Bolt sizes .....teach me.

[thornley]

Why not use stainless spokes? Im just about to rebuild a couple of wheels with excel rims talon hub on the front and have made a rear hub 650GS had assumed stainless would be the wat for spokes but am willing to be educated.

Stainless can be used for spokes and looks good doesn't rust etc. It does not have the same tensile strength as an alloyed steel grade, although its pretty close. Stainless grades can and do work harden (become brittle) when worked and a stainless spoke is more likely to fail under hard repeated use. For the 650 its ok to use, on heavier machines doing off road or two up loaded work I personally wouldnt use them. For the cost differential (pennies when bought in bulk) BMW would fit stainless if it met the required parameters. Some out there will say I've had them for years etc, all my bolts are stainless and I've had no problems... I express a purely engineering view, stainless steels (A2) does not have the correct properties for automotive critical use and should not be used for anything other than cosmetic application.

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

stainless - as in any metal - is perfectly ok anywhere as long as the fatigue life ( 10^6 cycles ) is calculated with minimal strain in the actual application.

what is being expressed is a -correct - like for like size replacement with mild steel.
you could use a 12mm st st bolt in place of a 10 mm bolt for instance with no worries

 

[cookie]

it is quite right what people say about relative strength of stainless v mild steel, but i wouldn't get too hung up about it personally.

guzzi used stainless spokes in the 60s & 70s. i've never seen a broken spoke on one of their wheels.

many people fit s/s engine, brake & steering fastenings, even axles. never heard of any of them breaking either.

i would be VERY wary of stainless axels though

 

[thornley]

Scenario on a short haul flight

Good morning ladies and gentlemen this is your captain. You may have noticed on approaching the aeroplane how nice and shiny all the undercarriage bolts look today. I've changed the fasteners from those horrible dull traceable tested and certified items the engineers insisted on fitting to nice new stainless steel ones I bought from the hardware store on my way in. I know they dont have any certificates with them and are supplied in cardboard boxes and little plastic bags but hell they look the part and will stay shiny for years.

You wouldnt accept it, but some people will change brake mounting bolts, suspension bolts and engine mounts and then tour Europe two up at 130KPH speeds. they may never fail but why risk it for cosmetic purposes

Not hung up about it personally but then I wont change critical bolts on a like for like size basis for un traceable stainless knocked out in Brazil or China and sold on a chemistry only basis. Pay your money take your choice

 

[cookie]

i forgot to point out earlier that GSA wheels have stainless spokes as standard, so i doubt there's much problem in fitting them in GS wheels.

thornley is of course right about using non specified bolts in critical locations, i'm just saying i've not encountered any failed ones in all the bikes i see

 

[thornley]

i forgot to point out earlier that GSA wheels have stainless spokes as standard, so i doubt there's much problem in fitting them in GS wheels.

thornley is of course right about using non specified bolts in critical locations, i'm just saying i've not encountered any failed ones in all the bikes i see

Cookie is right Guzzi's and GSA's had stainless spokes and they were/are thicker to allow for the loss of tensile strength. Dont you love it when we're all right

 

[Greg Masters]

My DR-Z with stainless steel spokes:

My DR-Z, 6 months later:

Greg

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

Anyone in the marine engineering game knows all about the Whitworth spanner sizes, AF, BA and so on. When you decended a pumroom, you had to be psychic to know what to take with you.
Followed by a Triumph 3TA and a Sunbeam S8 to get any to puzzles I might have missed earlier. Holy God, thank you for going METRIC !!

 

[Greg Masters]

Whilst we're on bolts, who know the difference between a bolt and a set-screw?

Greg

 

[ELIMINATOR]

Set screw is threaded down to the head, bolt has unthreaded length.

 

[Paul Rochdale]

Damn it, I've just worked my way right through this thread to set the same question.

One more piece of trivia - 16swg (standard wire gauge) metal measures 1.6mm or 1/16".

 

[ELIMINATOR]

Anorak alert.
1/16" = 0,0625" 1,6mm = 0,0630

Not the same at all.

Just dug out my old Zeus book

 

[Steptoe]

I know of someone who had a terrible accident, due to having a "standard bolt" on his bike.

He got his hand caught in the drill, as he tried to remove the seized bolt.

Wouldn't have happened if the bolt had been stainless

 

[thornley]

I know of someone who had a terrible accident, due to having a "standard bolt" on his bike.

He got his hand caught in the drill, as he tried to remove the seized bolt.

Wouldn't have happened if the bolt had been stainless

Or he knew how to use a drill

 

[Steptoe]

Or he knew how to use a drill

he was also wearing a tie

 

[thornley]

he was also wearing a tie

First rules in a machine shop, no ties unless detachable, no long hair, unless tied back, no rings on fingers,watches on wrists or loose clothing, oh and keep that fecking 6'' rule out of the swarf its a measuring instrument!. The toolroom trainer an ex war service marine used to slap any apprentice's ear if we dared to to break any of the above. He reckoned a slap round the ear hurt less than a face full of four jaw chuck or an arm full of slot drill. Tough old bastard but he prided himself on not having 'his boys' injured. Happy days, sore ears

 

[NorthernBoy]

Many pitches of metric thread, some preferred whilst others are non preferred. Not my words, just techno babble. For some reason some of the threads on Jap. bikes are of a finer pitch than that regarded as standard for the particular diameter.

Just remember that stainless is not superior to mild steel, just stains less. It does not have the tensile strength of mild steel, so unless it is of the correct grade is not suitable for some critical applications.

All of my spare bolts are in the pitch for Japanese bikes (which also rurns out to be the right pitch for my once Swedish, now Italian bike). What is the story with the GS? Does it have the same pitch as the Japanese bikes, or the "standard" (i.e. not Jap motorbike) one?

 

[HTB]

Somebody may have already suggested this, but have a look at the April issue of the Classic MotorCycle (NOT classic bike) - you'll get it in WHS.

Four page article on threads... FOUR PAGES!!!! Geezzz... you'd think people had better things to do. I picked it up by err... accident - meant to pick up Club.

 

[ronnierockster]

Eliminator wrote anorak alert:::: Trust an old Pompey boy to quibble about five thoushands of an inch!! Keep up the good work!! RR PS was it the yard???