Holy #@$ - the hex nuts for the seat compartment overtorqued much?!

[muffinman]

Wow... trying to get to the brake light connector on my 696 to install the Vizi-Tec brakelight modulator and the hex bolts holding the black metal underneath compartment will not even BUDGE using the proper allen keys.  We've tried extending the "L" hex keys to get better leverage and had two people give it a try to no avail

Is it just my bike?  Any tips on how we can break this son of a pregnant dog loose?

[Popeye the Sailor]

Penetrating lube like PB blaster. Soak it, wait, soak it, wait.

[Punx Clever]

Little heat probably wouldn't hurt either.  Could be that it's been loc-tite'd.

OR, if you need an excuse to buy new tools... a small air-powered right angle impact wrench and some hex sockets would do the best job of getting em off...
like this: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00919932000P?prdNo=17&blockNo=17&blockType=G17

[Popeye the Sailor]

Little heat probably wouldn't hurt either.  Could be that it's been loc-tite'd.

OR, if you need an excuse to buy new tools... a small air-powered right angle impact wrench and some hex sockets would do the best job of getting em off...
like this: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00919932000P?prdNo=17&blockNo=17&blockType=G17

I thought about heat but I imagine there's a fair bit of plastic in the area, so it might be best to avoid that route.



Dang new fangled plastic bikes.

[hadesducati848]

ummm..... you are, of course turning it the "right" way yes?

[Raux]

are you talking about the four larger ones? there is a hex on the bottom AND top on those.

[Rameses]

More leverage.


Hex sockets.

3/8"-1/2" adapter if needed.

1/2"-3/4" adapter if it's really stubborn.

3/4"-1" adapter if it's really really stubborn.

Throw a breaker bar on the end of whichever of those is applicable and I've never seen anything argue with it.



(Except for that nut that was welded to that alternator bracket...

Felt pretty dumb when I couldn't break it loose with a 1" impact wrench. 

...that was definitely a testament to Craftsman hand tools though.  )

[BCMonster]

Not sure where my previous post went, but I do not think you need to remove those. If you are talking about the ones that have the assembly yellow paint line across them, those can stay in place. It is the other four with the gear shaped rubber washers under them that you remove to gain access to the rear of the bike. The tight ones appear to be installed with an amazing thread locker and alot of torque. Strange that they used a hex fastener there.

[muffinman]

Not sure where my previous post went, but I do not think you need to remove those. If you are talking about the ones that have the assembly yellow paint line across them, those can stay in place. It is the other four with the gear shaped rubber washers under them that you remove to gain access to the rear of the bike. The tight ones appear to be installed with an amazing thread locker and alot of torque. Strange that they used a hex fastener there.

Yup, I'm referring to the ones with the yellow paint marks - thanks much for the input, I'll try leaving those alone and just removing the (4) inner ones (w/ rubber gear washers)

[muffinman]

are you talking about the four larger ones? there is a hex on the bottom AND top on those.

Yes, the four larger ones around the perimeter of the rear end (has yellow paint marks across them)

[muffinman]

So just tried again today.. no go, I bought a "heavy duty" hex key with a large handle with 10x torque... and the actual "L" shaped hex key snapped off.

Here's a picture of the hex screws I'm trying to get off (the ones marked with the yellow line)

[xplodee]

Good news is there's no real reason why you need to unscrew these. Be careful if you're trying though, I accidentally stripped one of these trying to unscrew it and now my only option is drilling it out. Since then I learned there's no reason to remove so I'm just ignoring it.

[hadesducati848]

So just tried again today.. no go, I bought a "heavy duty" hex key with a large handle with 10x torque... and the actual "L" shaped hex key snapped off.

Here's a picture of the hex screws I'm trying to get off (the ones marked with the yellow line)

i used a makita impact drill on the hard ones on my bike and they came off almost instantly

[muffinman]

Good news is there's no real reason why you need to unscrew these. Be careful if you're trying though, I accidentally stripped one of these trying to unscrew it and now my only option is drilling it out. Since then I learned there's no reason to remove so I'm just ignoring it.

My understanding was you needed to remove those to get access to the taillight? (to install brake modulator and tail tidy kit)

[BCMonster]

My understanding was you needed to remove those to get access to the taillight? (to install brake modulator and tail tidy kit)

Nope, you do not need to remove these for what you are wanting to do.