Seized pinch bolt?

[SaffaChris]

Hi,

I've been on this forum for a few months getting some superb info whilst lurking in the background... but now I have a question.

Has anyone ever had a problem getting their pinch bolt on the swingarm loose? I've only had my bike a few weeks and just recently had the rear tyre replaced. When I got the bike back I realised the chain was too tight, and now I can't loosen the pinch bolt to adjust it!

Almost broke a spanner and lost some skin, but with no result. Are there any products in the UK for unseizing bolts other than WD40?

Many thanks!
Chris

[DefTrap]

Well we can't blame the monkey at the tyre shop I s'pose as he shouldn't have had to fiddle with chain adjustment ...

Never had this problem with this particular bolt on either of my bikes. It may be loctited in of course. It's a big fecking bolt, unlikley to shear, so maybe you just need a bit of extra leverage? A length of scaffold tube will do if there's no pukka tools handy. Alternatively a bit of heat might help or soaking in something like PlusGas. Don't think WD is *that* helpful in these situations ....

[Swipe]

I can imagine that's a bit of a bugger if it's seized as there is very little leverage space between the tyre and the sprocket. I also wonder if bike shops ever torque bolts and nuts up to the correct values. I always make a point of leaving my service manual if my bike ever goes in so then they have no excuse.

[cfiiman]

Have you tried using a hammer to tap/hit the wrench handle? Like swipe said there is little room, I just adjusted my new chain yesterday...I had to use a ballpein hammer to tap/hit the socket wrench I had on there and after a few wacks it gave...I imagine mine was corroded a little, if you just had yours off at a shop I bet they loctited it real good like Def said, try the hammer and report back...

[squirrelman]

some gorilla most likely over-tightened the bugger, but there's enough space between the upper and lower clamped area to shoot in some spray lube, i think. just shoot your lube into the crack....i know you can do it!

if you remove rear wheel you'll have more room to swing a wrench.

[SaffaChris]

argh!

Spraying with WD40 3 times a day for 3 days has made no difference! Tried rocking the spanner/socket wrench back and forth, tapping it with a hammer, but no result. Almost pushed my bike over with the effort of pulling on the wrench!

I'm replacing the cush drive rubbers soon, so when I get the sprocket off I should have enough space to get a breaker bar in there.

Will keep at it!!

[SaffaChris]

double post

[Swipe]

Or take the back wheel off.

[motorcycleman]

I have an old fork tube that I slip over the wrench handle to get extra torque. I only use it for removing, unless I need to break a bolt

[Hanadad]

Be careful with the big muscle approach. With an extension you can easily apply enough force to snap a frozen fastener. Just saying, pay attention to what you feel through the bar. If things don't feel like they're clearly going right, back off, and apply heat. That extra effort is usually far less than trying to extract whats left of the screw after the damage is done.

[SaffaChris]

Success!

After copious amounts of WD40, a 600mm breaker bar did the trick! Put some extra slack in the chain... all is now good.

Thanks for the advice!

Chris

[flypiguk]

pinch bolt

hi

seeing you live in brighton why dont you pop along to hove and see worlds end motorcycles they deal with bros's,nothing a nut gun won't cure

flypiguk