my 07 Blade was purchased without a rear hugger....I purchased a nice new Carbon one and went to fit it today. I started to try and undo the middle Allen key bolt that fixes to swing arm under the suspension. To my dismay and annoyance it sheared off leaving the bolt shaft flush with swing arm. Now I'm screwed (pardon the pun) and really have no clue how to fix this....please help !!
I had exactly the same problem with my RR4 when I bought it. The centre bolt had sheared off. You've got two options. (a) Take off the swingarm and use some penetrating oil to loosen it and then a centre punch and screw extractor to remove it......or....... (b) Buy some super sticky velcro, degrease the swing arm and the hugger and stick it down. Being a lazy cvn7 I bet you can't guess which option I went for
It's exactly what I was thinking of doing...did it work well??? I guess would be quite costly to get it re bored and threaded or the other way you said.
I bought a screw extractor. Only problem was that you can't get access to the screw head with the drill because there isn't room underneath the seat. It's a job I keep meaning to do but you're going to have to drop the swingarm or remove it to get access. The velcro hasn't budged. It's not as secure as the screw would be but it holds it well enough for me.
If you can get the swing arm out yourself then it will be most cost effective to just take it to a machinist to get the broken part out....or re tap it if they can't get it out (£10-15 approx.) If you can't get the swing arm out yourself then it won't be cost effective to get it fixed at all, just Velcro it. I wouldn't fancy anbodys chances of drilling it without removing the swing arm....I'd have a try with right angled drill but would be expecting to take the swing arm out. I wouldn't be going at it yourself if you haven't extracted broken fittings in the past.
A good bodge artist makes things look as though the repair is better than the original, and to that end I would degrease the swing arm and put a good bead of Sikaflex marine adhesive along the back edge of the hugger, bolt it down, wait 24 hours for the Sikaflex to cure and Bob's your uncle. This has the added advantage in it will seal off the gap between hugger and swing arm and not end up covered in crack like the Velcro solution.
The garage who sold me the bike had tried that. They'd put a mound of black sealant onto the swingarm and then squished the hugger down onto it so that it came through the hole in the hugger like squeezing a tube of toothpaste. Then pushed it down so it mushroomed once through the hole so it held onto the hugger. It didn't hold. The sealant simply lifted off the swingarm while I was cleaning it. Obviously they didn't degrease it well enough. My velcro bodge is still holding after 3 years.
I'm going with the Velcro. Plus from I needed to get the hugger off for any reason I don't wanna be scraping sealant crap off the swing arm.
Drill out and Helicoil it 10 min done, kits are easy and relatively cheap, of course you could drill and use an easy out as suggested.
