Bolt Removal Suggestions Please

[Shoe]

While removing the front brake rotor for installation of a tire I managed to mess up the head of one the bolts. I should have heated the bolt before trying to remove it, but I forgot and this is the first time I've replaced the front tire on this bike. 

I tried drilling a small hole and backing it out with an extractor but the metal is very soft. I ended up removing the rotor on the opposite side with no problems. 

Any suggestions on that proper tool to remove this bolt? 

Its a shame that Kawasaki puts so much thread lock on allen bolts that are torqued to only 20 ft.-lbs.

[jimmymac]

Can you take a die grinder and cut a slot across it?
Then you could use a screwdriver on it...

I change tires all the time without taking rotors off.
http://zzrbikes.com/showthread.php/78714-Change-your-own-tires-cheap-and-easy

[SpazOnaConcours]

...drill it out to the largest size you can manage without hurting the threads.... use the largest diameter extractor you can fit. I always "set" (read: tap with a hammer) my extractors before I try to twist them out, and I use a tap driver (square socket) to twist them out.  If the head is still on the screw, you can drill/grind just that portion off, remove the rotor, and then try to turn what's left of the stud with a sharp set of grips.

If that fails, you'll have to drill it all the way out and re-thread with a heli-coil or kleensert.

G'luck

[Tabarswaacky]

Try a torx wrench .
[/quote]

[B.D.F.]

You might want to try an impact driver and a socket that is slightly larger than what the bolt head was originally meant to take. In other words, you would select a hex tool (or a Torx tool as someone else suggested) that is too tight a fit and requires being driven into the bolt head with a hammer. Nothing too extreme, just something that it just a tad too big. The impact driver will also tend to drive the bit into the bolt head as you use the impact driver.

Another method that works very well on exposed bolt heads such as the ones holding the discs onto a C-14 wheel is to grind a slot about 1/2 way down into the bolt head. Unfortunately that slot must be fairly straight and even because you then have to use a straight- slot screwdriver to remove the bolt. Again, an impact driver will really assist breaking the bolt loose if using a screwdriver bit in a home- made slot too.

The biggest problem with Allen head or Torx head bolts happens when the bit does not go all the way to the bottom of the drive hole. Especially on something like rotor bolts which tend to corrode, trap dirt, and then combine that with the radius on the end of the bit and the engagement portion of the driver is too short to apply enough torque before the bolt rounds. I believe it was M.O.B. who in the past has recommended lightly grinding the radius off any hex bits so they seat as deeply as possible in bolt heads and that is a great idea.

Best of luck with that stuck bolt.

Brian

While removing the front brake rotor for installation of a tire I managed to mess up the head of one the bolts. I should have heated the bolt before trying to remove it, but I forgot and this is the first time I've replaced the front tire on this bike. 

I tried drilling a small hole and backing it out with an extractor but the metal is very soft. I ended up removing the rotor on the opposite side with no problems. 

Any suggestions on that proper tool to remove this bolt? 

Its a shame that Kawasaki puts so much thread lock on allen bolts that are torqued to only 20 ft.-lbs.

[Rhino]

Can you take a die grinder and cut a slot across it?
Then you could use a screwdriver on it...

I change tires all the time without taking rotors off.
http://zzrbikes.com/showthread.php/78714-Change-your-own-tires-cheap-and-easy

+1 on both. I've had better luck with cutting a slot then with extractors. If you break the extractor off you've got a mess on your hands because you cannot drill it.

Also I always do my own tires and I've never removed a rotor to do it.

[Shoe]

Good suggestions. I'll file this away in my memory. I plan to leave it in until/or if the rotor needs replacing. The way those bolts look when they come out its like they have a factory coat of orange thread lock and the heads are sealed against the carrier with a cherry red sealant. I am not worried about it coming out on its own.

[Z71]

Professional motorcycle tire changers are designed to provide clearance for the brake rotors, so they do not need to be removed for tire changes.

[ZedHed]

Here is the best broken bolt advice you will ever get -- take a nut with a hole approximately the same size as the broken bolt stud.  Put the nut over the remaining stud, take your welder and weld the hole of the nut to the broken stud through the nut hole.  Let cool and use your wrench to unscrew the broken stud.  This has never failed to work for me. The heat of the welder loosens the broken stud too.  This is an old time Southern Engineering method for broken bolt removal.

Remember, you have to apply heat to loosen bolts mounted with Red Locktite like the rotors bolts

[roadie]

Here is the best broken bolt advice you will ever get -- take a nut with a hole approximately the same size as the broken bolt stud.  Put the nut over the remaining stud, take your welder and weld the hole of the nut to the broken stud through the nut hole.  Let cool and use your wrench to unscrew the broken stud.  This has never failed to work for me. The heat of the welder loosens the broken stud too.  This is an old time Southern Engineering method for broken bolt removal.

Remember, you have to apply heat to loosen bolts mounted with Red Locktite like the rotors bolts

hot damn!  another tool i need to buy.  Its fun stocking the garage with things I wish I woulda started buying when I was twenty.

[SpazOnaConcours]

Here is the best broken bolt advice you will ever get -- take a nut with a hole approximately the same size as the broken bolt stud.  Put the nut over the remaining stud, take your welder and weld the hole of the nut to the broken stud through the nut hole.  Let cool and use your wrench to unscrew the broken stud.  This has never failed to work for me. The heat of the welder loosens the broken stud too.  This is an old time Southern Engineering method for broken bolt removal.

Remember, you have to apply heat to loosen bolts mounted with Red Locktite like the rotors bolts

+14674539

...if you have a welder, that's the way to go. I always assume most people don't.

[VirginiaJim]

Can you take a die grinder and cut a slot across it?
Then you could use a screwdriver on it...

I change tires all the time without taking rotors off.
http://zzrbikes.com/showthread.php/78714-Change-your-own-tires-cheap-and-easy

You're such a risk taker.

[Rhino]

You're such a risk taker.

I don't understand how that is risky.

[VirginiaJim]

Nevermind...

[Freddy]

Professional motorcycle tire changers are designed to provide clearance for the brake rotors, so they do not need to be removed for tire changes.

True, but the damage can be done when breaking the bead seal.

[jimmymac]

You're such a risk taker.

What chew talkin' 'bout Willis?