peter.walker
Active Member
So last summer I decided to pull the exhaust off my GS750T (the bike in my pic), because that seemed like the best way to clean/paint over the rusty bits. In the process, I managed to break one of the bolts on the number 2 cylinder. I soaked it with liquid wrench and WD-40, ground a slot in the stub, and heated and cooled around it with a propane torch several times, stuck a cold screwdriver in it...and proceeded to break off the stub. After a few choice words (ok, more than a few), I drilled it out, and put in the biggest easy-out I could fit. I nudged it with the wrench and nothing happened, nudged it harder and it broke. So now I've got a broken bolt with an extremely hard tool in the middle of it. After expending my entire vocabulary of profanity and staring at it for a day or two, I decided to stick it back together with the bolt missing and see how bad it was. Surprisingly enough, there's no leakage at all, and the bike runs and sounds just like it did before.
I still have a functional bike (I've ridden her about 1000 miles with no change at all in the sound or performance, and no leakage developing), but the broken bolt is annoying, since I still know it's there and isn't right.
I've considered having a threaded rod welded onto what's left of the stub, then using a nut to secure the exhaust. On the other hand, I'm halfway tempted to leave it alone as long as it works. Thoughts?
I still have a functional bike (I've ridden her about 1000 miles with no change at all in the sound or performance, and no leakage developing), but the broken bolt is annoying, since I still know it's there and isn't right.
I've considered having a threaded rod welded onto what's left of the stub, then using a nut to secure the exhaust. On the other hand, I'm halfway tempted to leave it alone as long as it works. Thoughts?