stainless bolts.

[bobo]

:? hi guys, could anyone recommend a good brand of 'stainless allen-head bolts'? i hear some of the ones offered on 'e-bay' are not worth it. thanks for all answers...h.g.

[bwringer]

I took the hard way on my bike -- I removed and measured all the fasteners (during the course of a rebuild) then ordered the ones I needed. In most cases, I ordered a lot more bolts than I needed, and having this assortment around has been very handy.

I've ordered from these people:

http://www.mmsacc-stainless.com/metric/html/metric_allen.html

They don't have online ordering set up, but I made up a spreadsheet and faxed it to them and called to give them my credit card info. They were able to send me exactly the quantities I ordered, and their pricing is very reasonable.

I've also ordered stainless allens (and metric o-rings, and all kinds of goodies) online from McMaster-Carr:

http://www.mcmaster.com

Incredible selection, and online ordering is fast. You have to buy by the pack, usually 10 or 25 fasteners, so you may get way more than you need (a good thing, I think). Pricing and shipping is very reasonable.

The problem with the kits is that it's hard to know for sure if it actually fits YOUR bike, and it's hard to know the quality of the fasteners. You see a lot of crap on eBay from people who think anything that fits a GS 650 must also fit a GS750, 850, 1000, 1100, etc.

I ride in all kinds of weather, and I really like that the stainless fasteners don't corrode. With a good set of T-handles, allen bits, and ball-end allen wrenches, it's much easier to work on my bike now.

In addition to my engine cases, I also replaced all the fasteners on my carbs with stainless allen heads. They look great, and are very easy to work on now. Pretty much every fastener I remove now gets replaced with stainless if at all possible.

Don't forget to add a tiny dab of anti-sieze to stainless fasteners going into aluminum. I also have a set of taps I use to clean out old bunged-up threads, make new threads, etc.

[Dark Jedi]

There is a fellow on Ebay that puts together complete bolt kits out of stainless, usually about $20 a kit. I plan on getting one for my bike, as it is in a state of teardown, and the bolts are snapping like paper as I try to torque.

[bgmart450]

I've also ordered stainless allens (and metric o-rings, and all kinds of goodies) online from McMaster-Carr:

http://www.macmaster.com

Incredible selection, and online ordering is fast. You have to buy by the pack, usually 10 or 25 fasteners, so you may get way more than you need (a good thing, I think). Pricing and shipping is very reasonable.

I have heard good things about that vendor as well. When I needed some odd sized bolts they were highly recommended.

[bwringer]

Whoops, that's:

http://www.mcmaster.com

No "mac". Just "mc".

Sorry 'bout that.

[lhanscom]

Great link thanks! About stainless, what type is best for our GS applications?

[bobo]

yes thats a better link ! now i don't suppose anyone has the list of lengths and sizes reqd.???..h.g.

[lhanscom]

They're all over the place. They do have an assortment, pn# 92540A111 While you would get a lot you didn't need, you would get most that you need I think. It's $100 though, so it may be a bit rich for the bolts you actually need, it's just nice to have a box like that kicking around.

[bwringer]

18-8 Stainless is the most common stainless steel, and works great on my GS. I ride in all kinds of crappy weather and I hate washing my bike, but the stainless always looks great. It kinda makes the corroded, pitted aluminum look even worse, actually.

Anyway, the differences in the grades of stainless only make a difference if you are using them in some exotic environment with weird chemicals and such. They don't corrode under normal weathering conditions.

Some brands of stainless fasteners look a little nicer because they come out with a smoother surface, but this has no effect on how they work or on corrosion resistance. The ones you can get in most hardware stores are quite nice looking, but expensive. The ones I got from MMS were also very nice. If you're looking for that last ounce of bling, MMS says they can polish your fasteners, but I imagine that gets expensive.

I think the slightly different color of polished stainless would look really nice against polished aluminum.

One thing to remember is that stainless bolts are very strong and hard, but can be brittle. In highly loaded applications requiring a specially hardened or heat treated steel fastener, I personally wouldn't replace with stainless. But in most cases, stainless is going to be a LOT stronger than the old fastener.

Sorry, I don't have a list of fastener lengths!