Death to Phillips! (screws)

[txironhead]

For those of you wanting to get rid of the dreaded Phillips-head screws or you're lucky enough to have bolts but want to dress up your bike, I highly recommend these guys:

http://stores.ebay.com/Stainless-Cycle

I bought a set of their stainless allen bolts for my '81 GS750EX, and I was amazed at how complete the set is. The bolts were exactly the right size. It even had replacement bolts for the starter cover, cam end caps and tach drive. And they have kits for almost all of the GS models, plus Honda, Kawi and other bikes. If they don't have a kit listed, email them and they'll throw a kit together for you. It even comes with an allen wrench. (okay, it's like a $0.15 tool, but it's nice to have anyway and now you have a spare to throw in your tool kit)

Usual legal crap: I am not affiliated, don't make any money from this prop, yada yada yada.

The whole kit for my 750 was around $35. That's how much the bolts for JUST the stator cover were going to cost locally, and no one could even get the 80mm+ long ones for the front sprocket cover. And they match my stainless allen exhaust bolts perfectly! (exhaust bolts NOT included in kit, but they could probably throw those in for a little extra, I bought mine locally) With the black engine, the stainless really stands out and makes the bike look like it has a modern powerplant.

ALWAYS USE ANTI-SIEZE WHEN INSTALLING STAINLESS BOLTS INTO ALUMINUM! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

[bwringer]

I'm a big fan of stainless myself. It really looks spiffy on a black '83 engine.

http://z1enterprises.com is also now selling stainless bolt kits. I haven't used one just yet, so I don't know what it includes, but I'll report back on that in a few weeks.

If you want extra stock for your garage supply, McMaster-Carr sells boxes of stainless goodies at excellent prices:

http://mcmaster.com

They call them "socket head cap screws".

If you just need a few of these, a few of those, a box of the other, etc. Bolt Depot is a good place to order any quantity you want online, also with great prices:

http://boltdepot.com

[jimcor]

Phillips head screws were certainly made for manufacturing convenience and not end user use.

[t3rmin]

Darn you, phillips screws! Darn you to heck! :twisted:

[MelodicMetalGod]

I prefer "torx' fasteners myself. I ran into them first on computers. They were all over Compaq stuff a few years back. After working with torx stuff for years I can say that I have NEVER even come close to stripping the tools or the fasteners. I've wondered for years now why Philips and flat/standard fasteners haven't become a thing of the past.

[t3rmin]

I prefer "torx' fasteners myself. I ran into them first on computers. They were all over Compaq stuff a few years back. After working with torx stuff for years I can say that I have NEVER even come close to stripping the tools or the fasteners. I've wondered for years now why Philips and flat/standard fasteners haven't become a thing of the past.

I haven't bothered to get a set of torx at work so those HP/Compaqs always tick me off. ;-)

[txironhead]

Torx fasteners would probably confuse the mechanics at the stealership. Plus, if nothing broke on a bike, how would the parts department make any money?

[jimcor]

I spent quite a bit of money on Torx stuff. Male and female sockets and some smaller size screwdrivers...never did catch on. But I'm ready for when it does! I prefer it to any other socket cap fastner.

The car I was driving at the time had a lot of Torx stuff on it so it wasn't a waste of money.

[80GS750]

torx are amazing, they work great. phillips heads suck so bad, they always strip, stupid soft metal and tapered end tools dont help either

[bubba]

I replaced all my phillips head screws on my 82 850L. They all had to be drilled and extracted with an e-z out. Replaced with hex head bolts. Socket head cap screws is the term that machinists use for that type of screw.

[txironhead]

I've been told that the best tool to use for extracting our phillips case screws is a hand impact wrench. The trick is to slightly tighten the screw, then loosen it as the screw has less of a tendency to break that way. I'll have to get a hand impact when I go to change the bolts on the clutch cover (the only ones I haven't replaced).

I got mine out by finding a phillips bit (ironically, the best fit I found came from my brother-in-law's hand impact set, the impact was broken or I would have used it) in a socket. I fit the bit into the screw and gave it a few good whacks with a heavy ball peen, then used a ratchet to try to break the screw loose. If it didn't give fairly soon or it felt like the bit was trying to slip, I gave it a few more whacks with the hammer. It took me three hours to remove my front sprocket cover and stator cover, but I didn't break a single screw. There was one already broken in my stator cover from the PO, I'm working on it. Unfortunately, it's broken about 1mm below the lip, so I'm pretty much limited to drilling.

The main tool you need is patience!

I've heard about a nifty tool that attaches to an impact hammer that lets you use a bit and a handle to turn the screw while you're hammering on it. If anyone knows where I can find this tool, let me know because in theory it would work great.

[Nessism]

I'm a big fan of stainless myself. It really looks spiffy on a black '83 engine.

http://z1enterprises.com is also now selling stainless bolt kits. I haven't used one just yet, so I don't know what it includes, but I'll report back on that in a few weeks.

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The kits being sold by Z1 are put together by a guy that used to sell on ebay (iburk - no longer active seller). I bought one of these kits for my 450 and was very impressed by the completeness. The current ebay kits being sold by Stainless Cycle are not as complete as the iburk kits. Was pleased to find this guy is still around so I just ordered a kit for my 550.

Thanks for the heads up bwinger. \\/

[QuaiChangKane]

After all the years I've spent wrenching on old UJM's I found out on this site (IIRC) a couple of weeks ago that the reason phillips screws strip out so much on older bikes isn't because of the poor quality of the metal, or the age of the fastener, but because Japanese and American phillips fasteners are different, and take different tools.





Here's a good read on the subject:

http://www.katun.com/products/toolsjis.html

So yeah - while I've been successfull with an impact driver in the past, I've got a couple sets of these Japanese phillips drivers on order just in case. The right tool for the right job, it seems - it just sucks not knowing they made a better tool for the job!!



-Q!

[QuaiChangKane]

I've heard about a nifty tool that attaches to an impact hammer that lets you use a bit and a handle to turn the screw while you're hammering on it. If anyone knows where I can find this tool, let me know because in theory it would work great.

They can be had for as cheap as 5 bucks at Harbor Freight. I've had expensive ones, and I've had cheap ones - the only gripe I've ever had with the cheap ones is that the bits tend to be brittle and can break. So buy the cheap impact driver, and spring for some spare bits.

No layman's tool kit for working on UJM's is complete without one (or two) - they're actually treaded and spring loaded, so all you have to do is hold it in place and strike it with a hammer - it will turn the bit all by itself. And they're reversible, too...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=37530

-Q!

[Nessism]

Even with a proper bit, Phillips head is a poor shape for an application like engine bolts. The manufacturers have learned this and moved away from them for the most part.

My main reason for wanting stainless is because many of the Phillips head screws on my bike are rusted – won’t look right next to my newly polished engine covers.