Filth & Foul (aka stripped bolt)

TBird

TBird

If I ever go near the Duke with a wrench again.....dammit!

Oil change last night, was a complete and utter disaster. I'm no gorilla-hand -nor am I particularly delicate- so when the ratchet suddenly broke loose while tightening down the bolt on the oil filter cap, I didn't think much of it. When I went to give it that last little nudge, oops. No bolt-head. I'll foul your filth you filth'n-foul!! What the hell?! ...and the damn thing was NOT particularly tight when it broke!

Ok, I can deal with this. After the neighbors called in the noise complaint from my cursing and destruction of (my own I'll have you) personal property in the garage, I settled down a bit. I'll just have to find a machinist to tap it out. No biggie. One of them is on there, should be ok until I can get it sorted. So why was it I thought that the capacity was 3.5L instead of 2.5L?? I'm going to chalk it up to being completely flustered & pissed off at that point. Nevermind that I had just double-checked the capacity in the manual and verified 2.5L. I couldn't figure out why on the 3rd quart the funnel wasn't draining?? Oh, shit. There's a puddle of oil on the ground. Dammit! (at this point, I simply stared at the pool of oil in complete disbelief, think coming face to face with ET - completely dumbfounded). Of course the lower drain-plug wont work, silly Trav. Did I mention that I hate the whole 'sight tube' BS? Oh yeah, I knew there was a step I missed...that whole extra screen in that tube-thingy that connects to the oil deal. Crap. Like I'm going to be pulling that out at this point.

close garage up...switch from beer to bourbon, pour, repeat. Curse every 5 minutes like the tourette's-afflicted for the remainder of the evening....and well into the night.

So I guess my question is, since I've already demonstrated complete numb-skullded-ness...can I go somewhere other than the KTM dealer to have that bolt tapped out? It seems that with the right tools (and obviously skill) this would be a simple operation. Correct assumption? I'd rather not be completely cost-raped at the dealer to add a little insult to injury if at all possible.

btw...replacing that graphite-seal-gasket-thingamajig on the rear exhaust down-pipe? Not gonna happen. Nevermind that the clamp has slipped and I can stick a toothpick into the hole. Shit. I'm trying to laugh at this now. Really, that isn't the sound of the lunatic you hear.............
preey

preey

BAD NIGHT THEN
One67

One67

Any fitter and turner could do it for you (do they call them that in the States?) So you just need to find your neerest engineering workshop.
It's not a big job, centre punch the bolt stem, drill into it half an inch, wind an "easy out" into it till it lets go.
Stratkat

Stratkat

Post missing.

Stratkat

Stratkat

Tbird,

no sarcasm here, go out and get youself a torque wrench. there are a lot of little bolts that require a small amount of torque. i know some guys are gonna say "you dont need a torque wrench just go by feel"
for the rest of us it will pay for itself, trust me.
Stratkat

Stratkat

oh, and if the manual says to use locktite... use it.
TBird

TBird

Post missing.

samba

samba

ow....feel your pain. I love tinkering with my car and bikes but when it all goes wrong there's nothing worse...