GSA 30th Anniversary Accident

This event re surfacing when wc bikes are having similar failiures relating to calipers coming adrift, is at least creating an awareness of making sure 2 bolts are fitted correctly,
The instances of dealers not replacing or adding coppaslip should be tackled by the owner, it can be visibly checked for coppaslip,
We trust previous work was done correctly, most if not all faliures are on bikes old enough to have rear brakes worked on,
This may include lubing drive shaft splines, replacing split gaiters, etc,
I service my own bike, the calipers come off every year for a proper clean up,
Putting bolts in with loc tite after cleaning,
As they have been re used 3 times i will fit new ones next time,
Roamer,
 
Bendy toy said:
Until someone keeps "checking" the bolts until they break. If they are torque wrench checked each time, the screws will gradually tighten until the inevitable happens.
Click to expand...

Is this correct? I checked mine and torqued correctly. Are you saying each time they are re-torqued that they weaken?. I don’t think BMW use loctite when installing them and I’d read using any substance on the threads could mean that when you tighten them and torque them, it means they are over tightened due to ‘slipage’.
 
Thread-locked fasteners should not be torque checked as that will potentially loosen the thread lock.

The situation I’m using as an example was Willington Power Station near Derby. About two years after each unit was started up, they suffered a spate of broken plant mounting bolts. These were(relatively) small pumps, coal conveyor motors, etc. Engineers decided to stop checking bolt torques and the fractured bolts all but stopped.

All you can do is check fasteners with a small Torx or Allen key. They won’t be long enough to test the torque setting but should spot a loose fastener.

But anything that loose could easily fall out a few miles later so is there really any value?

Fit fasteners to BMW spec threadlock and torqued as required.

Saying that, my brakes and front wheel spindle bolts became decidedly tight with aluminium corrosion. They now have copper paste all the way up and have never come loose. They also come apart exactly as they should when needs-be.

To be honest I would be happier if they went right through with an R clip on the back-side but I doubt there’s enough space.
 
Is this correct? I checked mine and torqued correctly. Are you saying each time they are re-torqued that they weaken?. I don’t think BMW use loctite when installing them and I’d read using any substance on the threads could mean that when you tighten them and torque them, it means they are over tightened due to ‘slipage’.
Click to expand...

Surely it is the alloy drive shaft casing that is the greater concern? At 24Nm torque I find it very hard to imagine the bolts failing.
 
Thread resurrection indeed but,
A hell of a lot of bikes coming in to us for the first time have copperslipped caliper bolts,
Every bike leaving us from service or brake work has degreased and loctited caliper bolts .
Worth remembering as well,wheel bolts are clean and dry.:rob
 
Stainless bolts look pretty but have no “spring” so the threads just go solid when tight. Further tightening does not make them less likely to fall out until you shear the threads.
 
I would never fit stainless steel fixings to anything other than cosmetic parts and certainly no where near a rotating part or brake assembly.
 
Bendy toy said:
The situation I’m using as an example was Willington Power Station near Derby. About two years after each unit was started up.....
Click to expand...

That must have been a long time ago, it was decommissioned in 1999, I used to drive by it most weeks, only the cooling towers left last time I looked.
 
ymfb said:
That must have been a long time ago, it was decommissioned in 1999, I used to drive by it most weeks, only the cooling towers left last time I looked.
Click to expand...

It was a long time ago but no less relevant for that.

I stated the problems happened in the two years after the units opened so it had to be going titsup around 1960. But steel bolts today are not much different from steel bolts of 60 years ago. The issue was step by step over-tightening using a torque wrench. Vibration shook them down and each click added a bit more tension. A bike today is no different.

As Mike says use thread lock and be done with it.
 
Was it ever established if the bolts just came loose through copperslip etc, or simply because they were not bolted in properly after a tyre change?
 
Big Lad said:
Was it ever established if the bolts just came loose through copperslip etc, or simply because they were not bolted in properly after a tyre change?
Click to expand...

Back wheel removal doesn’t affect the back brake. But I doubt we we’ll ever know why his caliper rammed itself into the wheel.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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