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Need wrenching help

Zuppss929

New member
I wanted to remove the SW Motech crashbars installed by the PO on my 2004 R1150R. The night before i was going to remove them, I shot the connections with P Blaster and the next day, 5 of the 6 bolts turned with some effort but were easily removed. The 6th fastener turned with little effort, which surprised me since these bolts are supposed to be torqued very tightly - and the bolt turned, and turned, and turned....but doesn't extract. I thought I'd try to apply some muscle so I cut away the crash bar so that I could get a pry bar on the bolt to exert some pressure while turning the bolt but still no joy. Any suggestions would be appreciated; here is a picture of the stubborn bolt:Stuck bolt.jpg
 
It sounds as if the final bolt is broken and something is holding enough pressure on it to keep it captive. Find a way to release the pressure, grab it with a pair of Vicegrips and twist + pull.
 
Echo what Roger said.. Perhaps a shop hyd jack under the point where it goes through. SLIGHT pressure with it though. My concern is where that bolt went in, looking at it it looks like the drive casing? I cant tell from the pic but I would imagine if that goes through part of the bike it's jacked. :( GL!
 
I can't tell from the photo if this is possible, but it sounds to me like the fastener has a nut on the end that has loosened just enough to spin with the fastener. I have seen a couple of cases of stripped threads in the casting where a longer bolt and nut was installed.

Check carefully where the end of the fastener would be to verify whether there is a nut or not.

Added: On my '03 R1150R that fastener threads into a cross-tube. See if the tube itself is turning with the fastener. If it is, then reinstall the fastener on the other side to hold the tube, or make sure the clamp on the lefts side is tight.
 
Echo what Roger said.. Perhaps a shop hyd jack under the point where it goes through. SLIGHT pressure with it though. My concern is where that bolt went in, looking at it it looks like the drive casing? I cant tell from the pic but I would imagine if that goes through part of the bike it's jacked. :( GL!

Thanks. The bolt goes through the rear frame and appears to go into the drive casing. See the attached rear frame PDF parts 4 & 5. I did try a light hyd jack under what appears to be the stress point but no joy. I'm thinking that maybe I could fashion a puller of some kind but its a thorny problem. Those old crash bars are starting to look real good to me right now!!
 

Attachments

  • R1150R rear frame.pdf
    153.8 KB · Views: 28
It sounds as if the final bolt is broken and something is holding enough pressure on it to keep it captive. Find a way to release the pressure, grab it with a pair of Vicegrips and twist + pull.

Thanks. I've tried a hyd jack under what I think is the pressure point and had no luck. What started out as a pretty simple project has turned into a major league head scratcher. I'm now thinking about trying to jerry rig a puller that i can apply with jack pressure under the stress point. This may be where my old high-school buddy turned Snap_on dealer comes in handy.
 
I can't tell from the photo if this is possible, but it sounds to me like the fastener has a nut on the end that has loosened just enough to spin with the fastener. I have seen a couple of cases of stripped threads in the casting where a longer bolt and nut was installed.

Check carefully where the end of the fastener would be to verify whether there is a nut or not.

Added: On my '03 R1150R that fastener threads into a cross-tube. See if the tube itself is turning with the fastener. If it is, then reinstall the fastener on the other side to hold the tube, or make sure the clamp on the lefts side is tight.

Thanks. I didn't notice any fastener though now you have me thinking. Thee parts fiche of the rear frame of the 00-06 R1150R doesn't show any fastener but if your '03 has a fastener and the fiche is correct, your '03 should = my '04.......where exactly was the tube on your '03? Thanks again.
 
Reach in behind that big boss on the transmission. You should find a round cross-tube going across the top of the rear of the transmission right in line with the problem bolt. That bolt threads into the tube I think.

It looks like the bolt on the right side and left side both thread into the tube. The pinch clamp around the tube is on the right side.

Things will be botched up of the pinch clamp is loose though. I can tell from the original photo that an extra long bolt with spacer has been substituted on your bike. Suspect too much thread locker and maybe crossed threads.
 
Thanks much. It is an extra long bolt and spacer which was supplied by SW Motech as part of the mounting hardware for the crash bars. I'll let you know how I make out.
 
Reach in behind that big boss on the transmission. You should find a round cross-tube going across the top of the rear of the transmission right in line with the problem bolt. That bolt threads into the tube I think.

It looks like the bolt on the right side and left side both thread into the tube. The pinch clamp around the tube is on the right side.

Things will be botched up of the pinch clamp is loose though. I can tell from the original photo that an extra long bolt with spacer has been substituted on your bike. Suspect too much thread locker and maybe crossed threads.

Thanks again. I did locate the tube but no pinch clamp that i can see or feel.....interesting that I couldn't find these parts on the parts fiche or the Clymer manual. The tube is spinning freely with every turn of the nut and I haven't figured out a plan of attack yet to secure the tube, remove the offending bolt and install the proper bolt. As you know, you are working in pretty close quarters and i am blessed (cursed?) with big paws. Also, as you correctly guessed the other bolts that I removed showed a lot of thread lock residue and this last one was probably also over-dosed. So, thanks again. Any further suggestions would be appreciated.
 
The parts are listed with the transmission. The transmission housing has the clamp built in. The pinch bolt should go in from the rear, just inboard of the screw you have having an issue with.

B0003767.png
 
The parts are listed with the transmission. The transmission housing has the clamp built in. The pinch bolt should go in from the rear, just inboard of the screw you have having an issue with.

View attachment 36833

In the parts photo:

#3 is your problem bolt. It screws into the cross tube (#2). #5 is the bolt on the left side which also screws into the cross tube. #4 is a pinch bolt that screws into that slotted pinch boss on the transmission housing.

If the tube is turning with the bolt secure it with the pinch bolt if it is there, or secure it with #5 on the other end of the cross tube.

If the bolt is turning and the cross tube isn't the threads are ruined. If so turning while pulling/prying outward on the bolt is the next attempt.

EDIT: OK, the tube is spinning as I suspected. Try installing bolt #5 again to hold it. #4 is hard to get to to tighten. Last resort - vice grips on the tube. But installing and tightening #5 ought to do it.
 
In the parts photo:

#3 is your problem bolt. It screws into the cross tube (#2). #5 is the bolt on the left side which also screws into the cross tube. #4 is a pinch bolt that screws into that slotted pinch boss on the transmission housing.

If the tube is turning with the bolt secure it with the pinch bolt if it is there, or secure it with #5 on the other end of the cross tube.

If the bolt is turning and the cross tube isn't the threads are ruined. If so turning while pulling/prying outward on the bolt is the next attempt.

EDIT: OK, the tube is spinning as I suspected. Try installing bolt #5 again to hold it. #4 is hard to get to to tighten. Last resort - vice grips on the tube. But installing and tightening #5 ought to do it.

Thanks again Paul for all of your help. I am going to take a crack at it this weekend. As you know, you are working in pretty close quarters and I hope that I can get this sorted without having to take everything apart to secure the tube. I wonder what function the tube serves other than accepting bolts 5 and 3? It may stiffen the rear frame/tranny area a bit but not by much, I think. Not a very practical design solution.
 
Thanks again Paul for all of your help. I am going to take a crack at it this weekend. As you know, you are working in pretty close quarters and I hope that I can get this sorted without having to take everything apart to secure the tube. I wonder what function the tube serves other than accepting bolts 5 and 3? It may stiffen the rear frame/tranny area a bit but not by much, I think. Not a very practical design solution.

Now that we understand what the issue is, the tube is turning, I think it will be simple from here on out. I just looked at my bike. The pinch bolts (#4) are readily easy to see and touch on the boss, just inboard and slightly up from your problem bolt. Assuming they are both there, tighten them with an allen wrench. See photo below by poorly drawn feeble red arrows.

If those bolts are missing - 2 of them - #4 in the diagram - then have a helper hold your problem bolt while you put back and tighten the bolt on the other side. This should hold the tube while you take out the problem bolt.

If that fails, look at the tube. There is a flat ground on the tube about 2" of the way from the left side. . This flat is there to hold the tube with an open end wrench as needed.
 

Attachments

  • pinchbolts.jpg
    pinchbolts.jpg
    86.9 KB · Views: 118
Now that we understand what the issue is, the tube is turning, I think it will be simple from here on out. I just looked at my bike. The pinch bolts (#4) are readily easy to see and touch on the boss, just inboard and slightly up from your problem bolt. Assuming they are both there, tighten them with an allen wrench. See photo below by poorly drawn feeble red arrows.

If those bolts are missing - 2 of them - #4 in the diagram - then have a helper hold your problem bolt while you put back and tighten the bolt on the other side. This should hold the tube while you take out the problem bolt.

If that fails, look at the tube. There is a flat ground on the tube about 2" of the way from the left side. . This flat is there to hold the tube with an open end wrench as needed.

Got it Paul. I did feel the flat ground on the left side of the tube and it should be fairly easy to get an open end wrench on it. hanks again for all of your help.
 
Any progress?

Yes Paul. I couldn't snug up the socket bolt to secure the tube but I was able to hold the tube steady with an open end wrench on the left side while I removed the old SW Motech supplied bolt and spacer which I then replaced with the correct fastener. Thanks again for all of your help.
 
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