i have a 01 kawasaki kdx200 and i am wondering is it amust to tourque down bolts for example when u rebuild ur top end is it a must to tourque down the cyclinder bots or can i just tighten them down by a wrench as tight as i can get them.it sees like mostly every bolt has to be tourqued in the owner manuel i have but who does this and what is the point of doing this any help would be apprecated thanx jeff
tourqueing bolts
- Thread starter kdxmann
- Start date
I would tourque the head bolts for sure, also make sure you tourque the fork bolts and the front axle bolts (pay attention to inch pounds vs foot pounds).
I made a tourque adapter that I use at 90 degrees (no calculation needed) to tourque the head bolts that the tourque wrench will not reach. I think Motion Pro might make an adapter for this application. Here is a pic of mine: PIC
I made a tourque adapter that I use at 90 degrees (no calculation needed) to tourque the head bolts that the tourque wrench will not reach. I think Motion Pro might make an adapter for this application. Here is a pic of mine: PIC
canyncarvr
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- Oct 14, 1999
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The tenor of that question makes it imperative that you use a torque wrench.
If you said, 'I have a fairly well 'calibrated' elbow...I can torque anything real close to spec by touch..do I have to use a torque wrench?' Well that kinda answers itself, don't it?
'..as tight as I can get them..' is silliness. That attitude will get you broken front axle cap studs, broken seat bolts, broken rear suspension components and destroyed fork triple/top clamps.
If you do not have a clue as to the difference between 80in/lbs (say for the clutch bolts) and 14-18ft/lbs (fork clamps), you'd best be using a wrench.
In SOME cases, the indicated torque values are too high anyway! You must have the sense to 'feel' what's going on.
Otherwise, expect great big huge fat troubles.
Are you seriously asking what the point is of torqueing the cylinder/head bolts?
If so...consider the pressures those pieces are subjected to. Besides the static compression of the piston movement (which is piddly) think of the tremendous pressures involved when a handful of air/fuel burns to the extent of thousands of degrees!!..and the pressure from that!. Then you have metal subjected to those thousands of ºs that is going to expand and contract upon the running/shutdown of the engine.
The fasteners that hold all this together need to be working together! That means one cannot be loose while the other is tight. And 'loose/tight' in this case means just a few pounds of difference in torque values.
'..who does this..'? If that means who either uses a torque wrench or is experienced enough to have that 'calibrated elbow'..the answer is everyone who has the brains God gave them.
Yes. MotionPro does make an adapter for such. Keep in mind (of course you will!) that if you keep the adapter at 90º to your torque wrench, the value listed in the manual does not change on your wrench. IF the adapter is ever applied to the fastener at an angle other than 90º, the supplied formulae must be used to determine the setting you must use on your wrench.
Oh...it's obvious isn't it that the adapter does not preclude the use of a torque wrench? It is used with the torque wrench.
Cheers!
89kdx200rdr
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- Apr 19, 2003
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check page 3 thread titled "place for tools", they have the motion pro torque wrench adapter.
hounddog, that adapter at 90 deg. with no torque adjustment makes sense, but have you ever tried it on a nut that you could get on with and with out the adapter at 90 to see if they were the same? just curious.
hounddog, that adapter at 90 deg. with no torque adjustment makes sense, but have you ever tried it on a nut that you could get on with and with out the adapter at 90 to see if they were the same? just curious.
Interesting thought 89kdx200rdr...
I have not tried it, but I suspect a better way to test it would be to use another tourque wrench. The Motion Pro adapter looks like a nice unit, if it had been available locally I would have purchased it (could not wait to have it shipped).
I have not tried it, but I suspect a better way to test it would be to use another tourque wrench. The Motion Pro adapter looks like a nice unit, if it had been available locally I would have purchased it (could not wait to have it shipped).
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canyncarvr
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The length of the adapter doesn't matter for diddle.....IF it's kept at 90º to the torque wrench.
Same as an extension. If you use a 2", 6" or 12" extension on a torque wrench...that don't matter for diddle neither.
Change the length of the wrench..that's something that needs to be accounted for.
Same as an extension. If you use a 2", 6" or 12" extension on a torque wrench...that don't matter for diddle neither.
Change the length of the wrench..that's something that needs to be accounted for.
- Thread starter
- #10
i am 14 years old, and i didnt mean to say i wasnt going to tourque down cyclinder bolts that was a bad example on my behalf i wanted to know if i had to tourque down the reed cage and reeds them self or is it okay to tighten them by hand?i should of asked this before but o well.i see many people tightening bolts with a wrench i never see them with a tourque wrench or any type of tourqueing device.the most that will happen would be a broken bolt if there not tourqued correctly? thanx for the help jeff
canyncarvr
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- Oct 14, 1999
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No, that's not the most that would happen.
A warped head, blown gasket and you in left in the middle of nowhere with a non-working bike would be toward the 'worst' end of things.
You do not need to torque every bolt on the bike. If you have a 'feel' for what torque values should be (based on the size of the bolt and type of material...a grade 8 bolt into an iron head isn't going to be the same as an alloy bolt into aluminum), you'll be fine.
If you don't...and after you break a few things...hopefully you'll learn.
Good luck!!
A warped head, blown gasket and you in left in the middle of nowhere with a non-working bike would be toward the 'worst' end of things.
You do not need to torque every bolt on the bike. If you have a 'feel' for what torque values should be (based on the size of the bolt and type of material...a grade 8 bolt into an iron head isn't going to be the same as an alloy bolt into aluminum), you'll be fine.
If you don't...and after you break a few things...hopefully you'll learn.
Good luck!!
- Jan 8, 2000
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:thumb:
kdxmann,
Use a torque wrench. Over time you will develop a "feel" for some of the bolts, such as the 8mm bolts that are used on about 80% of the bike. This is called experience; something that is hard to come by at 14 but will seem "old-hat" at 16!
canyncarvr
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What does it get to be about the time AARP junk mail starts showing up in your mailbox?
- Jan 8, 2000
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By that time you forget everything you ever learned and need to re-learn it all again.
I bought my very first torque wrench here a couple months ago. It is a Craftsman Micro-torque. It takes some practice to actually feel it when it clicks (it’s not really a click).
I was trying to do my pinch bolts on the forks, I got so frustrated I nearly took the darn thing back to Sears. But after reading the instructions (about 20 times) I finally felt it.
You need to be careful though, the length of the wrench gives you so much more leverage, you could easily break a bolt off and not even realize you were putting that much pressure on it.
I was trying to do my pinch bolts on the forks, I got so frustrated I nearly took the darn thing back to Sears. But after reading the instructions (about 20 times) I finally felt it.
You need to be careful though, the length of the wrench gives you so much more leverage, you could easily break a bolt off and not even realize you were putting that much pressure on it.
canyncarvr
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- Oct 14, 1999
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BTW...'ya ever wondered howcome small (nut/bolt size..say 8mm) wrenches are so darn small? Why not make all wrenches the same size so they fit in drawers better?
'Cuz an 8mm nut/bolt takes a whole lot less force to be correctly tightened than a 17mm nut/bolt does...so 'they' give you a smaller lever in the case of the smaller nut/bolt to tighten it with.
Doesn't mean you still can't break stuff. ;)
An added note. It's not only the amount of force applied, but the procedure used to tighten the stuff in the first place that's important. You should never tighten something like a cylinder head in a sequential (say clockwise) fashion.
And don't tighten the first bolt to spec, then go to the next. Tighten them in stages. In the case of the head (for example) make everything finger tight first, then proceed in increments of 5 (10-15-20..). That's usually safe.
Some fasteners require smaller steps than that. If they do, it's usually noted in your service manual.
The less critical the piece, the higher the torque value you are going to, the higher you can start...i.e. you don't have to tighten a lugnut in 5 lb. increments starting at 10ft/lbs.
....you get the idea...hopefully.
'Cuz an 8mm nut/bolt takes a whole lot less force to be correctly tightened than a 17mm nut/bolt does...so 'they' give you a smaller lever in the case of the smaller nut/bolt to tighten it with.
Doesn't mean you still can't break stuff. ;)
An added note. It's not only the amount of force applied, but the procedure used to tighten the stuff in the first place that's important. You should never tighten something like a cylinder head in a sequential (say clockwise) fashion.
And don't tighten the first bolt to spec, then go to the next. Tighten them in stages. In the case of the head (for example) make everything finger tight first, then proceed in increments of 5 (10-15-20..). That's usually safe.
Some fasteners require smaller steps than that. If they do, it's usually noted in your service manual.
The less critical the piece, the higher the torque value you are going to, the higher you can start...i.e. you don't have to tighten a lugnut in 5 lb. increments starting at 10ft/lbs.
....you get the idea...hopefully.
- Thread starter
- #18
believe it or not i am pretty good with wokin on my kdx. dont let my age fool you. i know plenty but this is one of those things i thought didnt matter what bolt had to be tourqued to what pound.but now i guess im off to sears to get a tourque wrench hopefully i wont break any bolts and stuff like that but for some reason i have a felling that those reed cage bolts are tightened correctly but im better off safe then sorry.am i the youngest person on a kdx in this site any 1 younger then me??
