Well,

I just got finished changing my fork seals for a second time because I put them on backwards the first time (backwards as in being upside down). After I get finished, I am happy because I even have my rim back from being straightened. So I started to put the rotors back on and didn't pay attention to the new sign in the book next to the torque requirements of the rotor bolt.

So, as I start to torque my bolts (and applied a locking agent), I get to number 2 and the head broke off. So, I think I am screwed (get it, screwed, lol), but remembered that I had a set of the Grabit Pro bolt extractors kit and started thinking. After reading the instructions, I got to work. Well, I am lucky/blessed that I got it to work and got the broken screw out.

Now I have to wait another week to ride because I have to order some new bolts for my rotors. I am not taking any chances and will just order all 12 and pay the 30.00.

I'll post some pics a little later.

Hopefully no one else goes through this and use new rotor bolts every time you take them off. I think it is better to be safe than sorry.

I guess I made two mistakes here. One, I used locking agent (medium blue) when I wasn't supposed to because the book doesn't specify it, and two, I didn't pay any attention to the new sign when I was reading the page in the owners manual.

Just my F4i gripe of the day, week, month, and first quarter of the year!

 

Good to hear you got your forks put back together again Thanks for the heads up on the rotor bolts. Some guy was selling a set of used ones on e-Bay; no wonder why...

 

Well, to top it off, I almost screwed up my fork seals again (at least one of them). I put the right seal back on and started banging on it, but forgot that I didn't seat the backup ring first. So I took the seal back off and since I was trying the trick where you use your old seal on top of the new seal while banging on it with some PVC pipe, I got the seals mixed up when I laid them down. Luckily, I was able to realize that the seal I changed a couple of weeks ago would have more oil on it and it is how I made my choice (although I used a little oil on the new seal to help it seat better).

Tomorrow I am going to cut some holes in my plastic for my new Vortex frame sliders. I hope nothing goes wrong with that. I am going to used the play dough method and try my skills there.

 

Here are two pictures. Sorry that the quality is bad. I took this inside my house and the light along with the flash had way too much light for the picture to come out right. At least you get the idea.





I can see why the manual doesn't say use a bolt locking agent. I was just screwing a bolt back into the side where the one bolt came off to make sure that the threading wasn't messed up (thank goodness it wasn't) and they are very tight already. That alone does make sense as to why these are one time use only bolts. I mean, you probably can reused these bolts, but from this experience, I won't. These bolts are much softer than the other bolts used on the bike.

Well, hopefully this helps someone.

 

Here are some better pictures:









I'm know I am probably overdoing it, but it is just good to know that I am not totally f*ck*d like I thought I was.

 

fork seals, how hard it that to do? I dont need them as of yet, but maybe someday. how long of a process?

 

I stripped a nut on the sprocket carrier. That sucked. Then i got new bolts and nuts and they started to strip again. Make sure that you torque in stages, the especially with a series of fasteners like the sprocket carrier nuts or any of the rotor mounting bolts. Start with like 30-50% torque all the way around then bump it up and put a bit more, then dial in the final torque and get them all right.

Stripped bolts suck and they are EXPENSIVE. the six bolts and nuts for the carrier costed me 30 bucks...

 

Thanks for the advise. I started to tighten the bolts like I do my lug nuts on my car: start at 1 then 3; 2 then 4; 3 then 6; but like you said, it is probably better to do it in stages and it does make a lot of sense.

Well, these bolts cost $2.62 from bike www.bandit.com and two other local dealers are the same online. However, the closest local dealer to me, when I purchased the fork seals, they were about $2.00 more (which isn't bad considering that they usually can get the part in like 2-3 days, instead of waiting like 10 days from bikebandit because bikebandit usually have to wait for cross-shipment).

Now that I am reading the manual again, it states to replace the bolts with new ones, kind of like how it stats to replace the fork o-rings with new ones (as being recommended depending on wear, not required). I think that the manual emphasizes on replace if necessary, because for parts that you absolutely have to replace if removed (for example, wheel bearings) there will be a side note next to the installation instructions. There is no side note next to the installation of the rotor bolts. The book also states to replace the caliper mounting bolts with new ones too. I am probably going to just follow the recommendations, even though not required to be on the safe side and order all new bolts for the rotor because of my experience yesterday. I am debating on the caliper mounting bolts.

Well, from my experience, they are not hard at all. What I did was completely disregarded the note during the installation procedure from the book where it clearly states insert the seal with the writing side up because I had a really hard time driving them in that way (you can also see on the seal that the writing side is flat and the other side is contoured to reflect the fluid and prevent from going through the seal). Here was a lesson learned for me to have the right tools! Now, to be clear, I do have all of the tools I needed except for the seal driver. I tried the PVC pipe method and it wasn't driving the seals in.

After consulting with someone on another forum, he told me to make sure whatever homemade seal driver I use, the tool have to hit on the outer lip of the seal. My tool was hitting the inner lip instead and is why it was so hard. Yesterday, I used the same tool, (PVC coupler extender found at Home Depot) but I flipped it and started driving it and it worked (because it was hitting the outer lip). I also used a 2ft long 2" PVC pipe and banged on it with a mallet, and used the old seal on top of the new one to help drive it in.

All in all, it was/is an easy job. My first time, I took about 3 hours while reading the manual's directions. After the first fork, the second fork was even easier. Yesterday, it took about an hour total to do both forks because I already had the experience of what to do from the first time. Just make sure that you follow the manuals instructions on the height when reinstalling the forks and the torque tightening for all of the bolts. Also, another good thing to measure is on the fork cap bolt, count the number of lines (or measure if easier) that you can see, so when you reinstall the fork cap bolt, it will be the same. I know before I started, mine were off by a little bit. My left was 4 lines and my right was at 5 1/2 (don't know what the ramifications are for this, but I made the count after install 5 for both).

Damn, I'm writing a book.

 

lol, thanks for the info. Ive been slowly trying to wheelie. Havnt set the bike down hard yet, but fear the day when I might set it down to hard and have a seal start leaking. Ive goe 14,XXX and my forks still seem to be in good shape. thanks for the info.

 

Okay, this is my official rant at Honda for doing this, or should I say for not doing this. I guess I am just too new to motorcycles to understand, but I really don't know why rotor bolts are one-time use only bolts? I gave it another shot (even after buying 8 new rotor bolts--only because the Honda shop only had 8 instead of 12 in stock) to see if my old bolts would work fine. Well, another old bolt broke off when I tried to torque it to the correct amount (14lbs).

I also probably screwed up 4 of my new 8 bolts because I torqued 4 new bolts on one side, then decided to try one of the old bolts, and that is when the old bolt head snapped right off. So instead of me losing 4 of 8 new bolts, I re-tightened them and only torqued them to 10lbs and still used two old bolts and just hand tightened them. I hope I won't have any problems, but to me this is odd. I guess it does make sense to replace these bolts if the rotors come off, but I'm sure that Honda could have used bolts that are stronger and lasts longer. It is probably just a norm for motorcycles of all types.

After I ride for a short distance, I will check to see if the bolts are coming loose or anything and will just re-order 12 new bolts.

This is ridiculous!

Just my rant.