One bad screw can ruin your whole day

[TwoStars]

Bought my ’08 RSV back in January. Runs great but has a few minor problems I’ve been getting to slowly. This weekend was cleaning and greasing the electrical connectors in the fairing. The audio has been cutting out intermittently – a problem well documented on this forum. I split the fairing OK but when I went to remove the light bar so I could remove the front portion of the fairing, saw that both 5 mm hex screws were completely rounded. Tried drilling one and using an extractor but broke it off (that’s never happened before:depressed:). I might be able to remove the fairing if I disassemble the running lights but that seems to be getting me further down that black hole I’m trying to avoid. The frustrating part – I can see the connectors I want to clean, just can’t get to them – all because of a couple buggered hex screws. Suggestions? It’s too early to drink.

[midnightventure]

Take a sharp center punch and start striking with a hammer on the bolts in the right direction. You would be surprised what can sometimes be done. Multiple light taps are better than real hard hits.

[BuddyRich]

Well. They aren't going to go away. I would take the lights apart and get the outer fairing outta the way. Once you have room to work, first get the seized bolts out. Then go and fix the original problem.

[Patrolman46]

At my age I didn't know there could be a bad screw. Woops!! It seems like the allen head screw are softer than any screw or bolt I've encountered. I was just tightening one on the luggage rack I put on my RSTD & the allen head rounded with just a handheld allen wrench, Not looking forward to taking that screw out.

 

Good Luck, Patrolman46 (AKA Graderman46)

[a1bummer]

Quite often in the past, it wasn't the bolts fault that it gets rounded off. It was the cheap tools that people were using on them. Other times they were using the wrong tool for the job. I never use or keep allen wrenches or any other tools that come with furniture, appliances or the like. I'm also very picky about where I buy tools. I may not always buy "The Best", but I don't buy cheap either.

 

I've been pretty lucky with my MKI and haven't run into any bolts that wouldn't come out without rounding off or breaking, and I always use anti-seize wherever I can when I do have to take something apart.

 

Bill

[MidnightSpook]

Not sure what it is about those two bolts but they seemed to have a bad taped hole on both of my ventures. I was finally able to get both of them tight with a good quality ball allen but I also made sure I purchased the extender bracket from the guy up in Vancouver so I never had to deal with them again. Not sur how you are going to remove the easyout but if you can I would redrill them and tap to a larger size.

[TwoStars]

Thanks for the suggestions. The first thing I did was put everything back together and went out riding. After all it's only the audio. The easy out broke off at the bottom of the hole so I can still get a bit in there. Further drilling will be problematic. I like Midnightventure's center punch idea. I was thinking of using an impact screw driver to add a bit of torque but need to find the right bit. I'll need room to work so will follow BuddyRich's suggestion of taking apart the running lights and removing the outer fairing. All in good time. Thanks again.

[Uturn]

Best thing is a quality set of left-hand bits. Good luck.

MIKE aka Uturn

[Grisolm1]

I was in Harbor Freight (China tool inc.) yesterday and saw a set of left handed drill bits. Probably not the best quality but may help. Next time I'm in this bind myself at least I know where to go and get some to try.

 

Ya I also though at this age there was no such thing as a bad screw.

[TwoStars]

Thought I'd ask a few questions before heading blindly into taking the running lights apart. To briefly re-cap I need to remove the fairing to stabilize my audio connection but the two bolts securing the light bar are buggered. I think I can remove the fairing if I dismantle the lights (tell me if I'm wrong). It's not obvious how to proceed. I didn't install these lights so have no diagrams or instructions. You guys are my manual. There is an 8 mm bolt that binds a clamp that holds the directionals. Above that is a "collar" that looks like it could accommodate a 22 mm wrench (that's a guess) but it's not clear what that does. Can I remove the top running light without messing with the directionals? I understand that alignment can be rather tedious, but that's OK if I can get the fairing removed. Ever get the feeling we take one step forward and three steps back? Thanks in advance.

[tomfromhull]

Never to early to start drinking

[TwoStars]

This forum has provided some great guidance so I thought I give an update. I dismantled the running lights and was able to remove the fairing with the light bar in place. Cleaned all 5 connectors and blew them out with an air hose (best to use eye protection for this part). Greased them and stabilized the connections using SEAKING’s zip tie trick. It took some practice but had it down by the 5th connection. The audio is back and sounds great – a successful procedure.

 

With the fairing off, I figured it was time to remove the buggered bolts holding the light bar (that’s what started this thread). An auto mechanic friend of mine suggested I use a slightly oversized torx bit and pound it in to the rounded 5 mm allen head of the bolt, making sure it was fully seated. This worked like a charm for one of the bolts, though it fought me the whole way out. I couldn’t get a good hold on the second bolt so drilled off the head, removed the light bar and spacer and used vice-grips to remove the remaining bolt.

 

Following up on a comment by MidnightSpook that there's something about these two bolts that give people problems. I've got an idea. Both bolts pass through what appears to be the headlight frame before hitting the threaded aluminum block. If the holes aren't perfectly lined up (neither of mine were) they put lateral pressure on the bolt and the threads. I haven't bought the replacement bolts yet but plan to expand the holes in the headlight frame and run a tap through the threads to clean them up a bit before re-installing the light bar. Hopefully I'll be back on the road, with tunes, in a day or so. Thanks everyone.