I hate allen head bolts. I freaking hate them. I feel like they almost always end up stripped out. Why are there so freaking many on this freaking bike? ONE of the rear brake rotor bolts is now stripped out. How in the hell do I get it out now?
If they feel real tight I put some heat on the hub to soften the locktite and to expand the hub. If you have a MIG welder or have a buddy with one a nut can be easily welded to the bolt to get a wrench on.
I think that Xcurvator suggested two effective remedies. If they don't work, you could drill a hole in the bolt, minding you don't damage the hub thread, and use an extractor like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-pc-Easy-O...for-stripped-Screw-Bolt-Removal-/350878733867. Or you could try a Grabit:
Looks like I am heading to the Home Depot for a screw extractor tomorrow. Now if only that would help me get the cover off my air box too. haha.
I hope it works for you but I will be surprised if it does. If you stripped the hex out of a hardened bolt with a hardened wrench, it is very unlikely (IMO) that a home depot gadget will do the job.
Try "sock it out" bolt removers. I have had much better luck with them than anything else. You hammer them into the bolt and usually they will come right out. If you're having a lot of trouble with allen head bolts, make sure that you have appropriate tools and you always clean the hole so you can fully insert the wrench.
The only time I ever have trouble with an allen head bolt... is when someone has used the wrong size in it before I got to it. Get yourself a good quality metric allen key set. Just be glad they aren't torx heads! I've had the joy of making lots of helical torx keys in my day.
I am sure I used the right size and the hole was clean. I guess I should have stopped and applied some breaker or something before getting pissed and trying to muscle it. It really has been my experience that these things strip out easily.
On brake rotors, if there are nuts on the back side, you want to do all your loosening/tightening with the wrench on the nut, and just use the allen wrench to lightly hold the bolt from spinning. If you try to break it loose with the allen wrench, you're going to strip them, most likely.
+1 for welding on a bolt or nut. It must be the heat or expansion then cooling. It's worked on sprocket bolts, drain plugs, just about any buggered up hex head. After tack welding on a bolt it comes out almost by hand with very little torque required.
