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Ducati Bolts = Expensive Cheese

7.6K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  EL Twin  
#1 ·
Is it just me having a bad run in the past month on my bike or is this common. It seems like every dang time i work on my bike a bolt breaks, strips, or at least gets a little rounded. Im slowly but surely replacing all the bolts with stainless steel ones as i go. I have worked on my previous bike for the last 3 and a half to 4 years doing everything myself without breaking a bolt once. Yes ive broken bolts elsewhere but i think im pretty cautious and careful with my bikes and its extremely frustrating with these soft bolts ducati uses.

Heres a pic of my honda. Ive turned quite a few wrenches on her in its time.
 

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#2 ·
Its not just you or Ducati bolts. In my experience with Japanese stuff I've started to refer to them as butter tops because even with very good tools, they tend to round or distort or whatever requiring a replacement. BTW, I've heard that SS nuts and bolts either require a different torque setting and/or don't hold their torqued values as do standard metal bits.
 
#3 ·
Are you putting them back on with the wrath of god or somethin? :stickpoke

I haven't had any problems so far. Usually replace the fasteners anyway with stainless socket cap (302 and 316 stainless, which has about the same tensile strength as a grade 5 or class 8.8). I just bought a shit load of them in bulk once, it's always nice to have on hand.

http://www.boltdepot.com/metric-socket-products.aspx

They usually carry socket caps from a manufacturer called RDX, which has some of the nicest finishes on their fasteners. Not a bad idea considering how much time and effort is wasted over one or two bad nuts intermittently.
 
#7 ·
Buy some good tools and it won't happen as much. A rethreaded kit would help you at also. There is locktite on every bolt and it is in the threads. If you use a rethreaded the bolt will go in like it was brand new.
 
#8 ·
The standard bolts aren't such bad quality really - certainly in comparison to the Japanese equivalents.

And stainless bolts are usually softer than the stock steel ones. Sure they don't rust (but then neither should the zinc-plated standard fasteners) but they don't have very good tensile strength for maintaining torque values.

The only bolts I had trouble with on mine were the four socket-heads retaining the sump plate (which the later bikes have replaced with hex-heads) where the stiction of the factory Loctite overcame the strength of the Allen-head engagement..

I've replaced almost all the fasteners on my bike in lightweight materials - titanium where strength is important, and aluminium to retain plastic covers etc.

I've had no other fastener-related issues on this series, and I work on a number of different bikes.
 
#11 ·
Maybe it just happens to be that all the stainless bolts i have laying around seem to have a thicker and deeper head on them so they work better for me who knows.

Rocky, I agree with you. The bolts in general seem softer than those in any of my previous bikes. I have noticed this more than once.
Yeah, i only have the comparison of my old bike and a few friends bikes that i help work on which happen to all be hondas so thats why i asked. After posting this i had a good day today working on the duc so im gonna hope things keep going that way :conveyer:
 
#13 ·
Never seen PB Blaster before but in the refineries I work at ReleaseAll is the penetrating oil of choice and I've had far better results with it that WD 40. Available and most hardware stores for a few years now too. Stinks like nasty I don't know what though.
 
#14 ·
Best release agent known to man is 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF. Laboritory testing results have proven it superior to every other known commercial product including 'Yeild' and a few other top contenders. Most release agents struggle with Loctite though as it so effectively seals the threads. WD40 is not a penetrating oil Rap....

Some of you must be extremely heavy handed (or have really cheap shitty tools) to be wrecking fasteners. Like Pat 1098 the only ones I have ever had problems with were those on the sump plate.
 
#15 ·
Some of you must be extremely heavy handed (or have really cheap shitty tools) to be wrecking fasteners. Like Pat 1098 the only ones I have ever had problems with were those on the sump plate.
lol it cracks me up how everyones response has been "crappy tools"

I guess i should have clarified which bolts i had trouble with.

1st was a heel plate bolt that broke when using a 1/4 inch socket wrench. before it even felt tight it just snapped.

2nd bolt was the pivot shoulder bolt for the brake lever. was not tightening down then the pivot and head broke clear off the threads. while using a 3/8 inch socket wrench.

The only other bolt problem was a bolt that goes through the tail and side panel into a steel clip. Was using a drill and probably not taking my time and stripped the head.

Ive never broken a bolt before with a 1/4 socket wrench. Its barely long enough to get 2-3 fingers on so that was ridiculous to me. The pivot bolt and other one that stripped were probably just a matter of carelessness on my part but still seemed to break and strip way too easy in my opinion.
 
#20 ·
A bit surprised that you broke a front brake lever pivot bolt.
Mine are drilled through the centre, including the threaded part, and have never given trouble. Nyloc nuts have resistance to loosening built in, so do not need to be super-tight.
Not hard to overcome the necessary tension on a small thread with a 1/4" socket handle.
Try using less force - 5mm and 6mm threads don't need too much torque.
Perhaps you are accustomed to working on cars? Bikes need a gentler touch.
Just a suggestion - not criticism..