Frame Slider Bolt Length

[blitzcraig]

Hey all! So I got my motovation frame sliders in the mail yesterday and had a go and putting these suckers on. When I took the original bolt out of the bike, I noticed that it seemed shorter than the bolt motovation sent me. So I screwed in the slider with its longer bolt and it didn't want to screw in anymore than about half way. Then it got a little stuck in unscrewing it and when it finally came back out one of the threads in the middle was a little screwed up. It is a 100mm bolt (so the specs say, I will measure it when I get back to my place). Is that too long? Was I doing something wrong? Any advise would be most appreciated.

 

[oldtimer]

The original bolt should be shorter than your new bolt because the new one doesn't sit flush against the engine. HOWEVER, the number of threads on the new bolt should be the same if not more than the original bolt.

I also got the motovation sliders and did not have a problem putting them on my 2008. I screwed the bolt in by hand to make sure I wasn't going to cross-thread anything.

Did you hand-thread the bolt initially or just stick it in and start cranking away with a socket? I really hope you didn't mess up the threads in the engine mount...

I took pictures of the bolt length against a regular ruler. I'll post them up tonight to help you compare against your new bolt....

 

[blitzcraig]

Well I thought I was pretty careful with screwing it in. Perhaps I was too rough with it, though the original bolt went back in just fine. It went in a good inch or so before running into trouble, and I definitely didn't force it any further when it began to show resistance. It just got a little stuck coming out, which required a bit of force unfortunately to get out. Sigh. So you were able to hand spin it in there?

 

[Tailgate]

Good that you're being cautious! You can easily strip your engine mount threads even more if the new slider bolts don't "bite" as many threads as the stock engine mount bolts and you torque to 40ft lbs per specs. I have a 2007 FZ6 and my T-rex slider bolts are supposed to be 100mm in length (this is longer than the stock engine mount bolts due to the slider design). The threads should be M10x1.25. If you want to be sure you have the same threads I recommend buying a M10x1.25 nut at a hardware and see if matches your Motovation slider bolts. Then make sure your Motovation slider bolt threads extend (after insertion into slider) into the engine mount threads just as much (or a little more). Other Motovation slider owners will probably do a better post than I can on this since I have a different brand.

 

[blitzcraig]

Thanks very much for the info. I am going to try and run home for lunch and try again (carefully) on the other side. Hope I didn't strip anything, though I would think if I did the original bolt would have trouble going back in, but it was fine. I don't think I was even able to go further in the threads than what the stock bolt could reach before it ran into trouble, from where I unscrewed it out of there.

 

[oldtimer]

Is it possible the motovation bolt that you used already had bad threads prior to you trying to get it in?

Yeah - I was able to hand spin it all the way in (using a socket extension). After I got it hand-tight, I used a torque wrench to tighten it up.

 

[blitzcraig]

I don't think so, they were brand new right out ofthe bag. It's just very strange because I was pretty careful. Now that one of the bolts has a slightly damaged thread, would it be bad to try and screw it in again? Or is that a dumb question?

 

[oldtimer]

I really wouldn't try to screw it in with damaged threads. Email or Call motovation and ask them to send you another bolt. If they charge you for it, curse them over the phone and remind them they charged you $98 shipped for the frame sliders - they can afford to ship a replacement bolt to you for free.

 

[blitzcraig]

yep, think i kinda screwed the pooch on this one. i took the stock bolt out and looked in there and saw a few metal flakes. what is interesting though is that while the motovation bolt wont go in all the way, the stock bolts go in fine. oh well, no sliders for me. i'm just not going to mess with it any further. guess i just won't drop the bike . i'm going to drop in a k&n filter this afternoon so i'm going to shift my focus to screwing the bike up that way. so i have two questions please:

1. how would you fix broken threads, just for my information? can you have it re-threaded or would you have to replace parts? cost?

2. what has been people's experience with insurance? say you wipe out and the bike is a total loss... then you get a new bike. has anyone seen their rates jump astronomically?

 

[oldtimer]

Here are the pictures I promised.

You can retap (re-thread) the engine mount hole or I think someone on this forum just used a longer bolt and put a nut on the other side to secure it.

Hopefully someone can chime in on the wrecked my bike, survived and managed to get a new one using insurance money.

 

[blitzcraig]

Thanks for those pics, yeah that confirms that the bolts were the right length. I just don't know what the problem is. The guys at Motovation said the bolts could be defective, and they are sending me new bolts free of charge. Before I fool around any further in there, I am going to take it to the local shop here and see about rethreading the holes and have them pop the sliders in. So note to anyone putting those things in... BE CAREFUL!

I did successfully install a K&N filter yesterday however, so I am feeling better about myself :Flash:

 

[oldtimer]

Did you try to use the other motovation bolt in the same hole? Maybe you can get that one in without any problems. Then you can wait on the replacement bolt to use for the other side.

If your stock bolt goes back in the hole, I wouldn't re-thread quite yet. Just be gentle when you put in the bolt and at any sign of stopping force, back it out nice and slow.

 

[blitzcraig]

just got the bike back from the shop. they said the problem was that the bike should be up on a lift to get the bolts in? i had never read that before, but they said it had something to do with the engine weight distribution. they ran a punch through there just in case but said it didn't need it. i've got to believe them, because they got them in and i sure as heck couldn't. i dunno, i had them check everything else out on the bike while i was there as it hasn't ever had a check up since i bought it new in april of this year. im a n00b on this thing so it's a little piece of mind. i did do the oil and air filter myself and will continue to do so. i just need to get better with understanding other basic maintenance. to those who have a few thousand miles on the bike and wonder if their chain needs tightening (which is what i thought), you can relax because they said it was fine.

in any case... 30 min to 2009 pics! bring it on.

 

[Cloned]

Were the bolts that Motovation sent you the same length? I just got some in from Puig and the two bolts they sent are two different lengths. I'm wondering if this is normal?

 

[oldtimer]

Were the bolts that Motovation sent you the same length? I just got some in from Puig and the two bolts they sent are two different lengths. I'm wondering if this is normal?

Yes - the motovation sliders included new bolts that were the same length as each other.

Are the Puig sliders different between the left and the right? If so, that could account for the different bolt lengths?

 

[Cloned]

Yes - the motovation sliders included new bolts that were the same length as each other.

Are the Puig sliders different between the left and the right? If so, that could account for the different bolt lengths?

No. The sliders are the same lengths, but the bolts are different. I sent them an email asking about it, but I figured I'd ask here to see if you guys could give me an answer first

 

[Tailgate]

FYI, it's probably exceedingly difficult to find a long 10Mx1.25x110mm length (or longer) socket head bolt (but they do exist). I've found that usually the longer metric 10mm socket head bolts jump to a 1.5 (coarse thread). If you find that your threads are toast and want to install a very long bolt with a nut on the end you'll probably end up having to go to a different thread than the stock 1.25. And, usually, this means drilling out a slightly bigger hole or tapping different threads (whether SAE or metric). Having slider thread probs sucks. Personally, I DIM (do it MYSELF) because I don't want any "surprises" should I have to remove the slider sometime in the future and discover that the installation was a ship shod, one-time, DGAF, stripped-threads-after-one-use installation.

 

[timbo]

just got the bike back from the shop. they said the problem was that the bike should be up on a lift to get the bolts in? i had never read that before, but they said it had something to do with the engine weight distribution. they ran a punch through there just in case but said it didn't need it. i've got to believe them, because they got them in and i sure as heck couldn't.

Don't feel bad. I just put the motivation sliders on my bike. Lemme guess. It was the right leg side of the bike that the bolt wouldn't go in? I had the exact same problem and ended up messing up the threads on the motivation bolt. I was pissed and didn't want to hassle with motivation so I took my dremmel tool and carved out the threads on the original bolt. Worked perfectly! I've got frame sliders now! (I'd like to think the idea to use the dremmel was because I'm a genius, but I think it was actually divine inspiration...)

Note: for anyone who buys the frame sliders from motivation. BEFORE you try to put the right side one on, put the bolt and washer into the frame slider and line it up next to the bolt + washer that came out of the frame. (Line them up so that the parts that would be hitting the frame when tight are lined up next to each other). You'll see the motivation bolt is about 3mm TOO LONG (the thread length is ok though)!!! Solution: Take the washers off off the original bolts from each side and put them BOTH on the right side frame slider along with the washer that motivation provides. I'm wondering if this is how the shop that Craig took his to got it to work...

 

[blitzcraig]

actually, you're right it was the right side i tried first. kind of annoying to have to take it in to the shop, but i figure i need to establish a relationship with a good shop i can trust around here, plus the sell AMSoil, so, you know. gotta get me some of that now and again. but after swallowing the cost of the frame sliders plus the installation, i almost want the thing to go over once so i get my money's worth ;-)

 

[krim]

Thanks guys for the information. I just got mine in and was looking for the torque spec.

Where can i find it ?