? about bolts

[mrhammer2u]

I used a wire wheel brush to clean off some bolts (such as the valve cover bolts). Some humidity got into my garage and not the bolts are rusting. What are these bolts made of? Wondering if I should convert to stainless steel bolts.

[trbig]

Yup. There be iron in that steel.


Cheap enough and they look great in all weather. Stainless is the only way to go. You can find them on Ebay.. Some kits a bit more complete than others.

[crazy steve]

The OEM bolts are zinc plated steel, and you've removed the zinc. If you switch to stainless steel, make sure you use anti-seize on all threads; uncoated stainless and aluminum will seize together easily and break off when you try to remove them...

[Radioguylogs]

In case it helps.....

Crazy Steve made a summary of all the cover bolts- it was helpful when I decided to replace all my cover bolts with stainless (using anti-seize compound as recommended).

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...tainless+bolts

BoltDepot.com had all the bolts:

26 pcs 6mm x 35mm @ $0.29 -> $7.54
26 pcs 6mm x 25mm @ $0.22 -> $5.72
14 pcs 6mm x 20mm @ $0.21 -> $2.94

Total $16.20 + $11.01 shipping (ouch) = $27.21

[Schming]

mrhammer2u, torque for the 6mm bolts that fasten the valve, clutch, timing, alternator, gear shift covers is 7.2 ft. lbs.

[crazy steve]

Stainless bolts aren't quite as strong, so reduce the torque to the numbers shown in the link....

[trbig]

lol.. I think the stainless bolts can withstand the massive original torques. Now if you went with the copper version.. maybe.

[jetmechmarty]

I believe the torque in the service manual is dry torque, unless otherwise specified. Anti-Seize Compound is a lubricant. Your bolts will be torqued over spec when you use anti-seize. Keep that in mind before you strip threads or break a bolt.

This may become a bigger issue with spark plugs. I use anti-seize on mine. I torque new plugs seated, plus one half turn. When I reinstall plugs, I install them seated, plus one quarter turn. It has worked fine for me and it's a lot easier than trying to figure out lube torque specs for the particular anti-seize I'm using.

[Schming]

All my anti-siezed SS bolts and the spark plugs survived stock torque #'s as did the cases and head.

[James England]

I get all my bolts from here. As this listing says, it includes the long bolt for the middle gearbox...it's very long and Ive found it's not often stocked by regular bolt places...

http://www.a2stainless.co.uk/Yamaha-...UW0O.aspx?nh=2

[TomB]

Careful when quoting middle gearbox bolts, folk may confuse them with the end cap hex socket cap screws (chrome plated end cap on Specials)

These cap screws are 12.9 tensile strength for good reason and should not be replaced with A2 stainless, A4 is still a lower strength than 12.9 but may just cope with the axial load, would I use A4's? nope!

And talking of strength of stainless bolts compared to steel when in use on the cam cover, if you're really concerned use A4 not A2, A4 is comparable in tensile strength to 8.8 tensile steel, and consider that you are screwing them into aluminium threads which will more than likely strip before you ever break an M6 stainless screw.

Use of copperslip in aluminium threads can be frowned upon as the copper can react with the aluminium, there are other anti-seize pastes recommended for ali threads. Personally I use copperslip and have for 30 years without problems.

[crazy steve]

Torque specs are all about bolt stretch, i.e. the amount of stretch (or spring tension if you will) needed to keep the bolt tight. The difference between 6.4 and 7.2 may not sound like much, but that's 12% over. I had a couple of ss cover bolts start to 'give' at the higher spec, I caught them before they broke and replaced them. You may do fine at the higher spec, but you've been warned....

[mrhammer2u]

Thanks for all your input. VERY helpful! Especially the use of anti-seize.

[James England]

I've had three XS's with all A4 stainless bolts on the entire engine and done a lot of miles with them, without incident (that includes the one with nitrous too). I suspect OEM were way over engineered, just like lots of other things on the bikes. All about choice, of course, but I personally would not have any problem with using them

[IanDMacDonald]

I guess myself admitting that the only thing on my whole bike that I torqued to spec was the cam caps and the head bolts is not kosher? I mean, I never really thought to torque spark plugs. I Turn most bolts till they're tight, then a smidge more, and call it good. Right?