So, the previous owner of my bike was an idiot or something. Among other things, the lower bolt holding on the footrest plate on the left side is stripped. I.e., the Torx star is shredded. I ordered a new bolt from KTM Parts and when it arrived I saw that it is pre-coated with a purple Locktite-like compound. I've drilled the bolt down the center to use a screw extractor but before I put some serious torque on it I wanted to ask about the thread lock. Will I need to put heat on the bolt and if so, how do I do it without bubbling the paint or damaging the fitting for the kickstand safety? (I know, I know, I should remove the kickstand safety.) I'm predicting I'll have to drill out the entire bolt and put in a helicoil, which means I'll have to remove the upper bolt to and would like to avoid stripping it as well.
That has repeatedly been the worst, absolutely worst, bolt to take out. I haven't done it on mine, but everyone has had trouble with it. Definitely recommend trying to get some heat on it. Maybe just work on the head of the bolt and the heat transfer will be enough.
bummer if you have to drill out the bolt. If it happens it may be better going for a Time Sert rather than a helicoil. But first up try a smaller left hand drill bit. The heat from drilling may do the trick. (self-extracting)
I'm going to insert a steel rod into the hole and heat the end with a propane torch. Hopefully will get enough heat transfer to warm that thread locker then hammer in an 'easy-out.' If I can get the bolt out I'm considering going back with a grade-8 hex head. I just don't remember seeing stripped hex heads like I do Torx and Allen. I have a brand new bolt to put in but I'm increasingly unimpressed with the heat treat on these Torx fasteners.
When All Else Fails... Use Physics After heating the bolt by inserting a steel rod into the hollow bolt and heating it with a propane torch I hammered in an extractor and tried to remove it. Did not go well. Still, it let me get the footrest plate off. The upper bolt came out normally. It's very easy to strip a Torx. If it gets the least little bit off axis you might as well break out the drill. I tried the extractor again and it slipped out. I could get to the threads now so sprayed them with some penetrating oil and let sit for awhile. Next, I put a heat gun on the frame member for about ten minutes. Allowed the entire frame section to get up to around 150 degrees. At this point I inverted this can of HC-134 refrigerant And sprayed it directly into the hole in the broken bolt. It immediately frosted over. Hot frame larger, cold bolt smaller. I then hammered the extractor in again and it twisted right out. Leaving me with these! The hole looked good but I'll clean it up with a tap before I put it all back together.
And use an M10x 1.25mm tap!! This is NOT a normal M10 bolt (which are M10X1.5) Btw...thanks for this thread, would've never looked at those until the need might've arisen. The OEM bolts look very much like Stainless. Used a good quality 3/8" drive Torx bit with a 1/2" adapter and a 1/2" slide bar handle, then gave the slide-bar knuckle a few good taps with the old claw hammer to break the threadlocker. After that they all came out just nicely. To be replaced with some nickle-plated 8.8 bolts M10x1.25 / 16mm hex-head after cleaning up the threads and using some blue/ medium strength Loctite. Thanks for the heads up.
If I filled the old bolt with JB Weld I could stick it back together and reuse it and save the new one for a spare, right? BTW, thanks for the heads up glitch_oz. I'd have been surprised when that "new" bolt didn't thread in quite right. I may do the same thing you are with the hex heads. I was a little surprised how easily the OEM bolts drilled out even with the lousy 1/4" drill bit I was using.
You might want to run a 1/4" rod down the center. Make sure it is clean so you can sweat some silver solder in. Problem I see is where the threads expanded from the extraction tool. that may not be an issue if you use a washer to keep it from turning in so far. The stripped out drive can easily be converted to a flat blade drive using a hacksaw blade. The JB weld is probably stronger than the stock, so coring the bolt should last a long time
I may just go with a heavy zip-tie and save the repaired bolt and the new bolt just in case the zip-tie fails*. *My dad was/is a great wrench but he DID think this way at times. He'd never use anything he 'found' just in case he might need it some time in the future, except when he needed it he'd go buy a new one instead of the one he was 'saving'. I recall him regularly stopping in traffic to pick up a bolt or nut he'd spotted lying along the road.
When I tried to install my center stand, I started on the right side foot peg mount. I got the bottom bolt about 1/2 way out and then the wrench slipped, picture of wrench below. I tried again and made a little progress and the wrench slipped again. I worked on the top bolt and removed it completely with no issues; it just required a lot of muscle all the way out. I tried once again on the bottom bolt, the wrench slipped again. At this point, I had buggered the torx head some, but not too bad. I stopped and put the bolts back in with no issues, just required muscle. The bolts have lock tite. I asked others who had installed a center stand, what the trick was and was told heat. I bought an electric heat gun and applied heat directly to the bolt head. No matter how hard I tried, I could only get the bottom bolt to turn about one full turn. At this point, I'm losing ground. I live in rural Philippines, I took the bike to 4 motorsiklo shops and a machine shop, no joy. I bought an Impact driver and a bigger hammer. I looked for a couple of weeks for a 50mm torx socket or bit, to no avail. The impact driver came with a standard head screw driver bit that fit perfectly in the torx head. Only 2 points of contact, but no slippage. I hammered away. I was not doing any damage, but I wasn't moving the bolt either. I need to point out that I was hammering away with a broken arm, I had fallen off my XR 125 a couple of days earlier. I kept thinking that, if I could get a 50mm torx socket or bit, I could get the bolts out. The solution was this.... I let my arm heal well enough to be able to ride the bike to my friend, a master mechanic in Los Banos, about a 2 1/2 hour ride each way, and let him install my center stand. He has a 50mm torx bit and a pneumatic impact driver. Easy Peasy, I gots a center stand mounted on my TR. Proper tools, who'da thunk it? Oh yea, it has hex head bolts now, they were part of the center stand kit.
Not directly related, but I had a bugger of a bolt on my hobie cat. I used a grinder/cut off wheel to create 2 flats and used a crescent wrench, long cheater bar and slow methodical pressure to remove it.
Exactly the same bolt on my Strada. I've cut the head of, and my plan is, to weld a nut to it. Then It should be possible to get out.
I have had great luck with getting broken bolts and studs out. I grab a nut that just fits the broken bolt/stud. Be sure to disconnect the battery and computer. I weld the nut to the broken bolt/stud. It lets one use a wrench to remove the broken part. But the thermal process seems to loosen everything up. More times then I can count I just use my fingers to unthread it.
