Broke bolt off in the head.

[gypsyspit]

So ive been in the process of stripping down my bike for that rat bob kinda look. I removed the cylinder heads, and I was in the process of removing their brackets when. I turned the bolt on the left side on the bike, the right bolt to the bracket. I broke the bolt clean off. My question being. For a lack of better words... How screwed might I be? My bike fired right up as normal. Attached is a picture.. http://i45.tinypic.com/2nltoqo.jpg Note my head gasket has been leaking... the mechanic that installed my tires said it runs great, but needs taken care of at some point..

[dentheman]

A good machinist should be able to get that bolt out. That's what 'I' would do, and replace the head gasket at that time as well.

[OldNTired]

So ive been in the process of stripping down my bike for that rat bob kinda look. I removed the cylinder heads, and I was in the process of removing their brackets when. I turned the bolt on the left side on the bike, the right bolt to the bracket. I broke the bolt clean off. My question being. For a lack of better words... How screwed might I be? My bike fired right up as normal. Attached is a picture.. http://i45.tinypic.com/2nltoqo.jpg Note my head gasket has been leaking... the mechanic that installed my tires said it runs great, but needs taken care of at some point..


They make tools to remedy that. You just drill a hole through the bolt,
insert the removal tool, and remove the bolt.
Or, as dentheman says, take it to a machinist.
I wouldn't recommend a helicoil for it, not sure that
it could take the torque.

[gypsyspit]

I havent taken the head apart, but judging by the amount of thread left on the bolt there may be aprox 1/8th inch of bolt left. Im hoping to just square it off and wrench it out *fingers crossed*

[Water Warrior 2]

I would be tempted to let a professional tackle the job first. You may make the removal more difficult without the knowledge and skill of some one who does it for a living.

[jonathan180iq]

Plus, they probably have specialized tools for tiny places and for getting into those nooks and crannies.

[Road_Clam]

Bolts will always snap near the base of the threads. You "might" be fortunate enough to disassemble the head cover, then clamp a pair of vice grips on the remainder of the broken stud and remove. I strongly suggest spraying PB Blaster on the broken stud for several days to help break it free. Your only other alternative is to have it machined out. Do NOT waste your time with "easy-outs" they SUCK and never work, and to make matters worse hardened steel easy outs frequently snap and leave a chunk imbedded in your broken stud, now you have NO choice but to use solid carbide tooling to remove the easy out. Trust me on this one I do CNC machining for a living, and I frequently need to extract corroded broken studs and bolts.

[alantf]

hardened steel easy outs frequently snap and leave a chunk imbedded in your broken stud, :plus1: Yup...I too found out the hard way.