Making a rotor holder.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

We'll see if this photo is any bigger

Thanks for the pic Carter. Yes, I got her done.
Just to share my experience...
I got the rotor bolt off easily with a light duty impact gun. Removing the rotor with the special tool was difficult though. I used a brass mallet as recommended and I swear I was hitting the center bolt of the tool squarely but the long bolt (too long in my opinion) began to bend. I was just about to get worried when I gave her a few more whacks and I heard the rotor start to back out. Whew!
Torquing the rotor bolt to the recommended 72 ft/lb was a little hard to do also. I put the bike in gear and used a 5/8" thick steel bolt that we use with power pole crossarms and locked the rear wheel up against the swingarm. I started torquing and the chain was really tight. I finally got the wrench to click but it was difficult. Maybe because I was afraid I was doing this the wrong way and could damage something. It was harder to do than I expected. There was a lot of "springyness" to the whole thing. I had taped the bolt several layers with electrical tape and used a layer of rubber tape too. That also contributed to the feel. Good thing though because I was surprised when I saw the bolt had bent about 1 1/2" at the center. I had to loosen the axle and chain adjusters to remove the stuck bolt. After inspection, I didn't damage the wheel but I don't think I will do this job again by locking up the wheel. I'll make a holding tool too.
The chain was really tight and that can't be good for it. I was surprised how much it took to torque the bolt correctly.

[txironhead]

Well, you're lucky. I actually did install my rotor, trying to do it almost the same way you did. I didn't have the same results.......

It was not a fun day.

Finally got all the parts and got ready to bolt everything back together. Put it in gear, stuck my trusty Craftsman "big daddy screwdriver" (you know, the one that's really a prybar) in the wheel, put everything on, grabbed my brand new torque wrench, Loctite on the bolt, here we go. Hmm, still no click. Let's try harder. No click. Sure does seem to be a lot of give here. Put some body weight into it. Nothing. Double check torque wrench settings. Nope. Push just a little harder........

Snap.

Not click, snap.

#$%#$%#$%!!!!!!!!!

Broke the crank bolt. Crap. It's got Loctite on it. CRAP!!!!

Yank the rotor off, look at the crank, yep, head broke off. Still in the socket. Make a mad dash for the garage to search for high-strength drill bits or easy outs. Nothing. Loctite still curing. Crap. Eyeball it, there's barely 1/8" of the bolt protruding. Grab my Dremel, dig frantically for a cut-off wheel, and cut a slot in the protruding end. Too small. Cut more. Maybe...... wrestle with the rear wheel to get my "big daddy screwdriver" out, only to find that it's bent at almost a 45 degree angle. Crap! Finally find a big enough screwdriver, luckily it's got one of those hexagonal spots on the shaft to use a wrench on, and a couple of minutes and many more swear words later, I finally managed to back the bolt out.

Threw the tarp over the bike, threw the tools in the garage, and went looking for a beer.

After talking to my brother-in-law, he went to look at the screwdriver. He then told me that if there is any give in the part you're torquing into, the torque reading will be off. He also informed me that my torque wrench doesn't click all the time (sometimes it pays to read the instruction manual), you have to watch the head for the "give" point. We estimate now that I had that puppy somewhere around 200-230lb-ft. before it broke. Luckily I do have a replacement crank bolt, but I'm not touching it until I build one of those rotor holders and THOROUGHLY read the torque wrench instruction manual.

The moral of this obscenely long post is A) It's cheap, build the rotor holder and B) If there was give in the crank while you were torquing on it, you may have overtorqued the bolt or have a majorly inaccurate reading. I really don't want to think about what would have happened if that bolt had broken 1/4" farther down the crank. On a more positive note, I did chase the threads and there was no damage done to the crank. Wish I could say the same about my favorite screwdriver.....think Sears will believe it bent while tightening a really big screw?

[KEITH KRAUSE]

That's a scary story! Someone should make that into a movie.
I think I disagree about torquing something that has some give in it results in the wrong amount of torque (way too much in your example).
Maybe there could be some physics at work here I'm unaware of but I see no reason why torquing a bolt with some give to it will result in the wrong torque amount, high or low.

[Suzuki mad]

Bought a C spanner and ground the locating lug down to a circle to hold the rotor to undo the main nut with an air impacter.

Had a M8 hold the spanner with a six foot steel bar to get it loose though.

At first used a slide hammer that fitted the rotor from the local dealer to get it off. It didn't budge at all. Bought the proper Suzuki rotor removal tool, after fitting it on and a little warming of the rotor and shaft later gave it a firm clout with a hammer.

The whole lot nearly jumped off the shaft and onto the floor. I'd undone the nut almost off the shaft, so only loosen it a few turns!!!!!!!

Glad you got it off though.

Suzuki mad.