It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after removal..

So you aren't tootling down the freeway, coming upon stopped traffic and find you only hear a weird noise coming from the front brakes, but no stopping power! :

Coming home tonight, I was just at the check station above Temecula when the traffic was again coming to a total stop. I was positioning myself to start Lane Splitting with another motorcycle in front of me, when I tapped the front brakes and only heard a clank, but no slowing on my part! After telling myself;"that didn't sound right, nor feel right..." I did it lightly again only to hear that same clank! I decided at that point I should move over to the shoulder when I decide I would just use the back brake until I get over there. The first time I applied the rear brake, it was fine, the second time it wasn't and now I had no brakes!

As I glided to the shoulder, I used the engine to bring it to a safe stop!

I then removed my gloves and helmet and looked at the left side brake bolts, they were fine, I then went to the right side only to discover that the top bolt was missing! Even though Byron asked me if I had torqued the front brake bolts, I did do the left side, but managed to get distracted and failed to torque the right side! Just after pulling over, I heard (I didn't even see him stop) a "Hi Neighbor!". I turned to my side, only to discover my neighbor two doors down spotted me and pulled over to see if he could help!

He was in his work truck, so I thought maybe he would have some tools. well, he did have some SAE open end wrenches. He looked to see if he had any bolts (good luck with that...right..) so I turned to the bike and started thinking, where on the bike would a bolt be that would fit the front brake bolts? Then it came to me, the bolts used on the exhaust clamp! So I carefully used his 1/2" wrench and took out the exhaust clamp bolt farthest to the right until it came out (too hot to handle) So I took my Leatherman needlenose pliers that I had (my tool kit was on a different bike - problem with swapping bikes all the time!) took the bolt and put it in the hole of the missing brake bolt. It took a bit to get it in (where's a socket wrench when you need it?). I finally tightened them up, gave my neighbor back his wrench and off we both went!

When I got home I searched my parts and found the proper bolt for the exhaust (leaving the other in the brake), and torqued them all down!

Sheesh, talk about a little un-nerving!

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

Good lesson on double checking.... Glad you didn't have to stop hard and fast!!

ToddC

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

A perfect example why I use a paint pencil when doing some service jobs just in case I get distracted.
Glad to made it home safe. There are several bolts under the passenger seat that would work too.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

And loctite?!

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

drrod said:

And loctite?!

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In 270+ miles, torquing them has been fine. You just got to TORQUE them!

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

I forgot to tighten all four of my axle clamp bolts one time after a tire change. Didn't notice until one went missing, and that was after a few thousand miles. I happened to have some pics of the bike from just after the tire change and determined that the axle never rotated.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

I torque and loctite caliper bolts. Glad you didn't crash!

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

paulcb said:

I forgot to tighten all four of my axle clamp bolts one time after a tire change. Didn't notice until one went missing, and that was after a few thousand miles. I happened to have some pics of the bike from just after the tire change and determined that the axle never rotated.

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....and THAT is what Loctite is for....

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

MaxPete said:

....and THAT is what Loctite is for....

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Maybe? In my case, I never even snugged the bolts down, much less torqued them. I think I just threaded them in by hand, got distracted and then never tightened them. They never moved after I torqued them down properly.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

MaxPete said:

....and THAT is what Loctite is for....

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Maybe that's why Honda put two bolts in there.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

Sorry to hear that it happened at all but glad it happened now close to home instead of when you're on a trip.

Maybe it's time to start doing a double check of all bolts when we work on the bike, sort of like when checking the valve clearance. Instead of checking the clearances twice in two separate passes we go back over all the bolts touched a second time once we think we're done.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

Byron said:

Sorry to hear that it happened at all but glad it happened now close to home instead of when you're on a trip.

Maybe it's time to start doing a double check of all bolts when we work on the bike, sort of like when checking the valve clearance. Instead of checking the clearances twice in two separate passes we go back over all the bolts touched a second time once we think we're done.

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After giving it some thought, I think that was when Chris came home and we were unloading her car. That was a major distraction!

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

There are several critical bolts on a ST1300 that are specified to be replaced in the shop manual. The upper shock bolt, caliper bolts and the rear brake stop bolt all fall into this category.
Have I replaced any of them? Only the shock bolt, and that was a waste IMHO. What I have done is carefully clean the threads off with a wire brush and apply blue Loctite every time they are removed, and I always check and re-check the torque on each of these. 51 ft/lbs for the rear stopper, 23 ft/lbs for the front caliper bolts.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

good job.... blame mom for your doings... or not doings.....good thing you where able to get over and not brake last second into the back of a car.....

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

SupraSabre :

Are you a medical marijuana user ?? Just curious .....

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

I think the only reason some of these bolts are required by Honda to be replaced is to insure that an inexperienced DIYer doesn't forget to add a thread-locker when reinstalling. Sup says torque is enough and that's probably so. Thread locker can't hurt and a manufacturer would want some insulation against liability. It could also or just be a money grab but I'm not that cynical.

If the bolt hasn't been damaged in removal it makes sense to me to just clean it up and reinstall. Igofar said if I'm doing the brakes myself (as if!) do not replace the factory red thread locker with red Loctite. He said "that would be a bad thing".

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

Jim Van said:

SupraSabre :

Are you a medical marijuana user ?? Just curious .....

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I never could stand the smell of that stuff! So no, I don't have that as an excuse.

ST Gui said:

I think the only reason some of these bolts are required by Honda to be replaced is to insure that an inexperienced DIYer doesn't forget to add a thread-locker when reinstalling. Sup says torque is enough and that's probably so. Thread locker can't hurt and a manufacturer would want some insulation against liability. It could also or just be a money grab but I'm not that cynical.

If the bolt hasn't been damaged in removal it makes sense to me to just clean it up and reinstall. Igofar said if I'm doing the brakes myself (as if!) do not replace the factory red thread locker with red Loctite. He said "that would be a bad thing".

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There are those that follow all the precautions from the manufacter. I don't see it as a money grab either, It's like you said it's liability! If something like what happened to me, happened to a customer and that customer got hurt or killed, they would loose more than that customer.

As for me, over the last 45 years I have been working on my own motorcycles and replaced more tires than I can remember and this is the first time anything like this has happened! Like my lane spliting, I think my record and experience speaks for itself, so I will stick to my methods, but remind myself to double check my work, when other distractions are also around!

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

Glad you are okay. Thanks for sharing something that will help others/me later on.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

ST Gui said:

Igofar said if I'm doing the brakes myself (as if!) do not replace the factory red thread locker with red Loctite. He said "that would be a bad thing".

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he would be correct, red loctite is only used in places where you rarely plan on removing it, if ever. You need to heat it up to remove it, although many years ago on an alternator bolt I was able to break it loose without heat, but it took a LOT of torque and it was a large enough bolt to withstand that torque.

As far as the 1100 goes, the service manual says nothing about thread locking the caliper bolts, nor replacing them. A simple torque spec is all that is mentioned.

Re: It's always a good idea to double check the torque on the brake bolts after remov

That might have been an SMC bolt on my 1300. It's been awhile since it's been in the CDO Garage.