2-Ball Clutch/Brake Mount Issues

Anyone ever experienced any issues with the 2-Ball Clutch/Brake Ram Style mounts. A buddy call me with an issue on his. It seems the screws became loose and brake fluid damaged his bike.

No experience of those; I use a 2 ball adapter bolted onto the clutch handle bracket, not the reservoir. Anything screwed into the top of the either of the two reservoirs will work loose as the receiving bolt hole threads are not deep enough or designed to take extra weight and vibration. You may suggest blue Loctite to your mate in future and regular torque tests.
HH.

I use the covers for a ram ball to mount my GPS. Never had an issue with loose screws.

If the screws got loose, odds are good they weren't torqued properly.

--Mark

What is Ram part number that clamps onto the clutch? Thanks.

MCL lists them on their site at http://www.MCL OUT OF BUSINESS - DO NOT ORDER/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=8&zenid=ftpjvacnh2gff71dn5joka3283 . This is the reservoir cover type, not sure what you mean by clamp onto the clutch.

You want one of these. Linky I think if you look around the sight there is on of these with 2 balls on it. Thats from memory so I could be wrong. Here it is Linky2

If you go to ADVRiders you can find a coupon code to get some money off. When I ordered last week there was a comments section where I requested they do the same thing here. Maybe you could do the same.

I am trying to install MCL 2-ball reservoir plate as linked in reply #6 but I am having a tough time just loosening the screws! I know; weak. I was thinking about using a little WD-40 but I am worried about contaminating the brake fluid. What do you guys think? How should I get the screws out?

Get a set of JIS screwdrivers. Do a search on this site, I think I bought mine from McMaster Carr after seeing a link on here, possibly by Igofar. Nothing fits a Honda phillips screw better, and it makes an amazing difference in loosening tight screws.

woodybelle said:

Get a set of JIS screwdrivers. Do a search on this site, I think I bought mine from McMaster Carr after seeing a link on here, possibly by Igofar. Nothing fits a Honda phillips screw better, and it makes an amazing difference in loosening tight screws.

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The screws aren't specific to Honda; they're defined by Japanese Industrial Standard B 1012 and can be found on most things made in Japan.

The Phillips design is set up so that if the screw stalls (reaches the right torque), the driver will cam out or, if forced, the driver will be damaged and the screw head will be left intact. (Doesn't always work out that way if the screws are made of cheap metal.) This was on purpose, because when the Phillips screw head was designed in the 1930s, there weren't good tools to limit torque. Unfortunately, they didn't think the design out very well and the screwdriver cams out in both directions, which can make removing overtorqued screws difficult.

The JIS design came about after World War II and doesn't cam out. wBW's Vessel screwdriver review has a couple of good pictures that illustrate the differences. Don't try too hard to remove an overtorqued JIS screw with a Phillips driver; odds are good you'll damage both.

If you have an older ST that came with a tool kit, the screwdriver in that is JIS. For STs built during the WonderFoam era, the screwdriver is available from Honda parts.

--Mark

I was able to get the cover plate off with a philips screw driver! I just gave it a little light rap with a rubber mallet. I could feel the screw driver sink into the screw as it bit in...and gave it a very light twist and it gave right out. No JIS screwdriver! Yes, the screws do have small 'bite' marks in them from the screwdriver but I didn't have to spend any money.

Thanks for everybody.