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| Random bolt and split washer on fender, compared to original. |
Part No. 141306, NUT, NYLOC, M6 fell off my Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle.
It left behind, hanging by a thread, Part No. 142894, SCREW M6, FRONT MUDGUARD ROLLED.
Those descriptions are thanks to the very useful Royal Enfield parts books from the past, available on the Hitchcocks Motorcycles website.
What happened, in non-technical terms, is that the nut holding the screw that holds the front fender to the stay that attaches to the front fork vibrated off and is gone forever.
The knee bone is connected to the thigh bone... except when it falls off.
What happened is, I discovered the screw barely holding its grip on the fender when I noticed the whole fender vibrating far more than usual to the beat of the motor.
Amazing that the loss of one fastener could allow so much motion. Amazing, too, that this bolt and nut had withstood that vibration for 20 years and 45,000 miles.
I was in a hurry to ride, so I replaced the screw and missing nut with random (and less attractive) ones found in my garage work bench.
Appearance is perhaps secondary to function on a 1999 motorcycle that has seen many a mile. But I like the look of the shiny, round-headed original bolts with their classic single slots against the dark green fender of my Bullet. Trouble is, I couldn't find a nut to fit my original bolt.
The Internet seems to offer every other variety of M6 bolt, none of them in the least attractive.
Pretty M6 bolts may be hard to find, but the one nut I need to hold this one on should turn up someplace in my workbench. The nut goes on behind the fender, so it needn't be pretty. It just has to fit.
The search begins.
Crack open that wallet, let the moth breath a bit and visit your local hardware store! The older the better; one that looks like a ships chandlery is perfect. Go to the stainless steel fastener bins/drawers and get 7 "pan head" #10 screws, 7 S.S. nylock #10 nuts, and 14 appropriately small stainless steel washers. Replace as many fender screws as you can reach - toss that old plain steel junk. Next time the front wheel's off, change out the last two hard-to-reach ones near the fork tubes. The extra screw/nut/washer is for the bits that get fumbled away & disappear into the dryer lint & cat hair dust bunnies beneath the 120 quart freezer! The fender screws don't care that they are SAE or Metric or Whitworth, but stainless hardware is a godsend for you Floridians... <;-)>
ReplyDeleteA great response, thank you. Now I know exactly what to do.
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