| Author | Message | ||
     Firebolt020283 |
So I decided to take my bike out for a short little hour or so ride threw the country side just for the heck of it. Well I was on my way home about 5 minutes or so and a truck pulled over to let me pass him. Well I got on the throttle hard passed the guy then I here a pop something hit me in the leg and them my engine started sounding like a buell blast. So I costed off to the side of the road thinking "Oh $hit I blew my engine." well I get off my bike to look at what was going on and noticed my rear spark plug was just dangling there. So Luckly I had my trusty Gerber multi tool in my pocket and screwed it back in and the bike fired up and ran fine all the way home. My question is has this ever happened to any one eles? should I put lock tight on the spark pugs to prevent this from happening? | ||
| Lovedabueller |
i take it the threads are good since you screwed it back in. your a military man. PMCS THAT JOKER> do you have the torque spit for the derby cover, text me if you do. | ||
| Ducxl |
Are you stating it unscrewed? It didn't blow out of the engine and take the female threads along with it? I would imagine the threads in the head are dead.Peculiar | ||
| Micromachine |
its never a surprise to hear what kinda parts fall off the buells. i think iv lost four bar end mirrors, derby cover, oil filter (that was a mess!) and countless other nuts&bolts. | ||
| Court |
Sounds like a marvelously maintained machine. Safe to assume you've had other problems, I'm sure. My bet is, given the number of times I've heard that out of 150,000+ Buells, that the plug was not properly tightened. There is no need for lock tight but make certain the threads are not damaged in the head or on the NEW plug you'll be putting in and torque it to the proper value. For a V-Twin, Buell or Ducati, I'd check it after the first 100 miles as well. | ||
| Eshardball |
I've had stuff fall off of my Ironheads but never my Buell.Torque to spec and locktite where appropriate | ||
| Micromachine |
thats the stuff that happens when its you daily driver for the past three years, i thought this was bad weather bikers not weekend warriors, im just saying that sh!t happens, even if you locktight and torque everything. vtwins are a special breed with special problems | ||
| Eshardball |
My Buell is my daily driver. The Road King goes out when I have cargo to carry. I do a general once over weekly. | ||
| Ducxl |
I agree where the plug likely wasn't properly torqued in the first place. I just today torqued a set of(Duc) plugs to 177 inch pounds with my neato $300 Snap-On torque instrument.Snap-On doesn't call it a wrench  | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
once the bike cooled down I took the plug out to inspect it as I was just trying to get off the road and it seems that half of the threads are gone so i cleaned the hole out and put a new plug in and it tightened up but that may have been my last ride till I get back from my deployment. Oh well I was taking it back to my dads next week any way. While I am deployed I am going to have my dad take it apart and im going to replace all my seals gaskets and what not along with some head work and prob some now piston rings. I will also put some money in to other parts of the bike like suspension and stuff to that nature so when I get back she will be a fresh beast. | ||
| Road_thing |
Same thing happened to my Road Pig a few years back, I just screwed the plug back in and kept on riding. No issues since then, but I did change the plugs at about 75,000 miles. rt | ||
| Dave_02_1200 |
Over tightening can cause the damage to the threads that you describe. Remember that torque specs are for dry threads and that oiled threads require a much lower torque spec to attain proper tension. Depending on whether the threads have motor oil or anti-seize on them the torque spec could be about 50% of the dry spec. An oiled thread tightened to the dry spec. can easily pull out the threads from the head. Therefore, my guess is that the problem described came about because the spark plugs were over-tightened (not under-tightened) at last installation. | ||
| Ducxl |
Dry what???? I torqued my fork clamps today.The book specified to grease the threads BEFORE torquing. A dry thread develops stiction and cannot be depended upon to torque properly | ||
| Court |
>>>vtwins are a special breed with special problems Double true on a common crankpin twin! | ||
| Dave_02_1200 |
Ducxl, You are right. The FSM specifies LOCKTITE ANTI-SEIZE on the threads of the pinch bolts. The torque spec provided is for lubricated threads. The FSM also gives similar direction regarding spark plug installation. The FSM specifies LOCKTITE ANTI-SEIZE on the threads and torque of 11 - 18 Ft. Lbs torque. Again, the torque spec provided is for lubricated threads. However, torque specs are commonly given for clean and dry threads with the proviso that use of a thread lubricant makes those specs invalid. This is explained in Carroll Smith's Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook for race car preparation. The POCKET REF by Thomas Glover includes a handy chart titled Effect of Anti-Seize Compounds, Lubricants, Plating, Coating, Torque Coefficients, and Stress Levels on Torque for Carbon Steel Bolts on page 422. It shows that a thread lubricated with anti-seize requires only 45% of the torque required to achieve the same tension on a clean dry bolt. That said, I have seen the unfortunate result of using the torque specified for clean dry threads on lubricated threads. The resulting over-tightening can strip threads and/or stretch bolts beyond desired tension. I do not know if spark plug makers provide installation torque specifications for clean dry threads, threads lubricated with motor oil (80%) or Anti Seize (45%). My only point is that is important know if the torque spec given is for lubricated threads and, if so, what kind of lubricant, and then to use the right torque spec. Thankfully the FSM is very specific on these points. | ||
| Ophawk |
Similar thing happened to me last week. I went in for our annual emission test and the bike failed. I do have to say that I leaned out the mixture a tad, just to be on the safe side, when I got the report I almost died, nearly 3300ppm HC. took the bike home let it cool off. Went to pull the plugs and they were both loose, along with that stupid threaded connector on top of the plug. Anyway got them back in tightened up straightened out the mixture so it would run, and it passed. Good for another year. Later | ||
| Blks1l |
They emission test motorcycles? They just started doing cars where I am a couple of years ago, I hope they don't start on the bikes. | ||
| Oldog |
its never a surprise to hear what kinda parts fall off the buells. i think iv lost four bar end mirrors, derby cover, oil filter (that was a mess!) and countless other nuts&bolts. There is a marvolous activity called preventative maintence it cancels most all walks home, and the embarasing events like derby bail, plug flight, and filter follies. if your Derby and Oil filter "fell off" perhaps some PM activities are in order, Tube frame buells are a little like aircraft fail to take care of them and they will bite you! Items lost todate, trim screws for battery cover (MY fault) and 1 banjo bolt, [ use red loctite ] exhaust flange nut A tube frame buell is not a japanese commuter that is GTO (Message edited by oldog on March 16, 2009) | ||
| Ophawk |
Yes here in the Phoenix area they have done bikes since the 70's, and they used to make you run it up on the rollers, which is a site to see, the rollers are right where you want to put your feet to steady the bike, now they just do a idle test. The only thing that has ever been lost from my bike is one of the two air cleaner screws for the CF Cover. As the joke goes that's why they chrome those parts, so their easier to find when they fall off. Never did find it though. | ||
| Dave_02_1200 |
So far no parts have fallen off. Loc-tight, vigilance, and safety wire work wonders to keep stuff on but I do have to check my muffler clamp that holds the race header to the mounting shoe before each ride because it sometimes comes loose, probably from vibration. I have been looking for an excuse to buy one of those cool drilling jigs to make it easier to do a good job of drilling nuts and bolts for safety wire. Anybody know who makes a good one for a fair price? | ||
| Eshardball |
Check www.PegausAutoRacing.com They carry all of that equipment and are very reasonably priced. | ||
| Sleez |
direct link; http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID =SAFETYWIRE |
