Has anybody come up with a way to stop the sprocket bolts on a KTM coming loose. If so I'd love to hear it, the thought of having to replace my hub because I haven't picked up on loose bolts doesn't excite me a lot.
Loctite, put it on the kickstarter and the shifter too . Engine mount bolts too .. If the engine comes loose and rattles in the frame it will ruin the cases on a KTM as they have no swingarm pivot cones where the swingarm bolt goes through . Ive seen this on more than one or two late models. As for the kickstarter the lever will rattle on the splines and strip away the splines on the shaft.Just prep these bikes good and youll have very little problems.
I'd think that Blue Loctite would be fine, but it's key to clean and prep both thread surfaces prior to applying the thread lock. Ignoring this step can make all the difference.
Of course Jaybird is correct however I happen to have an unlimited supply of red loctite. :)
It must work, in over 30 years of racing dirtbikes I've never had a sprocket bolt come loose.
If you do use red apply a little heat to the nut before trying to remove it. Heat softens the loctite. Oh yeah, don't use the red on any of the smaller bolts. Its tough stuff.
Henk, I was using red loc-tite and the bolts were still coming loose. I was using the open end of the wrench to tighten and before I could get it tight enough the wrench would begin to slip. I found that I can work the box end of the wrench over the nut but it takes some finesse, since then with the help of red loc-tite I haven't had another come loose.
I've got red loc-tite but I'll dive out and gran some blue next week. I'm using nylocks at the moment but I've only had the bike a week and after one ride they were loose theymight not have been tight enough to start with. I was riding with a guy on an 01 520 when his hub smashed itself to bits and I realy don't want to go there myself. I'll keep checking them and bang on some new nylocks and blue loc-tite next week. Thanks for all the advice.
i am sure glad i read this thread because i went out and checked my some of the bolts you guys were talking about and my kickstarter bolt was about ready to fall off. :ohmy:
Man...this thread topic sure came to life this weekend at Loretta Lynn's. We had 2 KTM 450s in our group loose sprockets bolts and/or loosen up in one day of riding. But neither one was using Nylock nuts... :clue:
My friends KTM 300 03 lost his rear sprocket at a local Enduro 3 weeks ago......I bagged him for being slack on maintenance.....seems I may have been wrong.
LOL - when you guys refer to red loctite ruining threads just exactly which red loctite are you using and do you apply heat before removing? I've used 262, 270 and 271 (all red) in many applications including my sprocket bolts and have never had any issues.
I don't know for sure which red loctite # I use. Makes no difference anyway because I never have sprocket bolts come loose. Applying a little heat just softens the loctite and makes the nuts spin right off.
Oh yeah, I've never ruined any threads using loctite either.
The problem is plated bolts. For Loctite to work properly it needs to make contact with ferrous metal. The plating on the bolts prevents this. Loctite help (800-Loctite) line recommends use of Loctite primer 7471 with plated or none ferrous bolts. Plated bolts after use will score and work will better with Loctite. I use the Red Loctite with the 7471 primer and never had problems, even on a severely elongated holes in the hub.
I changed the sprocket about 8 hours riding ago and replaced the nylocks while I was at it, no locktite. They haven't come loose yet, maybe the answer is to just keep the nuts fresh.
Just wanted to add a little. I use the blue loctite, but also apply a small amount at the end of the sprocket bolt that seats inside the sprocket. I don't know when or where I picked this up, but I've never had a problem with loose sprocket bolts. :clue:
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