Bolt shearing shenanigans

[firestorm jedi]

Need advice. My precious was being polished yesterday when I noticed a minor oil leak dripping off the stand. It appears to be coming from the back end of the gear box by the chain wheel. Any offers of experience or just a knackered seal.....?
More importantly i then moved on to check the bolts around the crank case/fly wheel cover and some of them were worryingly loose (no leaks or broken seal though ). I went to tighten them and promptly sheared two off. :mad2
A cigarette later and I thought it may be an idea to replace all the bolts. The current ones seem to be made from old coke cans as they felt really soft when tightening. My question is should I replace them with stainless bolts and what, if anything, should I seal them in with? All advice greatly appreciated.

[firestorm jedi]

Wish it was Mike but I use spray grease.

[tony.mon]

Check clutch fluid level- it could be a leaking pushrod seal, they often go.

Lots of aftermarket bolt kits available, both in stainless and anodised. Check out E-Bay.

Anodised is lighter, and easier to drill out if one shears off flush, but they come in horrible Nineties colours....

[Stratman]

More importantly i then moved on to check the bolts around the crank case/fly wheel cover and some of them were worryingly loose (no leaks or broken seal though ). I went to tighten them and promptly sheared two off.

If they sheared then they probably weren't too loose and they only sheared when overtightened? Did you have the right torque settings?

Remember, both stainless and alloy bolts are weaker than normal steel.

[tattie]

I use spray grease as well, and after a run especially on a warm day there can be a small amount of what looks like oil below the sprocket cover. It has led to a few comments from others.

cheers

A.M.

[firestorm jedi]

Ah so perhaps the leak is the grease. Fingers crossed. I've taken her in to my local bike shop where they said they'd sort it and commented on my cheap and nasty bolts before trying to sell me a Bennelli Tornado. I explained the significance and the joys of the Firestorm. They are pretty good down there so they'll give her the once over and we'll see how we get on...... Touching wood, she's not cost me hardly anything in five years so a couple of bolts can't be too bad. And we're still only on 13k miles.