Is my wheel going to fall off?

[93Bandit]

Can you see what's wrong with this picture??? Got home from a test ride today and some adjustments, and happen to notice this. Shouldn't there be a bolt through that hole? There is the remains of a bolt inside the hole. Looks like both ends were twisted off.

20190323_142451.jpg

[93Bandit]

Top view
20190323_142436.jpg

[93Bandit]

Bottom view
20190323_142446.jpg

[gsrick]

Can you see what's wrong with this picture??? Got home from a test ride today and some adjustments, and happen to notice this. Shouldn't there be a bolt through that hole? There is the remains of a bolt inside the hole. Looks like both ends were twisted off.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]57544[/ATTACH]

That is the pinch bolt. It keeps the axle from twisting when you try to remove the axle nut. As long as the nut is on the other end of the axle, your wheel won't fall off and yes there should be a bolt there. The axle goes through the forks and wheel from that side, so there isn't much of a chance the axle will pull through, but i would ride it like that until you fix it.

[93Bandit]

The hole isn't threaded, right? So I could just drill it out and put a new bolt through with a nut on the other end?

[Brendan W]

https://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs850gl-1980-t-usa-e03_model16059/partslist/BLCK0023.html

[Steve]

The hole isn't threaded, right? So I could just drill it out and put a new bolt through with a nut on the other end?

I wasn't sure about that, so I looked at my wife's '82 850L. There is a nut on the bottom, which would hint that the hole is not threaded.

HOWEVER, since that bike had a rather questionable history before we got it, I went out to the shop, to examine another '82 850L that was recently acquired as a project. It also has a nut on the bottom, so I can safely assure you that there are (probably) no threads in the hole. But, ... rather than drill it out, I would use penetrating oil and heat, then drive it out, if possible. Since whatever is in there is likely steel and the forks are aluminum, your drill bit will go sideways all too easily. Unless you have access to some proper machining tools and have the fork tube off the bike.

.

[93Bandit]

I wasn't sure about that, so I looked at my wife's '82 850L. There is a nut on the bottom, which would hint that the hole is not threaded.

HOWEVER, since that bike had a rather questionable history before we got it, I went out to the shop, to examine another '82 850L that was recently acquired as a project. It also has a nut on the bottom, so I can safely assure you that there are (probably) no threads in the hole. But, ... rather than drill it out, I would use penetrating oil and heat, then drive it out, if possible. Since whatever is in there is likely steel and the forks are aluminum, your drill bit will go sideways all too easily. Unless you have access to some proper machining tools and have the fork tube off the bike.

.

Thanks Steve. I'm not too worried about the bit going sideways. The end of the bolt is pretty flat and I have had to drill out many bolts by hand. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend and see what happens.

[Pop-up kat.]

Got to be seriously stuck to cause both the bolt head and nutted end to shear.

[fbody_mike]

I am guessing what is left of that bolt is keeping the axle pinched. Does not seem like a missing bolt in that spot would cause a major failure like a lost wheel, but a sloppy joint with the axle and fork tube would cause some strange handling depending on how loose it was.

[93Bandit]

Got to be seriously stuck to cause both the bolt head and nutted end to shear.

That's what I thought. Idk how it could happen otherwise. Either it's really stuck, or whoever did it is incredibly talented...

[93Bandit]

So... Decided to tackle this bolt today. Upon closer inspection of the bolt, I noticed the center was hollow all the way through, like someone else already started drilling it out. Interesting. I recently bought a cheap punch set so I thought I'd try to drive it out first. I set the punch in the hole resting on the bolt, walked over to my toolbox to get a hammer and when I returned to the bike the punch had fallen through the hole! What??? I closely inspected the "bolt" to find out its actually a spiders nest! Turns out there was no twisted off bolt inside that hole at all. This makes so much more sense. I was wondering how in the world someone twisted off both ends of that bolt.

I found a bolt in my junk drawer and a lock nut and tightened it up. So it's fixed!

[Steve]

..., or whoever did it is incredibly talented...

... its actually a spiders nest!

Yep, you were right the first time.

.

[Brendan W]

They say that pound for pound spider silk is strong stuff but that application is stretching it a bit

[93Bandit]

Lol no kidding.