Stripped bolt hole at spigot

B

Bailey28

New member
Today I changed out the exhaust o-rings (again) and just like last time I took off the pipe and the spigot off of the cylinder head.

I clean everything real well then bolted the spigot back up. The lower left hand bolt just kept turning. Then my stomach started turning... :eek:


I had to use a 1/4"SAE tap to make new threads then use a 1/4" stainless allen bolt so the pipe would clear it.

Lesson learned. Do not take the spigot off again...

Also, I had to make a new mount for the pipe where it bolts to the frame by the water pump as the stock rubber one disintegrated. No crash damage, but the rubber started spinning, allowing more clearance and more pipe movement.
Basically, the pipe is solid mounted now to the bike. Any issues with the solid mounting?
 
Sometimes those bolts are loctited, and can damage threads on the way out. From now on I'd use a little heat for first time removal.

For the pipe, I'd replace the vibration isolator.
 
Now that you mention it, the loctite makes sense. I hardly tightened the bolt down and it stripped. I had no choice but to do the sae thread. the M6 would not have had enough meat to get nice threads back in there. The 1/4" allen worked great and looks sano.

I need to order the Mcmaster O rings asap to keep this from happening over again.

I will build or try to buy another pipe isolator. The bike really doesn't vibrate bad now, but I can see your point about possible added vibes. I was thinking along the lines of that the pipe would not move around as much which would allow the o-rings to last longer.
 
i believe i have a boatload of the correct o-rings. pm me your address and i'll send you a few. may take me a day to locate them....
 
I always run a tap through holes that have previously been loctited.

If you order from Mcmaster, you can get isolators in various sizes. They have the same type/size as the old style original, with M6 holes. You can bolt one of these between the plates of the OEM isolator. I have several of these on hand. I mount my shrouds with an additional bolt at the top, and use them as shock mounts/spacers between the shroud and the rad guard.

BTW, you know you want the Viton o-rings, right? The cheap BunaN rubber will take a set from heat in one or two rides.
 
Oh yeah... the cheap ones look nice when they go on. I had two good rides on them and they just fell apart.

I could tell when they "blew" as I was riding the bike. One minute the bike was quiet, then next it got loud and throaty. I didn't experience much power loss but it did take a while to clean up all of the spooge under the spigot. Viton it is!!
 
I put studs in the spigot bolt holes instead. Also solved the problem of the spigot bolts continuously working loose.
 
I would have put in a stud at that location, but I can't find a nut with a small enough diameter that will allow the pipe to slide by it and nest properly against the spigot flange.

I used the allen bolt which worked great. Even though I bastardized it by using at 1/4" sae, it works fine.
 
Button head allen bolt works good there. I tracked down a pipe rattle to the edge of the header flange vibrating on a spigot bolt head, when the o-rings were bad once. Those holes could use another mm of radius from the spigot center.

With all this said, you don't have to pull the spigot to change o-rings. Contact cleaner on a strip of rag works fine.
 
Lesson learned on removing the spigot... I didn't realize that there was loctite on the threads until I stipped the lower one.. The other two were fine.

I did notice that the pipe had three small gouges in it where it was wedged against the 8mm spigot bolts and vibrating. They could use some extra room in there.

Button heads are a great idea but at this point, I am not touching it unless the spigot falls off.

I do have to say that out of all the bikes I have owned, this one seems the most finicky regarding the "little things", like gas cap leakage, front fender brace, small bolts, odds and ends stuff that could be a bit sturdier.

But I wouldn't trade the bike for anything! :D
 
Bailey28 said:
I do have to say that out of all the bikes I have owned, this one seems the most finicky regarding the "little things", like gas cap leakage, front fender brace, small bolts, odds and ends stuff that could be a bit sturdier.
:D
Click to expand...

All thoroughbreds are a bit finicky !:):D
 
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