knackered bolt, remedy?

well my suzuki gel seat has arrived but can i get the thing on?

NO! because I can't get the old one off.

went to undo the bolts to take the side panels off to get to the seat bolts and the allen thread wotsit on one of them has rounded off.

any known cures for soft suzuki bolt disease? will need to replace the bolt, but how do i now get the thing off?

[timwilky]

Use a big drill to drill off the head.

There should still be enough meat left to put a big pair of mole grips into the bolt to undo it.

However, I am suprised that these would have been tightened so much as to deform the socket head. Make sure you have a set of decent 3/8 SD allen keys for your workshop use, they should not deform and damage your bolt heads.

Same thing happened tp Cloggsy the other day. He hammered a torx bit into the allen head and undid it that way.

chuck the original allen keys in the cut, and go to Machine Mart or Halfords and buy a small set of sockets which include torx and allen keys. That bolt should not be so tight anyway as it only holds the plastic covers on along with the small plastic clip.

if it is tight borrow an impact driver and tap it lightly.

[BillyC]

Will,

sorry about not replying to your message last night - was at the theatre.

I think Wheelnut has the correct approach - buy a cheap torx bit that doesn't quite fit into the bolt. You then want to gently hammer it into the head of the bolt. Once it's got some purchase, you should be able to use it to remove the bolt.

If that fails... only then should you fall back on the drilling method.

Either way, you'll need some new bolts - drop Joe a PM

Originally Posted by OF.uk

Same thing happened tp Cloggsy the other day. He hammered a torx bit into the allen head and undid it that way.

It worked though

Just got 2 new stainless bolts through from Chewy this morning

[johnnyrod]

My top tip is to use an old flat-blade screwdriver and a hammer - this should work for anything with a head still on it. Put the screwdriver intot he side of the bolt/screw head at a tangent , and so it is as close to 90 degrees to the bolt as possible, then tap with a hammer. Work your way around it if need be so you're not trying too hard to bend the bolt be hammering in the same place. It can be difficult getting the screwdriver to bit into the screw head to start with, use a cold chisel to notch it if you have one. Usually with the fasteners on newish bikes like these they just need a bit of persuasion to start moving.

well, gel seat now fitted. was a bit of a tight fit but with the helping hand of a ninja rider from the office across the street where the bike is parked, it is all on.


thanks for the advice, the torx bit worked a treat.

Originally Posted by will

the torx bit worked a treat.

Originally Posted by OF.uk

Same thing happened tp Cloggsy the other day. He hammered a torx bit into the allen head and undid it that way.

that works on broken bleed nipples to if your brave