Tail tidy woes; rounded off screwhead, then dropped!

[Daps]

Hi Everyone

New to the forum; got my SV after passing my test on Monday and... ballsed up already!

Fitted the OEM seat cowl with no troubles this eve and then set to work on the tail tidy. Got both seats off and then, whilst trying to undo a really tight screw holding the rear fairing on, managed to round it off :(

It gets better though; after giving up and putting it back together, i managed to drop it!! Argh!! And then pulled a muscle picking it back up again!! Luckily I only broke the front right indicator casing (now gaffa taped together) and scratched the screen (which i'm replacing with a double double anyway). A £16 trip to Fleabay will sort the indicator however...

What do I do about the rounded off screw head?! Am i as stuck as i think i am?!

Yes I am a moron; what an introduction to the forum! :rolleyes:

Daps

P.S. Picture of my baby before I was a complete ditz...

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/9521/rsz115072009130.jpg

[Spiderman]

Hello and welcome, i see you got one of those "primer-only" finishes...so what colour you gonna paint it? :lol:

Sorry to hear of the drop, dont worry we've all done it and some of us more than once.

As for the screw you rounded off...hmmm.... got a pic? Ive heard of bolts being rounded off and there are ways to sort that.

[flymo]

Hi Daps, dont worry we've all been there at some point or other.

Can you post a pic of the rounded screw?

All depends on how much access you have to it but most important thing is to avoid damaging the fairing itself as you try to remove it. Normally I would attempt to cut a straight groove across the screw head and use a flat blade screwdriver to remove it.

Depends where the screw is and how much access you have to it.

[Specialone]

What head does the bolt have?
All's not lost, impact drivers a good tool as it bangs and well as twists (ooh err)
Maybe post a pic of the offending bolt.

[Kilted Ginger]

I recently did a complete strip and 4 of the bolts rounded, one i drilled out, one screw extractored, one chiseled and one mole grips, it really does depend on what type and where it is, like the others habe said a few good clear photos will help.

oh welcome btw.

[Daps]

I quite like it in silver, though granted it's a bit flat. And yes, bar the indicator my pride took the biggest dent (lesson learnt: no rear grabrail + pathetic weak arms = sitting on it and scooting it about rather than wheeling it from the side!)

I'll take a pic of the screwhead tomorrow - it's not *completely* rounded but after several attempts with different heads and some mole grips only made it worse, I thought i'd seek advice from people with more than half a brain-cell i.e. not me!

Thanks in advance guys

EDIT: it's a just a crosshead, pics to follow, ta!

[Spiderman]

if its easy to get at then i would suggest you go soak it in wd40 if you can. it'll help whatever you have to do to get it out and give it time to penetrate well.

Silver ones never look dirty tho, so you got it easy ;)

[joshmac]

Silver ones never look dirty tho, so you got it easy ;)
Raf's does! :lol:

[Daps]

Well, a stripped screw head is the least of my worries. I came off tonight :(

Luckily it was low speed so I'm mostly unhurt (right shoulder hurts and shaken up but nothing major), but God knows how much it'll cost to get my bike fixed. At <30mph I just lost concentration braking for a corner; the back locked up and by the time i got it together I was heading straight for the opposite kerb. Went up the kerb, down onto a side road, and then the bike flung me off and went down on its side.

A kind passer by ran over to check I was alright and picked the bike up for me. I *think* i've been lucky and, bar some minor cosmetic stuff (scuffed fairing and scratched exhaust), only the right hand bar and wing mirror will need replacing. The indicator was broken anyway after my last f*** up. It road home fine so I've got my fingers crossed that it won't be a horrendous repair bill :(

Damn.

[Holdup]

you dont seem to have much luck, glad your ok though

[Kuze]

Well, a stripped screw head is the least of my worries. I came off tonight :(

Luckily it was low speed so I'm mostly unhurt (right shoulder hurts and shaken up but nothing major), but God knows how much it'll cost to get my bike fixed. At <30mph I just lost concentration braking for a corner; the back locked up and by the time i got it together I was heading straight for the opposite kerb. Went up the kerb, down onto a side road, and then the bike flung me off and went down on its side.

A kind passer by ran over to check I was alright and picked the bike up for me. I *think* i've been lucky and, bar some minor cosmetic stuff (scuffed fairing and scratched exhaust), only the right hand bar and wing mirror will need replacing. The indicator was broken anyway after my last f*** up. It road home fine so I've got my fingers crossed that it won't be a horrendous repair bill :(

Damn.

Its the fairing that costs an arm and a leg, maybe a kidney too. Its like 450 for a new set (compared to my old kwaks (er6f) 150 per fairing).

Glad yer alrite tho.

[Daps]

Thanks guys. It's going in to be looked at tomorrow. I'll live with a slight war wound for £450 (a 2 inch scuff and nothing cracked). Unless the forks/wheels etc are bent, I think I might have got away with just a £65 clip on, a £16 indicator, maybe a new brake lever or two and seriously dented confidence. Fingers crossed.

[gerbrox]

You might be able to sort the fairing, I've used a bike medic in the past who can fill etc all manner of plastic things and painted really well so alls not lost.

Search for bike medic, I'm sure there a franchise or something, I can ask my local guy if required.

p.s. I with you on the confidence level!!!!

[Kuze]

Thanks guys. It's going in to be looked at tomorrow. I'll live with a slight war wound for £450 (a 2 inch scuff and nothing cracked). Unless the forks/wheels etc are bent, I think I might have got away with just a £65 clip on, a £16 indicator, maybe a new brake lever or two and seriously dented confidence. Fingers crossed.

If its scuffed look to repair it ave a word with someone who can do bodywork maybe spannerman can?

[Daps]

I've not heard of that before, thanks for the tips (great forum). I'll investigate once the oily metal bits have had the once over.

[kellyjo]

Hi and welcome to the forum :-)
You're not alone - I passed my test 3 weeks ago and then dropped my beloved the following day whilst manouvering at a virtual standstill - cracked indicator and scratched fairing but badly damaged pride and confidence. Don't worry and dwell about whats gone wrong, just make sure you learn from it (i now spend a lot of time considering where i'm going to turn and park) and get as many miles under your belt as you can as soon as possible (i've done a thousand since then and im improving every day), its the only way to learn.
Enjoy your bike and enjoy the forum, its a great place! xx

[Daps]

Well, I reckon I should go out and buy a lottery ticket :DTook it to Motorcycle Inspection Services in Aldershot and Dave gave it the once over. Amazingly, the bars and forks are still dead straight and the radiators are untouched. Even the brake levers are straight. Turns out only the bar end was bent (did its job very well) and Dave bent it back into shape. Ace bloke by the way; very knowledgeable and didn't charge me a dime.

Interestingly, whilst I was there, he was fixing a broken Bandit; the crash protector (bolted to the frame a la R&G) had bent up and caused a right mess. I need to get my motosliders on ASAP!

So final damage (excuse the pun) is a new bar end (£25ish i'm guessing?) new indicator (£18ish) and a touch up of the fairing plastics once she's motoslidered. The wing mirror is also scuffed so I’ll see if that can be touched up too or I might get a new one when I’m feeling flush. Even my shoulder and wrist feel fine today. All in all, lucky. Very lucky.

So, back on topic after all that... stripped screwhead! I'll treat it to a WD40 bath and post a photo when I get home later. As it seems to be made of cheese I reckon the corner of a chisel and a flat head screwdriver may do the trick but I'll see what you guys think first.

Thanks for all for the kind replies guys; I think the biggest repair job will be to my confidence - the back brake scares me now(!)

[dirtydog]

Aldershot, ah local to me then. MIS? that the bloke at Swiftest? Post up a picture and if you're still not sure pop round to mine and I'll give you a hand to get it out and you tail tidy on.

[maviczap]

Hello and welcome, i see you got one of those "primer-only" finishes...so what colour you gonna paint it? :lol:

Don't worry Silver is a great colour, the only problem is that you bought a Pointy one :laughat: Welcome :smt048

As for the rounded screw depends where it is an how easy it is to get to. Cut a slot in it with a hacksaw blade after treating it with Plus Gas ?

[maviczap]

So final damage (excuse the pun) is a new bar end (£25ish i'm guessing?)

I tidied my scuffed up bar end, by sticking a bolt though the middle and stuck the end of the bolt into a drill. Whacked the drill on and cleaned up the spinning bar end with emery paper. start off coarse grit then some finer grade. Once I'd got rid of all the imperfections, I gave it a spray with some black plasticoate spray or black smoothrite.

Only took about half an hour and looks as good as OEM

Depends on how bad the damage is?