A reminder, for any bike that has bolted on footpegs it's always an excellent idea to replace the bolts with the toughest grade 8 bolts. The bolts on my 11 SMS630 are unknown grade and were at 1/2 torque, although they were loctited in from the factory. The grade 8 replacement bolts were not painted so I added a coat of paint. As an example of why to do this, this summer a friend on a KLR650 on a mountain dualsport ride had his peg bolts (and peg) sheer off while riding (he was standing). He was vaulted off the bike after slamming his face onto the tank and the bike went over a 200 ft cliff. Big luck involved and he was not seriously hurt and the bike was caught by a solitary tree on the cliff edge, about 15' over the side and recovered with the help of a passing 4x4. Cam.
Good post but a few things to remember, food for thought... 1. Lower grade bolts have less tensile strength and there for will bend and give before failing. High grade bolts are stronger but at some point snap clean instead of give a little. there may be a reson for the grade bolt chosen. 2. Strong bolts will mean something else might fail. You have to ask yourself if you want the bolt to fail or the part that is bolted. 3. In the bolts shown the replacements look like black oxide. This is a crappy plating just used to transport bolts so they don't arrive rusted. The ones removed are yellow zink / cadmium plating, very tough and long lasting. Corrosion could set in and cause them to be real hard to get out at some point. 4. Torque specs rely on the bolt stretching and are spec'ed as such, that is out the window now, to not try to torque these to spec. Not bashing your idea and it is probably fine just some food for thought.
I appreciate the ideas. The problem with lower strength bolts is that they do bend & flex, but then subsequently fracture and fail over time. Grade 8 bolts are higher strength in every category including temper and outperform lower strength bolts in all ASTM testing. There is no situation where a grade 5 bolt would bend or give and a grade 8 bolt would break - that is a myth. The bolts I used are ugly and definitely not plated but are industrial 10.9 grade metric (equivalent in strength to Grade 8 imp.), black phosphate coating (with some trendy tremclad on top). If I can get these to fail I need to quit eating pizza. I take back what I said about husky bolt grades. I had a look in the manual and they state bolt strengths in the torque chart. Rare to see that. Their specs are pretty good using grade 8.8 and 10.9 equivalents. So maybe my bolt upgrade is not as necessary for the husky as it is for other brands. I am still waiting for my new DRC footpegs before I bolt it all together. Cam.
Tensile strength of a grade 5 is 120,000psi, where grade 8 is 150,000psi Metric 8.8 = approx. 116,000 psi (800N/mm2) 9.8 = approx. 130,000 psi (9000N/mm2) 10.9 = approx. 145,000 psi (1000N/mm2) 12.9 = approx. 174,000 psi (1200N/mm2) If my foot peg bolts were grade 8.8, I would change them right away. If they were 10.9, I would leave them until I got really bored. @Kelly- do you happen to have a supplier for upgraded foot peg pins?
I have poured thru the manual but I can't find the bolt strength listed for those bolts. It's like the missed them in the listing. The most common spec is "min 800N" but a few special bolts are 1000 or 1200. I have to assume that they are 800N so I will use my upgraded 10.9 bolts. I had considered staying with the husky bolts if they were of a good spec. Got my -5mm DRC footpegs yesterday and will bolt them on today. Good deal for the pegs at $50 CAD OTD. Certainly not a pivot peg but very nice and this is only a street bike anyway. Cam.
Here are the upgraded DRC pegs. Quite a difference in width from stock. I had to install the spring upside down to fit. Cam.
Nice pegs but a minor fly in the ointment. My bolts have a 13mm head and there is not enough socket clearance on the bracket to tighten the rear most bolt unless you use a very thin-wall socket. A 12mm head bolt would be fine. Cam.
