Footrest Failure

[patrick_777]

On my way home from work this morning (03:00), I thought my shift lever was sticking to the top of my boot. It shifted okay and there weren't any other drive problems, so I rode it on home and decided to take a look. Apparently, one of the bolts attaching the front footrest to the frame vibrated out and the other one was on its way.

After getting out later and looking at it, and the remaining bolt, I decided to head to Lowe's and try to find a replacement, which was pretty easy, except it was Imperial instead of Metric. No big deal, the threads were still the same, right?

I got home and began screwing in the bolt to the frame-hole, which seemingly worked just fine for about 3/4 of the way down. Then it started hitting some resistance. In a thankfully rare moment of absolute stupidity and stubbornness, I twisted a little too hard and sheared the bolt head off at the frame. I realize that I should have probably gone ahead and ordered the proper (read: tempered) bolts from BikeBandit instead of going for an alternative, but as mentioned before, I'm lazy and apparently impatient as well.

So, now what?

My first inclination is to drill out the hole and retap it, but being tapped into the frame is a variable I'm not certain about.

My second thought is to have someone come out and simply weld the peg brackets onto the frame permanently.

Here are the pics I took after the fact. Click through for more detail.







Any suggestions here?

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by patrick_777

After getting out later and looking at it, and the remaining bolt, I decided to head to Lowe's and try to find a replacement, which was pretty easy, except it was Imperial instead of Metric. No big deal, the threads were still the same, right?

In a thankfully rare moment of absolute stupidity and stubbornness, I twisted a little too hard and sheared the bolt head off at the frame.

No the threads are NOT the same.

Twice in one day.........rare ?? :oops:

Where are the actual threads? If they are "right there", within 1/2 inch of where it broke, then the solution is drill and tap.
If they are WAY down inside the hole near the frame then........????

Either way, I think you should get the right, proper size bolt and take it with you to a machine shop where they can do it right. Don't really want to chance a rare third occurrance, do we ??

It is possible, and I'm guessing somewhat likely at this point, that it will need to be drilled out to the next LARGER standard metric size and a larger bolt installed.

[Water Warrior 2]

Oh my. Betcha won't do that again. No, I am not laughing at you and pointing. Been there done that many moons ago. You must always go metric on Japanese bikes. Even a mod that is entirely built from scratch should be metric just in case you need to tighten or adjust on the road. The bike tool kit will save you. No need for 2 different sets of tools on the bike.
Back to the footrest. With a bunch of luck you may be lucky enough to drill it out without destroying the threads( a slightly smaller drill is used)and use an easyout to remove the broken bolt. In a perfect world it would then be very thin material with threads on the outside surface. If you have never done this, find some one who has and explain the situation.
To prevent future mishaps it might be a good idea to use Loctite on all the bolts you can easily remove and reinstall. The blue Loctite will work nicely. Keep us updated.

[patrick_777]

This could have very easily gone into the Lessons Learned forum. Lately, it seems I'm going to be the one to fill that forum up.

[bigwonton]

Well, looks like you learned your lesson - a hard one at that. I've found the best place to find metric bolts is at the auto parts store or else McMaster-Carr will pretty much have anything you need.

Maybe go to Sears and get an extractor set and try to back it out... you may need to re-tap (or at least chase) the threads afterwards.

[Orpheus]

Isn't there also a difference in the pitch of the threads on metric (like 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5)? For example, you could buy three different 14mm bolts and they can have three different spacings between the threads? Or am I just making stuff up?

[jonathan180iq]

I'd have it just welded on. You can probably get it done for a song.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by patrick_777

My first inclination is to drill out the hole and retap it, but being tapped into the frame is a variable I'm not certain about.

Here's a lesson learned I can pass on:

If you think you have a problem now, it gets 10X worse if you break off an easy-out or a tap bit in the hole you have drilled into the broken bolt. :cuss:

If you decide to do this yourself, be careful with the extractor/tap so as not to make matters worse!

[davtnn]

This sounds like a job for an experienced machinist or a very experienced mechanic... so having someone else do it might just be a good investment ... (just a thought )

[davidsuserid]

I know you said "sheared the bolt head at the frame", but if the bolt was only 3/4 of the way in, is it really sheared off at the frame, or is there still some bolt sticking out? I ask because if there is enough to grab it with some locking pliers, just back it out that way. Lube it up real good with penetrating oil, then go to work. Since you used a standard bolt, i would also recommend re-tapping with the proper metric tap, if the way i suggested works.