...this was the other kind of day.
I bought my Buell brand new about eight years ago and it's been pretty reliable. It's gone through a couple of clutch cables and I think its on it its third (supposedly indestructible) drive-belt.
The wheel bearings are very exposed, as are the bearings on the drive-belt pulley and I've had to replace them a couple of times. But essentially, it's been reliable and I haven't had to do very much work to it.
However, the build quality isn't so good and eight years in a damp climate has taken its toll. A lot of the powder-coating is flaking and the nickle fasteners are corroded so its well overdue a clean up. It's not a big job, just a respray on some of the flaky parts and a graphic wrap for the bodywork.
I've never had cause to remove the front mudguard and when I first attempted this a couple of months back I discovered that the 4 stainless bolts holding it on were stuck fast. Since then I've been soaking the bolts with penetrating oil hoping to loosen them up.
Today I tried to remove the bolts. And despite using a series of escalating tried and tested techniques I only managed to get one of the four bolts out successfully....
Firstly I heat-cycled the bolts a few times soaking them in penetrating oil each time. Then I tried to tap them loose. Then I tried an impact driver. And finally, I went at them with an impact gun, which torqued the heads off three of the bolts leaving the stainless shafts stuck in the aluminium fork-leg.
So the next step will be to try to drill the remainders of the bolts out with a titanium or cobalt drill bit.
...some days the bear eats you.
#Buell #BuellXB #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
I bought my Buell brand new about eight years ago and it's been pretty reliable. It's gone through a couple of clutch cables and I think its on it its third (supposedly indestructible) drive-belt.
The wheel bearings are very exposed, as are the bearings on the drive-belt pulley and I've had to replace them a couple of times. But essentially, it's been reliable and I haven't had to do very much work to it.
However, the build quality isn't so good and eight years in a damp climate has taken its toll. A lot of the powder-coating is flaking and the nickle fasteners are corroded so its well overdue a clean up. It's not a big job, just a respray on some of the flaky parts and a graphic wrap for the bodywork.
I've never had cause to remove the front mudguard and when I first attempted this a couple of months back I discovered that the 4 stainless bolts holding it on were stuck fast. Since then I've been soaking the bolts with penetrating oil hoping to loosen them up.
Today I tried to remove the bolts. And despite using a series of escalating tried and tested techniques I only managed to get one of the four bolts out successfully....
Firstly I heat-cycled the bolts a few times soaking them in penetrating oil each time. Then I tried to tap them loose. Then I tried an impact driver. And finally, I went at them with an impact gun, which torqued the heads off three of the bolts leaving the stainless shafts stuck in the aluminium fork-leg.
So the next step will be to try to drill the remainders of the bolts out with a titanium or cobalt drill bit.
...some days the bear eats you.
#Buell #BuellXB #Mercenary #MercenaryGarage
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| Buell XB12S Lightning |
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| Ancient and indestructible impact driver. This is like a lightsaber to Yamaha owners.. |
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| Impact gun. |
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| Grinding paste helps the torx tool grip the head of the bolt. |
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| Arse! |
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