Front rotor bolt replacement

[pdxdavid]

First off. Just bought my bike in August, it is an 09 with 2010 miles on it. Got it for 1200 and had to replace forks. There is some fairing damage, but nothing I can't live with for a while since this is my first bike.

I have been lurking here for a bit. Looking forward to being a part of this great community.

I noticed that my front rotor is bent so I ordered one off ebay. When I went to remove the rotor bolts (part 91250-1771) I rounded out the hole for the allen key. The other 5 loosened without issue, so I know I was using the right size. 6mm if I remember correctly.

The question is: how do I get this thing off, and where can I find a replacement bolt. Is this something a local hardware store would have, or am I going to have to order one? In the parts list it says 8x30. I think the 30 is length not sure about the 8.

Anyone have this issue? How did you solve it?

Thanks for any help.

[Motofool]

Welcome to our site, David !!!

Somebody will soon help you with your question.

[crazymadbastard]

Drill out the head and grab the stud after removing the.disk with vice grips. . Go to sears hardware and match a good bolt.

[Motofool]

If going to a hardware store or Autoparts, consider the following:

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showp...36&postcount=5

Kawasaki part 92150-1771: M8 (fine thread) x 30 mm long

Consider as well that the head and neck have an special shape to support the shear effect of the disc:

[rojoracing53]

Get the OEM bolt from Kawi

your brakes are not something where good enough is acceptable

[crazymadbastard]

Another option if you have a welder is to weld a nut to that head. The heat will also melt the locktite

[g21-30]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

Get the OEM bolt from Kawi

your brakes are not something where good enough is acceptable

+1

It's possible that you didn't have the hex wrench seated all the way; however, that is a moot point now. You might be able to use an ez-out, after drilling a pilot hole in the bolt.

http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Out-Screw...ef=pd_sim_hi_2

[Vintage Smoke]

I have run into this a million times especially working on old bikes. I have used these tricks with out fail to remove allen head rotor bolts that have been sitting in place since the 70's.

First - take a flat nose punch and strike it with a hammer directly on the head of the bolt. This will often "shock" the bolt breaking the hold of the loctite. It may also deform the hex shaped hole for the allen key slightly giving you a tighter fit. Smack it hard, but keep an eye on the fastener. It's not a big deal if you have to tap the allen key into place, but don't make it impossible.

Next - go to your local auto parts store and buy some valve grinding (not lapping - its too fine) compound. Put it in the hex hole and on the tip of the allen key. The grit in the grinding compound takes up most of the play and will let you get more torque on the fastener without stripping. This works great, but works even a 1000 times better if you use it BEFORE you strip the fastener. Make sure to save the advice to use next time as well. This trick works GREAT for all types of fasteners. Every single one of my philips screw drivers, torx bits, and allen keys have a bit of grey residue on them from being dipped in grinding compound.

Then - get a new allen key or grind yours down so you have a perfect profile with no damaged, rounded corners. There is no sense in having a bad allen key make things worse.

If you still can't get it out go to a cheap tool store and buy a torx bit that is just a little too big to fit in the hex hole. bring one of your good bolts with you to size it up. Dip the torx bit in the grinding compound and hammer it into the hex hole. 99% of the time this works. The teeth in the torx bit really bite into the corners of the hex hole.

Somewhere at this point (or even a few steps back) consider heat. If the bolt has a lot of loctite on it some heat will break the bond. Use a propane torch to heat ONLY the head of the bolt. The heat will travel down the head to the shank of the bolt. Don't heat the wheel as you will probably not get it hot enough to break down the loctite and you take the chance of damaging the whee or at least boogering up the finish.

Get a small, new, high quality chisel. Not a chisel from harbor Freight since they tend to be too soft. get a good Craftsman or a Snap On. A "cold chisel" that is used for breaking welds is a good choice. Anything intended for wood is a bad choice. Quite often you can dig the chisel into the boilt on it's perimiter and tap it around in a circle and turn it out.

If you can grind the head off the bolt, you MAY be able to grab it with a vice grips, but I have rarely had any luck there. While welding a nut on the bolt sounds like a good idea it rarely works unless you have quite a bit of bolt sticking up and can get the nut a good ways on the bolt. usually what happens is that the rapid heating and then cooling as the heat is drawn into the rest of the bolt and wheel itself hardens the bolt and makes it brittle. Every time I have tried this the nut has simply snapped of, taking a chunk of the bolt with it, as soon as i turned it. The only time it works is if you can screw the nut on enough so that the weld simply keeps the nut from screwing off and forces it to turn the bolt out.

Hope this helps!!

[pdxdavid]

Forgot to update this thread. Whoops.

I took the wheel in to a local shop. The guy took it in the back for about 10 minutes. When he came out the damaged bolt was out and he had an exact replacement in the shop. He took it back in. Put the new rotor on and 20 dollars later all is right in the world.

Thanks again for the suggestions.