Girly Man Needs Help

[Kat-A-Tonic]

Hi All,

I'm having trouble wrenching off some nuts of the Kat. I'm looking at replacing the riser with a set of clip ons. However, the nuts holding the riser are on so tight that I can't turn them with a socket set. I don't seem to have the strength to turn the nut. I also can't fit a power tool underneath to have the power to pull off the riser.

Any suggestions?

[macgyver]

not exactly sure what the riser in but I'm guessing it goes somewhere on the handlebars. Maybe you could possibly heat the bolts up with an acetylene torch and they should come right out. Or if heating them up is a problem due to nearby cable,wires ect you can just try spray PB blaster on them and letting them sit overnight and than trying them in the morning. Or pay for my plane ticket,food, alcohol ect. and I will come he man it out for ya

[SKNL2]

Ahem...go to Sears or the like and buy what is called a "breaker bar." More leverage is the key, not heat or torches. A breaker bar will cost you around $20.

Ok...so Sears calls it a "flex handle."

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Hand+Tools%2C+General+Purpose&pid=00944202000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Socket+Accessories&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

"Give me a big enough lever and I can move the world."

[BobKat2002]

I just had mine off a bit ago to swap the entire top triple.

Anyway, gonna sound real stupid but working upside down and very sweaty, I was turning the wrong way.

Doh!

[tzortn]

+1 on the breaker bar.

Although spraying some PB Buster and letting it sit is not a bad idea either. Another thing to try is giving the head of the bolt a sharp blow with a hammer. Often the impact will help loosen the bolt.

[Teh_K]

I was doing the same thing to put on some Vortex clip-ons... until I broke them in the process But, yes, those 4 bolts are tough. You really just need more leverage. I remember that I used a 16-inch beam-style torque wrench to actually take the bolts off, but if you're using a socket set, try to find some kind of pipe you can slide over the socket-drive arm to give you more torque.

BTW, what kind of clip-ons are you using? Even though I messed mine up, I'd still like to swap 'em out.

[sven]

Penetrating lubricant and a cheater bar. An 18" length of 3/4" black iron pipe works great and goes for about $2.50. If you want more bling, splurge on the $3 galvanized one.

With that much force on tap, it is fairly easy to twist the head off or damage the rachet, so SKNL's breaker bar aka flex-head is a good first try; bringing the tools and doing it a block away from the dealer will save you the tow if it snaps....

[hellcamp]

+1 on the pipe. Never tried it on the bike, but always worked in other tight situations.

[Kat-A-Tonic]

Looks like the "flex handle" solution is the best. I'll drop by Sears this week.

[Kat-A-Tonic]

BTW, what kind of clip-ons are you using? Even though I messed mine up, I'd still like to swap 'em out.

Vortex is coming out with a new 7 degree clip-on that about a 1/4" to 1/2" thinner than their previous 10 degree model. The newmer model is supposed to be due out at the end of June. The 7 degree clip-on isn't as aggressive as the 10 degree one in terms of angle and comes in silver and black colours.

[POP944]

Re: Girly Man Needs Help

Hi All,

I'm having trouble wrenching off some nuts of the Kat. . .

Ya' know, all I had to read was that first sentence and I was just horrified to the point I was ready to call the ASPCA.

Vet's office man. They have anesthetic and actual surgical procedures for that.

[Black_peter]

I don't know about 98+
but the pre 98 have clips holding the
nuts... That could be a problem..
Though I do remember that mine were
pretty tight.. Worth taking a look to
make sure there isn't something holding the nut..

After all having that riser fall off would ruin
your day.

[rwcreigh]

LOL i was going to say use a pipe to!