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Bolt Source Found - always ask! For mounting GPS

BMW Triumphant

Ed Kilner #176066
Went to Home Depot, Rona, Cdn Tire, 2 Marine stores, 3 bike shops (including my BMW dealer), Brafasco, and Fastenal. Talked to two friends in BC and one in Florida - for a stainless steel socket head cap screw, M8-1.25 x 70 or 75 mm. No luck!

Then, I went to the Fastenal web site. I had visited the store and saw nothing in the bins. Did not talk to the clerk. EBay had some for $6 + $17 shipping - and wait 10 days too! But, by phoning the local store and giving them a SKU from the web site, I got a special order. Will get them next Monday. One 70mm and one 75mm.

Yea!

This bolt will go through a RAM B-367U ball, the left bar casting, the 20mm Touratech bar riser, and into the triple tree. The ball allows mounting of my Zumo 550 GPS.

Yea! Success!
 
Just curious Ed, what was the suggested retail on those bolts from Fastenal? I priced (on-line) some 3/16" and 1/4" x 1.0" socket head shoulder bolts (not stainless) for a project and came up with outrageous prices like $15 per bolt.
 
You guys need to read my recent post, r.e. fastener sources. I just got a pkg in the mail from : www.albanycountyfasteners.com this week. You could have had that sockethead from them.:)They sell for less, ship fast & cheap and have quite a few choices. I was also able to get some items from them not listed on there regular items pages. There are lots of industrial suppliers out there that can sell you fasteners but to get price AND! in small quantities is not often. They have a toll free # to "Bob" that gets you answers too odd questions & other items.
Fastenal sells lots of stuff & located all over too. Everytime I needed something on their shelves I either had to get more pieces than I wanted or wait for it to come on "their own truck" then pay a delivery fee in spite of reality that it is how most of their stuff comes anyway. That never has set right with me plus paying a large fee for just a few items.
 
I was able to source a similar sized Torx head bolt from my friendly local BMW dealer (Max). It's not stainless, but i painted the head to prevent corrosion. If you are using the same Ram fitting I used, I found that the shaft was a bit narrow for the hole in the handlebar mount. I made an aluminum sleeve to fill the gap. It's a good system for mounting a GPS and doesn't take up any space on the handlebar itself.
 
You guys need to read my recent post, r.e. fastener sources. I just got a pkg in the mail from : www.albanycountyfasteners.com this week. You could have had that sockethead from them.:)They sell for less, ship fast & cheap and have quite a few choices. I was also able to get some items from them not listed on there regular items pages. There are lots of industrial suppliers out there that can sell you fasteners but to get price AND! in small quantities is not often. They have a toll free # to "Bob" that gets you answers too odd questions & other items.
Fastenal sells lots of stuff & located all over too. Everytime I needed something on their shelves I either had to get more pieces than I wanted or wait for it to come on "their own truck" then pay a delivery fee in spite of reality that it is how most of their stuff comes anyway. That never has set right with me plus paying a large fee for just a few items.

Pricing on bolts needs to discuss the grade of the bolt as well. A price without a grade is meaningless.
 
Just curious Ed, what was the suggested retail on those bolts from Fastenal? I priced (on-line) some 3/16" and 1/4" x 1.0" socket head shoulder bolts (not stainless) for a project and came up with outrageous prices like $15 per bolt.

Price varied by grade, but I chose the 316 Stainless for both. About $3 for the 70mm, about $8 for the 75mm.

And, there is no shipping as the store is very nearby. I'm happy to pay the price they are asking.
 
Pricing on bolts needs to discuss the grade of the bolt as well. A price without a grade is meaningless.
They (r.e.,Albany County Fasteners link I provided earlier) are selling what are probably SS fasteners from China and they are being used by me for non critical applications to assemble fenders and such on a vintage project. I gave no price nor any grade info either. Bargains they are for certain but not headbolts!:thumb
Having been an aircraft mechanic I'm well aware of head stampings & the like but the OP was talking about a bracket not his lifeline to a happy retirement.:) BTW, they look great on my Bultaco. FWIW,I also bought a bunch from them, to replace the panhead/phillips screws that hold the sidecases on my Honda CL 100 engine-in place of the crappy Honda screws & they look nice and likely just as strong? I wish I had "all Bultaco" head stamped fasteners(they had their "own" with "Bultaco" on each head) for that bike but the Fred Flintstones along the way have lost them or messed them up.
 
but the OP was talking about a bracket not his lifeline to a happy retirement.:)

Um, not exactly. On the RT, the left handlebar casting is attached with 3 bolts. My Touratech Bar Risers came with longer bolts, but since one of the bolts has to go through a RAM ball, that bolt needs to be longer. And, I'd like it not to fail.

In fact, the RAM ball mount came with aluminum bolts! The riser instructions say torque the bolts to 19nm, and I did not want to do that to an aluminum bolt. I have no idea if it would take that torque, but now I will not have to worry about bolt failure.
 
ok

As with most SS fasteners sold for "regular" service the ones I mostly buy a re A2 SS. For some reason I have never broken a SS fastener, knock on wood.
 
I don't know about newer BMW MC's but their cars have had aluminum fasteners on some items such as alternator brackets for a few years. I know this from seeing them failed (shearing) in a crashed car.
 
More about bolts

Found this on the web

http://www.thomsonrail.com/Technical Resources/A short guide to metric nuts and bolts.pdf

I was worried about the Touratech 19nm torque requirement. This document told me two things:

* 19nm is about half max for even the lowest grade bolt
* half torque allows the bolt to handle the weight of the load in addition to clamping force. The weight of the load can be substantial when using the bars to prevent a tipping over (or picking up). Plus, in that case, the weight is not colinear with the bolt, so there is a shear force plus a tension force. So, half max seems to allow a good margin.
 
I don't know about newer BMW MC's but their cars have had aluminum fasteners on some items such as alternator brackets for a few years. I know this from seeing them failed (shearing) in a crashed car.

It is true BMW sometimes uses one-use only hardware usually on the engine cases on some models. Not everything they make. Those one-use bolts/screws need to be replaced every single time they are removed.

Now, as far as the car is concerned: Obviously I don't know anything about the shearing instance you're discussing in this crashed car. Many cars today use special hardware to install the motor I believe and maybe this applies to other components as well. The object is in the event of a head-on the motor breaks away and falls to the ground rather than getting forced rearward and potentially pushing things such as steering columns and various other components into the passenger compartment of the car and injuring the occupants. I'm not a car guy so I really am unable to explain this in any kind of intelligent detail other than I know this type of technology has been in the marketplace for a number of years at this point.
 
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