A real nut case....and a bolt to.

[DGXSER]

OK, so how bad did I just Fubar the project bike? I went to the local hardwar-a-rama store and tried to buy a new Acorn Nut for the rear shock/ grab bar bolt. The only ones they had were 10mm-1.5 thread. I knew the one on the bike was 1.25 thread, but I figured I could just re-thread the nut by tightening it in steps, loosening, and re tightening.

Well, I used my 1/2" drive socket and now I have an Acorn nut with part of the bolt in it. Soooo....Is that actually a bolt I can pull out? or is it part of the frame? Welded in somehow?

[79XS11F]

It's part of the frame so the "proper" fix is to have a stud wielded on. So ... if your not concerned about keeping the bike stock you might as well have both changed at the same time and switched to match the thread types you can find. Most wielders charge by the hour with a 1 hour minimum so I would doubt that the cost of doing both at the same time would be any different then doing just one.
Rob

[yamtom]

nuts anyone

Hi,

If you or anyone else needs special metric fasteners, I have a source right nearby for mail order, or I can walk in of course. They have the middle thread sizes in stainless too usually. Its called Alma Bolt Supply and they are online. They can get you more than what they have in stock too, you just need to order a box of it and that may work for us, to do the old group buy thing. Also included in their catalog is almost any kind of fastener or fastening device known to mankind. I live near the headquarters of Dow Chemical and they use every fastener seemingly.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Awww nuts

OK, so how bad did I just Fubar the project bike? I went to the local hardwar-a-rama store and tried to buy a new Acorn Nut for the rear shock/ grab bar bolt. The only ones they had were 10mm-1.5 thread. I knew the one on the bike was 1.25 thread, but I figured I could just re-thread the nut by tightening it in steps, loosening, and re tightening.

Well, I used my 1/2" drive socket and now I have an Acorn nut with part of the bolt in it. Soooo....Is that actually a bolt I can pull out? or is it part of the frame? Welded in somehow?

C'mon Don!

That sounds like some crap we've heard on here about PO's

Freakin' square peg in a round hole stuff.

Ehh! Just get a bigger hammer. ........WTF!

[DGXSER]

Yeah I'm a PO.. or at least I am PO'd. Sounds like somehting only an Okie would do doesn't it.

My only defense Greg is that I tried to buy the tap to tap the nut to the right threads, but they did not sell that either.

Worse part is, after the fiasco, I realize I have an acorn nut on the bottom of the left shock I could have brought up and put a regular nut (they did have in the correct size and thread) on there where it would be less visible.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Heh..heh

....All my nuts are perfecty screwed.

I got a set of metric nuts off ebay, at least I think it was, actually 2 sets to replace some on my scoot that were rusted.......CHEAP!

Which bolt did you intercourse up?

[fredintoon]

Oops!

OK, so how bad did I just Fubar the project bike? I went to the local hardwar-a-rama store and tried to buy a new Acorn Nut for the rear shock/ grab bar bolt. The only ones they had were 10mm-1.5 thread. I knew the one on the bike was 1.25 thread, but I figured I could just re-thread the nut by tightening it in steps, loosening, and re tightening.

Well, I used my 1/2" drive socket and now I have an Acorn nut with part of the bolt in it. Soooo....Is that actually a bolt I can pull out? or is it part of the frame? Welded in somehow?

Hi DGXSER,
alas, that stud is a multi-diameter thing that gets bigger as it goes further into the frame and it's welded in place.
There's no practical way to get it out and even if you could, you'd have to make a replacement on a lathe.
But relax, you didn't quite screw yourself, I invented a fix years ago.
Saw off the stub of the 10mm threaded part flush with the 12mm part of the stud that the shock's rubber eye actually sits around.
Tap that part M8 x ~20mm deep. Place the tapped hole carefully dead centre.
(WTF, if all you got is inch stuff, go 5/16"UNF x 3/4" deep)
Hold the shock on with an Allen screw and a fender washer.

[DGXSER]

Funny, I had a very similar thought Fred, to drill the center of the stud/bolt out (which snapped off clean at the outside edge of the grab bar) with say a 6mm thread, or similar in standard thread since I have those taps and dies on hand. Then fill the void with a longer bolt with the head cut off, then take a 10mm-1.5 bolt, cut off to length and thread it over the remaining smaller bolt all with locktight. I figure that way everything is still solid steel filled up for strength, and I get the thread I need.

The real pisser is that this was to be the last thing the bike needed besides a paint job on the tank.

[crazy steve]

There's no practical way to get it out and even if you could, you'd have to make a replacement on a lathe....

Been there, done that....

I had the same problem on my Sporty basketcase I built; when it had been wrecked, one of the top shock mounts got broken clean off (I suspect this is the big reason this bike got passed around in a box before I got it). I did end up making replacements on the lathe. HD got smarter and made these replaceable on the newer bikes.

There's one other thing you could do; cut the shock mount off flush, then drill/tap the frame for a 14mm bolt. There's enough meat in the frame to do this, and no more worries about that stud. You could even substitute a 1/2" bolt for the 14mm, as the size difference isn't that great (.5" vs .55"). Personally, I'd be a bit nervous about drilling the center out of that stud and having all those sharp edges inside it for stress points...

'78E original owner

[crazy steve]

Here's one more idea; instead of drilling the stud or the frame, get a bolt with the right thread/length as the threaded part. Cut the stud off the same amount as the bolt head thickness, the weld the head onto the stub. File it round, and who will ever know....

'78E original owner

[DGXSER]

Upon further review, I have noted that this is a two stepped shoulder bolt. Starts at the frame as a larger diameter to hold the upper shock absorber collar. Then a smaller diameter shoulder holds the seat grab rail, the threaded portion is a thread cut on this smaller diameter shoulder.


Stud as it is welded to frame..



With shock in place...



With grab bar in place...



Mine broke at the end of the threads where the shoulder of the seat grab rail begins. There looks to be at least 3/4" of shoulder there before you get to where the shock mount starts. Since the shock mount is the only portion that sees the force and or shearing stress, I don't see how drilling the other part out without going into the thicker section that holds the shock in place, and tapping it would hurt anything. (says the guy who tried to thread the wrong thread nut onto a bolt and snapped it.) I do nto weld, have no welder, or one nearby, and the bike is not registered or insured so I would need to rent a trailer and trailer it to wherever I get it repaired.

[yamtom]

forgive me for even thinking this

Deeg,

Now that I see the pics, is there enough meat on the grab bar such that it could be ground down. I dont like the idea of it either , but it would sure be simpler to do that and give the nut enough purchase to hold, then locktite that thing down.

[DGXSER]

You know, I had thought of something like that also Tom. Reality is that this grab bar has already been butchered by the PO, he drilled two holes though it to use for mounting holes for the crappy rack he had on the bike.

In fact, my idea was to make the hole/slot in the grab bar larger and use a shoulder nut sort of to give more thread depth and still hold the grab bar at the same point for symmetry.

As I write this I had a new thought to grind that shoulder down and make a little smaller threaded stud out of it, then take a 10mm 1.5 shoulder bolt and drill and tap it to go over that smaller dia thread. Sort of a reverse heli-coil idea. Only problem is I have tried twice today to drill and tap a 10mm bolt and both times the tap snapped off on me. Even used the drill bit that came with the tap and lots of pb blaster the second time around. (where is the smiley for I give up!!).

[bikerphil]

You could use some 79 Special parts and lose the grab bar altogether. Then your shock stud should be long enough, JAT

[crazy steve]

If you could spring for a bit of lathe work at your local machinist, you could take one of these...

http://www.brandsport.com/grla-40018.html

.... have the taper and part of the nut turned down into a 'collar' and have just what you need. You'd probably have to enlarge the hole in the grab bar to fit, but that aluminum isn't that hard to file. The nut is almost 7/8" long, so there should be enough meat. These are cheap enough at under $3 each...

I've seen 'store-bought' versions of these (used to extend the shock stud when mounting bags) but they were all SAE threads, not metric and only came with the brackets.

'78E original owner