Tank bolt

Grendel has an idea...

In order to work on it, he needs to know he thread size and pitch of the bolt holding the gas tank on by the head stock. He knows...he could pull it himself, but having wrestled with it for an hour to get it in he does not want to do that (and he even has the nifty tank pivot pieces from Motohooligan!). So he is imploring the collective wisdom to see is anyone knows. He thinks it is an M8 at 1.5 pitch, but not sure.

Believe me it will be worth it!

I don't know the numbers BUT I know it is the same size and pitch as the bolt on most Honda's that protrudes from the tail section for securing bungee nets. I had an extra laying around and it worked well because the additional length provides some much needed leverage. So whatever a standard Honda bolt is, is what it is. Is you following?

Mine is a different length as I have the LSL damper so I can't hemp I'm afraid.

my tank has been of the bike on many occasions (easier to get to airbox with it off for mesurements)

and i have never had any issues with the tank not fitting after even with standard mounts... what are you guys doing wrong? although i do make an effort not to use ethanol fuels

Grendel wishes he knew what he was doing wrong. It is impossible to buy ethanol free petrol around here so that probably has something to do with it.

Grendel is looking at building a completely new mounting unit at the headstock. First one will be rude and crude, as a concept piece. Maybe then he can get a pro to fab some up.

the tank bolt is an M8 x 1.25mm x 40mm.

cheers,
paul.

When you replace the bolt after removing it you need a little lube on the thread.( Grease) When you put tank back down you will notice that the holes do not line up so what you do is put bolt in fuel tank lift tank up just enough so that when you go to screw the bolt in it can grab onto the tread in frame. You might have to move the bolt around a bit to get it in. Buy the way you will have to use the KTM T wrench and extension which comes with the tool kit.
If I try to do it with the tank down on the frame well I would never get that bolt in but doing it this way I never have a problem.
It is easy as.
If you dont get what I mean I could do a little video of the proceduer.
Buy the way if it feels to tight when you start to screw the bolt in be careful that your not cross threading it.

Oh man, this tank bolt issue will not go away will it!

I have not got the Moto-fix it kit yet but I find that sometimes it's OK.....when it's a quick tank lift but if i leave it up for a length of time then it can get tricky. Don't have the ethanol problem here in the uk yet but still it can be an issue to get that bolt in. Best thing is to have a look down the tank hole when the tank is back down, see how far off the hole is out, and then I use a long screwdriver to carefully lever the tank back into position to get the thread started. Over the years the end of the thread has started to go and one day it will not get started...I know this. It's a shit problem.

I'll get a Moto-fix next time I buy anything from him.

The Moto fix works. I lobbied him for 4 months until he finally caved and made these bitchen little replacement brackets. Cheap and they work a treat!

The hole is still slightly out of alignment (about a millimeter) but no where near as bad as the 6 millimeters with the stock brackets. Can't really get it any closer as you'd end up with fit issues with everything else (ie, rad shrouds).

Highly recommend them.

John

I've never seen this as being a problem, the rubber surround lets you get the bolt with a hex key in at an angle, enough to lever the tank back to a normal position and then start tightening it up, mine's always been 5-10mm out but gone back without trouble.

As do most, i agree poor design.

Again...fixed with the Moto brackets.

Eventually, you will start stripping out the thread if you continue threading the tank bolt in in such a way.

Just sayin...

Maybe Grendel had the tank off too long. But he has the offset brackets and it was still WAY off. Grendel is just sick of it being an issue. Why should such a simple activity yet look at how much this forum has had it as a topic.

Grendel I had my tank unbolted for 4 days and the front of the tank was actually touching the streering head right where the pinch bolt is.
I did it the way I described earler in the posts and it was easy to get the bolt in.
Just like dougle said you can manouver the bolt throught the rubber surround but make sure you put lube on the thread this helps heaps.
By lifting the tank when lining the bolt up makes this a easy job.
AGRO Say's "Grendel" You can do IT!!

i'm with Grendel here... after having my tank up for few days, it was waaaay off, i elongated the holes on the original brackets the same way Aaron's brackets are done, and it still took quite some force to get get it close enough for the bolt to catch... when i first lowered the tank, i could not even see the threads through the hole. those things can get quite bad

Moto's brackets have the slotted holes as Smoky mentioned but they also have the bushing bore off-set in the bracket by a couple millimeters which also helps with proper alignment.

Like mentioned here several times...this should not be an issue. KTM really dropped the ball on this one and should rectify the situation but as we all know this isn't going to happen (especially in this economy).

John

When I lifted the tank a while back, had no problem with refitting bolt - wondered what the fuss was about.

Recently - Arrggh, bolt hole miles out.

So I slackened the pivot bolts slightly & got one of my ratchet straps (the sort you use to secure bikes to a trailer), ran the strap around the front of the tank & back around the footrest brackets. Carefully wound up the ratchet until the holes lined up, popped in bolt & tightened before releasing strap.

Appreciate this sounds risky but it's a straight run from the front of the tank too the footrest hangers, I used a continous strap rather than hooks - it was simple.

To avoid a lawsuit from one of the USA users, I stress if you did this yourself you do it at your own risk and I'm not responsible if anyone ends up with a ratchet or any SD parts firmly enbedded in your skull.

Well I know I've seen other posts about this. However my question is, I'm pretty sure that the dealer stripped the threads when I brought the bike in for the first service as I can't fully get it back on and it was very rough coming out. I do have it in and it is holding but not seated all the way. Has anyone taken this problem to there KTM tech and if so how did they fix it? I don't want to get into taping it out myself. Are the threads and insert or is it threaded right into the frame (which wouldn't be very smart if you ask me). Thanks for any input.

Really guys , went off course , the hinges that moto makes is pocket change these days, and a fix to a pain in the ass problem, got mine in the mail yesterday, along with the SAS kit, in prep for the box, by spring,,,

DUKEHag ..

I'm sure that Lowrance is more vocal than some of the other people on this board, but I have to admit when I read your " Sorry not trying to be an ass JMHO." I felt angry ! It seems , to me at least , that every time you ask a question and someone offers you advice you try to devalue their opinion. I don't mean just this thread. Reread some of your other posts and see if you can spot the theme.

Kuerbis

I hate to get involved in this but I will.......

DUKEhag, When you are paying

A. the payment on a $180,000 cnc
B. the power bill for the 100amp breaker its on
C. the carbide tooling, coolant, material and the saw to cut the material
D. the $13,000 software to design and program
E. rent for industrail space and all the other overhead I have

You can make this stuff yourself and price it how ever you like.

Thank you Aaron, for the beautiful parts you produce. After getting my first bits from you, I was surprised they were not priced much higher! On scales of economy your parts would still be a bargain at twice the price in my opinion. Keep churning out the good stuff and let me know if I can pitch in on some machining coolant for you!

All the best,
-Greg
~gpz900r~

can we just all have a big hug?

I think you need to hold a Motobox in your hands to appreciate what a work of art it is. When mine arrived and I was fitting it in a m8s workshop, he was blown away by the fact it was billet and the price I paid for such work. When you think you pay 200+ $ or £ for a set of brake/clutch levers which take up a tiny fraction of the same aluminium + a fab K&N filter I think the Motobox is very nicely priced piece of kit. I've yet to see anyone who fitted one not come back on here and the words "Wow!, Amazing! Fook! and Not to appear in the first 2 sentences when describing what it has done to their bikes. I was laughing for weeks every time I rode mine after fitting it. It's that good.

We gonna continue the "hanging party" today " hang him "