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drain bolt in forks sheared flush

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retrobiker
Renault 5 Driver



Joined: 30 Apr 2011
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PostPosted: 23:33 - 29 Mar 2014    Post subject: drain bolt in forks sheared flush Reply with quote
into aluminium so cant really drill out

so left hand drill bit ? or heli coil ?

any tips
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Bezzer
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
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PostPosted: 00:00 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Re: drain bolt in forks sheared flush Reply with quote
retrobiker wrote:

so left hand drill bit ? or heli coil ?



,,,,,or even better just leave it alone, for how often it's used can't see the point of potentially buggering the fork leg up.
Never bothered to use them when I've had bikes with them , always take the top nut off to drain them plus you should have the forks vertical when doing the air gap which means you have to remove the legs anyway and a lot of the time you are doing it to replace knackered fork seals which means they are being stripped.
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Raffles
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PostPosted: 00:03 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Re: drain bolt in forks sheared flush Reply with quote
retrobiker wrote:
into aluminium so cant really drill out

so left hand drill bit ? or heli coil ?

any tips

What makes you think that screws that are screwed into aluminium can't be drilled out?
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retrobiker
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PostPosted: 09:27 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
well my thought was its soft metal and using right hand drill would tighten it causing it to split...... am I miles off ?
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Pete.
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PostPosted: 10:08 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
If it does anything it'll just drive the threaded part into the fork leg. Shouldn't do any harm just to replace it.
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Teflon-Mike
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Joined: 01 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: 10:13 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
Drilling steel screws out of ali is not un-do-able. Main problem is not that they will necesserily get screwed in and split the case, but that the drill will 'ride off' the screw and you will end up drilling into the case not the screw.
Trick is to flat the sheared face with flat-file to give least chance of drill flexing off center, then center punching accurately and drilling very straight, very carefully to go down the centre of the screw and not run off into the threads or alli.
Ie: leg off the bike, in a vice and done with a pillar drill, for preferance.

BUT, I'd follow Bezza's advice. I rarely bother with the drain plugs, to get the oil out. Loose the cap, drop the leg, turn it upside down to drain, then flush & fill. The real 'crud' that sediments at the bottom of the leg rarely comes out the drain plug anyway.

So if it ent a real problem - dont risk making one trying to fix it.
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gavbriggs
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PostPosted: 10:54 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
Is there no way of turning the internals so as to move the bolt through?
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retrobiker
Renault 5 Driver



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PostPosted: 14:22 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gavbriggs wrote:
Is there no way of turning the internals so as to move the bolt through?



not with you there mate....... tell me more what you mean
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G
The Voice of Reason



Joined: 02 Feb 2002
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PostPosted: 14:56 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
In most forks I've seen the drain bolt seals with a copper washer and is bolted into a bit of the internals.

So, I'd have thought leaving it as a stud (if I'm understanding correctly) would mean no oil and stuff bouncing about in the forks - basically only one side of your forks working.
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Raffles
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PostPosted: 21:27 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
G wrote:
In most forks I've seen the drain bolt seals with a copper washer and is bolted into a bit of the internals.

So, I'd have thought leaving it as a stud (if I'm understanding correctly) would mean no oil and stuff bouncing about in the forks - basically only one side of your forks working.

I think that the OP is talking about the drain screws that some (mainly older) bikes have for draining oil from the forks, not the screws that fasten the damper unit to the lower leg.
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G
The Voice of Reason



Joined: 02 Feb 2002
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PostPosted: 22:45 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
And if that's the case, I'd leave it providing it was sealed ok - plenty of other ways to get oil out.
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gavbriggs
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PostPosted: 22:57 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
retrobiker wrote:
Gavbriggs wrote:
Is there no way of turning the internals so as to move the bolt through?



not with you there mate....... tell me more what you mean


The bolt goes through the fork bottom and into the damper or whatever it is, on my bandit it's a cartridge. Now to get the bolt out you have give it a sharp turn while it's clamped, I do it while still on the bike, so if it's stuck into the damper/cartridge then turning that should take the bolt all the way through then you can take the bolt out of the cartridge,

ged it?
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Islander
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PostPosted: 23:01 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
G wrote:
And if that's the case, I'd leave it providing it was sealed ok - plenty of other ways to get oil out.


I'd agree with this but do keep an eye on it. With the head sheared off there's nothing (apart from corrosion or other stuff on the threads) to keep it tight. It's possible that it may start to work loose in which case you'll have to deal with it. Thumbs Up
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Islander
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PostPosted: 23:05 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gavbriggs wrote:


The bolt goes through the fork bottom and into the damper or whatever it is, on my bandit it's a cartridge. Now to get the bolt out you have give it a sharp turn while it's clamped, I do it while still on the bike, so if it's stuck into the damper/cartridge then turning that should take the bolt all the way through then you can take the bolt out of the cartridge,

ged it?


That's not a drain plug though - that's the damper rod bolt and if it were sheared the oil would leak out.
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G
The Voice of Reason



Joined: 02 Feb 2002
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PostPosted: 23:56 - 30 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yep; would seem it's probably a CB550 from his previous posts and part 23 seems to be a specific drain plug.

https://images.cmsnl.com/img/partslists/honda-cb550k3-four-england-front-fork_bigma000085f07_5945.gif

I was actually just thinking that I'd be tempted to stick some silicone over it anyway, maybe a teeny bit of weld or just some glue on the end first, to also stop it vibrating into the fork and causing problems.
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retrobiker
Renault 5 Driver



Joined: 30 Apr 2011
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PostPosted: 19:46 - 31 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
that's exactly it, very old fashioned drain screw

realise I could drain it from top, but would have like to fix it properly, drilling it out and helicoiling it

perhaps not such a good idea in hindsight
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gavbriggs
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PostPosted: 21:38 - 31 Mar 2014    Post subject: Reply with quote
Islander wrote:
Gavbriggs wrote:


The bolt goes through the fork bottom and into the damper or whatever it is, on my bandit it's a cartridge. Now to get the bolt out you have give it a sharp turn while it's clamped, I do it while still on the bike, so if it's stuck into the damper/cartridge then turning that should take the bolt all the way through then you can take the bolt out of the cartridge,

ged it?


That's not a drain plug though - that's the damper rod bolt and if it were sheared the oil would leak out.


Ahhhh that's because i don't know much about bikes and didn't realise it was a dedicated drain plug!
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