Rubbermount_EFI Stripped bolts Clutch inspection cover.

[North]

So I want to replace my Clutch inspection cover. It has two stripped bolts on the bottom. I bought a bolt extractor kit, little nervous about drilling "into" my Primary cover. Thought I would drop a line here for any advice or tips? They are 1/4-20x5/8 in, TORX with captive washers. Tried using a larger (30 instead of 27) TORX head to see if it would bite but there in there good! Thanks in advance. Oh and I have a 2007 XL1200C...... If that matters.

[vlmuke]

sometimes you can use an allen wrench to get them out another trick is to tighten all the other bolts the try to loosen the stripped ones, When I had my stripped heads on my cover I replaced the torx bolts with hex head bolts, this was advise given to me by my fellow forum peeps. if not and you have a dremel tool you can use the cut off wheel to make slots and use a slotted screwdriver to take em out.

[Screw Loose Dan]

Me personally, if the heads are just stripped the extractor kit would be my last choice. I would try slotting (as suggested above) first. Then maybe drilling the heads off to remove the cover. This will expose a good portion of the threads, which you should be able to grab with a pair vice grips.

And yes, replace with anything but torx headed bolts.

[bryan0994]

You can also hit the end a your screw driver with a hammer to shock the screws loose. Don't hit to hard, it don't take much.

[in the wind]

as posted above save the drilling for a last resort--and remove cover if you have to..
try slotting,or grinding off head just to get cover removed-then pull out w/ vise grips..
just thinking out loud here about another bike i am working on for my brother --i wonder would it be possible to come from the inside and loctite short bolts and then use some acorn nuts to hold the cover on- for a different look--just a thought

[North]

Hey thanks for the ideas guys. I will try slotting first for sure, and replacing any Torx with some Hex heads. Hey In The Wind, for your bros bike I have seen bolts in very small sizes that have a hex configuration sunk in the top. You could screw those in and then cap them with an acorn nut? But I have only seen them on small gauge bolts. Just an idea.

[jguynn]

Slot the heads and hope for the best. I twisted the tip of a big Craftsman flat head screwdriver on one of my stripped cover screws. I ended up drilling/cutting the heads off at least two of mine when the torx stripped. I picked up some stainless hex head replacements at Lowes. They were a little too long so I used two washers under each one.

Interestingly enough, I'm on a 2007 XLC myself...though I think this is a common problem.

[in the wind]

i was just thinking of mounting the bolts on the cover(loctited) from the inside so that it would be secured by nuts on the outside--so when cover is removed just the studs are visible--just an idea,and they would remove easily

[toco]

drill the tops off with a5/16 bit,when you get the cover off thay will come out with your fingers,if you don't use locktite

[risotteria]

Toco has the plan that works, I find people tank to overtighten fastners, especially torx. So go easy and use loctite sparingly. For example, I blew a tire on the road and had a dealer change it ( the only time someone else worked on my bike since new). When I went to replace the wheel bearings 1 torx on brake side was striped. So some monkey over torqued it. Low and behold it took a good hour to get it out in the machine shop. So what should have been an hour long easy job turned into a 3 hour frustrating ordeal. Had to dismount the tire to fit the wheel on the mill. Moral: don't let heavy handed techs touch ur bike or if u wrench a tip . Most men can hand tighten a hex head to 50 ft/lbs with ease