| Author | Message | ||
     Af226 |
I have a 00 X1. I was trying to tilt my handlebars and get a little more height, the rear hex head bolts are seized. The front ones no problem but the back ones closest to the tank will not let go. I have had the bike 8 years and never touched them before. Any idea's...thinking heat?? Thanks | ||
| Britchri10 |
Try penetrating oil before heat. I had a similar problem when I added bar risers to my '99 X1. The penetrating oil worked for me. (Also, a big handle on the hex wrench) Good luck! Chris C | ||
| Fasted |
manual impact wrench (hammer driven) and penetrant | ||
| Lager |
The rear bolts can be stuck in two different places. One is in the upper clamps. The other is in the threaded portion of the bolt thats screwed into your upper triple tree. You can usually tell which buy applying a good amount of pressure on the bolt and see if it feels stiff or springy. If it feels stiff, it probably seized in the upper bar clamp.Application of some good penetrating oil in the hex head,leaving for a few days and hammer type impact might loosened it up. If the bolt feels springy when a great amount of force is applied, its moving in the upper clamp and the threads are stuck in the upper tree. This is worse. Penetrating oil might work but doubt it because it probably due to corrosion due to two dissimilar metals being in close contact for so long.Stainless bolt,alum tree.If it were to break loose, good chance it might pull all the threads out of the tree. Thats bad. Heat will expand metal, allowing a stuck bolt to be removed, but enough heat to pull this trick off will also burn off the coating thats applied to the alum parts creating an ugly piece. My suggestion? If you rotate the bars forward to add height,you also rotate them forward,making you lean more forward,the will defeat the purpose. Plus this also puts the grips at a funny upturned angle that really is uncomfortable. If you want a taller bar and are willing to go thru all the hassle its going to you to get there, plan on buying a taller bar. Or,you have already had the bike for the past 8 years, live with it and hope you never bend the bar and HAVE to replace it. | ||
| Azrael_cervale |
Alot of time when I cant get a bolt or screw to back out I find that screwing it in just a fraction works and then lets me unscrew it, can't explain it exactly but I usually use it when bolts start to strip and this gives me enough movement to break the sieze. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Don't worry, all is not lost. I pulled out the threads on one of the four on my upper triple in '03. Helicoil installed then. It's held up fine to numerous bar changes and adjustments since then. I think I still have the helicoil kit I used, so I can check the size and post it up later - should your threads fail to remain intact. I think I picked it up at the auto parts store. Can you apply heat directly to the stuck bolts, see if getting them to expand a bit, then cool will help them break loose? Perhaps insert a junk allen you don't mind applying a torch to, that way the heat can conduct through the tool to the stuck bolt? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I had no issues loosening my X1 clamps when I replaced my bars. My method? I threw my bike down on the highway at 75. Of course, I wouldn't have replaced the bars in the first place if they weren't bent out of shape..... Actually, yeah, you should just get penetrating oil instead. | ||
| Sdecp |
Nate: I would like to hear more of that story! | ||
| Af226 |
So I started the penetrating oil. I have not tried tighten slightly. One bolt is totally seized the other turns slightly under great force. The front two move no problem. The main reason I noticed was that I was sitting on the bike fooling around and the bars pulled back a little and I needed to push them forward, as the weird angle felt goofie. I'm hoping to get it apart and tighten them up evenly. Thanks for the help. I was also gonna get a 1" riser from American Sport Bike but I guess it outta the question if I can't get it apart  | ||
| Britchri10 |
I put the 1 inch risers on mine & noticed a big difference in comfort. (I am old & have a bad back!) | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
My long story: Got onto Route 128 and took it up to 70-ish pretty quickly on a chilly day. Had to hit the brakes hard almost right away. Dunlop D208 like wood when cold. Locked up the front end like a newb without any warning. Nothing on pavement to "help" my lockup. Just cold D208 tires. Lessons: ATGATT = Ride home and fix your bike instead of broken human. D208 = never again. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
OH! I actually thought of something useful! (Possibly) Tighten the fronts back up THEN try loosening the rears. I had a similar issue with mu derby cover on the primary. Perhaps the force is out of balance and wedging the clamp crookedly? |
