?
It screws into a spigot welded onto the subframe. If the thread on either part is stripped you'll need to slip the end of a flat-bladed screwdriver under the bolthead and prise it up whilst unscrewing.

Chris

Storm Trooper · Post by **Storm Trooper** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 6:08 pm

I had the same problem on mine. It was on the right side of the bike and was lucky enough bolt was not screwed in too tight so a very quick turn with a hex key in a drill managed to loosen it enough to screw out.

The problem is the collar in the rear sub frame breaking it's weld fixing. It then just turns in the frame when you are trying to unscrew the bolt. There is no way of getting into the back of it to hold it.

Small needle nose pliers down behind the cowl and try to hold the collar whilst trying to unsrew the bolt.

Once it is removed you can then spot weld the collar back to the subframe.

man from africa · Post by **man from africa** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:49 pm

thanks for all your replys.it was and still is bolt no.20.i will try all your methods tomorrow whilst at work.once again thanks

Ernie Cooley · Post by **Ernie Cooley** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:31 am

if you can't get the screwdriver under it as suggested above, try a drop of superglue in the socket where you put the allen key in, should allow you to get it out enough to get the screwdriver under it, you can tap it off once it is out.

Stormin Ben · Post by **Stormin Ben** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:41 am

Had this exact same thing happen to me
I can confirm that in the worst case scenario you need to get a hacksaw blade on it

The spacer/ collar that fits over the bolt (part 22 on the diagram) means that the bolt is not flush with the fairing and can be pushed away slightly
I then sawed flush with the bolt head

Two points to note
1. Put plenty of gaffer tape over the seat plastics as its quite easy to scuff them while sawing
2. This method does knacker the spacer
3. Hacksawed bolt heads get very hot -OUCH

tony.mon · Post by **tony.mon** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:47 pm

Yep, mine are both bolloxed as well. Both just rotate, as the captive nut inserted into the subframe has loosened.
But if you're careful you can just pivot the subframe up over the rear so that you can reach stuff like the reg.rec and rear ligt assembly, seat catch etc. That way you haven't got to take it off at all.

Might try the superglue option, though, and if you can get a small punch down to the back of the plastic it might be possible to punch the exposed bit of the no-longer-captive insert enough to trap it in place long enough to loosen the allen bolt.

Once it's out you can buy captive nut inserts at a good fixings stockist- they have a compressable bit at the point which would be left exposed, and as you tighten a bolt into it the compressable bit squashes and leaves the insert trapped.

man from africa · Post by **man from africa** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:28 pm

now sorted.went the hack saw route.went through about third of the bolt and then tried again and for some reason it came off without spinning.took me then 20 minutes to undo little allen key bolt which holds lense on.a 10 minute job ended up taking me just over an hour.well worth it cos the clear lense makes a difference.thanks for all your replies,greatly appreciated.