Lightweight fasteners

[Guest John Y]

OK, I realise that fitting lightweight nuts and bolts to a porker like my V11 LM is a pointless exercise in practical terms and that I'd be much better off losing a bit of my own lard, BUT... having said all that, I'm still pathetic enough to be attracted by the 'wank value' of lighter hardware!

Moto Guzzi sells a kit of about thirty aluminium (?) fasteners but two things put me off it:

1. The same kit is specified for the V11 Sport and V11 LM which means the kit won't have any fasteners for the fairing, and

2. The price; here the kit costs AUS$200 - for thirty-odd fasteners!!

So, have any of you replaced standard bolts with aluminium/titanium/whateverium ones and, if so, are they available as a kit or do you have to front up to your local bolt merchant with a handful of originals and ask for them individually?

[al_roethlisberger]

Well, first off..... much like my Lockhart Phillips admonishion in a previous thread regarding "flush mount signals".... my humble opinion is that one should run like hell from aluminum fasteners.

 

From personal experience, other than "bling" factor for the color matched units, one is asking for BIG TROUBLE using then for anything other than cosmetic applications, and even then, when the strip out(and they will), you will be cussin'.

 

And they tend to gall, cross-thread, and just generally perform poorly.

 

Of course, not all aluminum fasteners have to be crap, but I've yet to see a kit from any vendor that is made from some higher grade aluminum that is less likely to strip or break. They all do.

 

If you are looking for colored fasteners though, aluminum really is your only option though.

 

If you are looking to save weight, and yes I concur that this is a waste of time on any but the lightest race bike, titanium is the way to go.

 

 

But if you looking for some nice, relatively lightweight, relatively strong, and "long term shiney" bit.... go for stainless, which incidentally is already what your fairing bolts are made from

 

Also, no matter what you decide(except of course perhaps for the anodized aluminum fasteners), I would also suggest sourcing the bolts from a local "bolt shop" as they'll have higher quality/strength parts, for more reasonable prices.... and you can buy as many or few fasteners at a time... and not have to buy some overpriced "kit" from some aftermarket or dealer stock.

 

It's up to you of course, and your priorities, but in all seriousness I really would recommend not using aluminum fasteners anywhere. I've learned my lesson on my first bikes, and it's just not worth the grief, and saving a few pennies.

 

al

[Guest John Y]

Thanks for your thoughts Al - I guess my only motivation is 'bling' value, but I'm too lazy to buy them piece-meal so I probably won't bother...

Besides, the V11 is so gorgeous anyway, who needs to tart one up..!

[Steve G.]

I've never been one to drastically change any of my machines cosmetically [don't like the way it looks why did you buy it?], I've never had a problem with cosmetic upgrades to fasteners.

Stainless steel has long been my favourite, as it polishes up nice, easy, and can be redone 5yrs down the road if need be. Stainless will most definitely gall given the slight chance to, and Stainless must NOT be used for applications requiring strength, such as securing calipers to forks, etc..

I must admit to going one step further, with the use of titanium. My Laverda has had a tastefull upgrade of custom made S.S. nuts and bolts, from kits available from Laverda parts suppliers in England. However, some bolt sizes were not available from anyone in S.S., so a visit to my favourite local fastener supplier [Fuller Metric Fasteners] found that these very odd sized bolts were to be had in titanium. Lovely stuff really, super featherlite, and with a fantastic semi gloss finish, or it can be mirror polished, is VERY strong, so can be used for high strength specification applications. Price? Well lets just say that I found myself buying one bolt every paycheck, so I would'nt shock myself. Let's ust say it is 10 times the price. One bolt, a 10mm by 10mm by socket head, which I needed as it was unavailable in S.S., to hold on of all things the choke lever bracket to the handlebar, cost me $29cdn. I did by 4 bolts to hold the front caliper on, and was happy when a young stupid guy sold them to me for the wrong price, because they were regularly $38 each, I got them for $8 each. I havn't gotten any for a while as the stupid guy has been let go!

Ciao, Steve G.

[Mike Stewart]

For dropping weight of the bike, why not start with the big, larger bolts such as the wheel axles. I would love to have someone make me a titanium front and rear axle for my bikes or even a hollowed one made out of a higher grade steel. Of course this would only apply to the older models with the solid front axle.

 

But honestly, the best bang from the buck would be going to a lighter set of wheels. You can save 12 to 13 lbs. of rotating weight by going to a set of Dymag wheels. I will let you do the math on what the ounce per dollar cost. Tires also have different weights. The Dunlap's I installed felt like they weighed pounds heaver than the Metzeler's that I was replacing them with.

 

The next place would be all the engine fasteners that hold on the sump, valve covers and front cover. This would be costly with titanium but you could save about 1/2 pound.

 

The little 5-6mm. bolts made of aluminum will save weight but add up slowly in the weight saving department.

 

Yes, I have been a weight junkie on my bicycles and the best place to start loosing weight is on your own bod. Well, I still like a light bike.

 

Mike

[gthyni]

Loosing body weight is the cheapest way if you carry som extra kilos,

in fact it can even save you money to choose healthy food instead of

crap.

 

An extra bonus is the you get more agile not only on the bike

but all all other situations too.

[Mike Stewart]

but all all other situations too.

Other situations too?

 

Humm, don't let my wife see this!

 

Mike

[pete roper]

Just shave off the hair on yer back you oily, greek prat! That should save about 10 kg .

 

What sizes are you looking for John? And what types of fasteners? I don't mind doing the legwork on this next time I go to Specialty Fasteners in Townsville St but I'll need to know sizes and bolt types, especially for the fairing fasteners.

 

All the *usual* stuff will be M6 and a bit of M8 I suppose, all of which can probably be ordered in anodised red, gold or blue if you want. I'd tend to avoid using it *everywhere* simply because, as others have said, it isn't the strongest or easiest to use. Having said that the bling factor in visible applications is high so i can see the appeal.

 

BTW, have you got any front mudguard mounts or fork braces left over from your Tonti Tarting days? I'm after some way of mounting a steel front guard to the SP? See, even I tart my bikes up sometimes

 

Pete

[al_roethlisberger]

BTW, Steve... regarding your warning against using SS for applications requiring high strength.... I thought SS could be obtained in higher grades??

 

I could be wrong, but when I went down to the local metric shop, I could have sworn they sold me some graded SS one time... although for the application I don't think it mattered

 

Are SS fasteners always too brittle to use for these applications?

 

al

[Steve G.]

I'd have to find my fastener catalog and read up again, but yes there are different types of s.s., but as all bolts are graded by strength, tagged on the top of the bolt head. I seem to remember s.s. bolts never reaching the strength grade the original steel bolts had.

Ciao, Steve G.

[Guest freud]

Based on Al's recomendation I will be purchacing the Following item from Lockhart Phillips:

Super elete lightweight wiring kit (replacing main harnes... lightens system by .09 ounces!!!!!)

 

I am also removing my stand to lighten the ol' tank up, I'll just carry my pit bull around .

 

Fitting straight pipes today to save can weight too!!

 

Thanks Al!

 

freud

the vomit smiley gets better and better everytime

sorry, I've lost my mind.

[pete roper]

Junking the pistons will save you well in excess of a kilo! OK, so the rods rattle around a bit when you hit the starter button but WGAF? I like that one

 

Pete