Clutch pivot bolt and nut (missing)

[SHUMBA]

Attention all Tenere riders.
Or all bike riders in general.
I was discussing my Tenere with a KLR rider. I pointed to the left bark buster (clutch lever side) and as I focused on the buster (OEM) I noticed that it was not properly attached.
I rode home a short distance away with everything functioning normally.
Upon closer inspection I observed the nut on the bolt that the clutch lever pivots was missing. In addition, the clutch lever bolt was raised but prevented from escaping by the design of the bark buster.
I had the same thing happen with my Africa Twin. Very fortunately, I had a 6 mm nut with a locking base washer along with a suitable locking washer on hand. Easy fix and a little blue loktite for good measure.
Have a close look at your clutch lever pivot area.
History here: I flew airplanes for a living and made a point of doing a "walk around"
My boss (chief pilot) said to me one day " How come you're always finding something wrong with the airplane?)
My reply was simply "because I look"
SHUMBA

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[ballisticexchris]

Sadly not many riders are very good at checking and maintaining their machines. I do a full safety check and walk around each and every time I head out of my driveway.

 

[EricV]

The original nuts with locking washer are actually one time use. A type of stover lock nut.

Some barkbuster kits use nylock nuts to replace the OEM ones. Never, EVER use loctite on a nylock nut. Not necessary and Loctite eats some types of plastic. ABS for sure.

Glad you caught it before you had an issue. But, like many problems, operator error. You were the one that replaced that OEM unit with Barkbusters, yes?

Edit - if it was the OEM, it's just called a handguard. BarkBuster™ is a trade name.

 

[SHUMBA]

The original nuts with locking washer are actually one time use. A type of stover lock nut.

Some barkbuster kits use nylock nuts to replace the OEM ones. Never, EVER use loctite on a nylock nut. Not necessary and Loctite eats some types of plastic. ABS for sure.

Glad you caught it before you had an issue. But, like many problems, operator error. You were the one that replaced that OEM unit with Barkbusters, yes?

Edit - if it was the OEM, it's just called a handguard. BarkBuster is a trade name.

Hi Eric,
You are absolutely correct, sorry, my error.
I just have the OEM handguards. Agree, a nylok nut would be better, but I happened to have handy a 6 mm stainless nut with attached serrated washer, along with a stainless lock washer. Hence I added blue lok-tight.
To remove the clutch lever, one must remove the top two screws and rotate the hand guard out of the way.
When reassembling, be sure to include the lower attachment of the hand guard to the clutch bolt.
SHUMBA

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[ballisticexchris]

You actually can use Locktite on nylock fasteners. Just use the 243 surface insensitive. Works like a charm on anything dissimilar that needs to be assembled. I used it for years when doing special fabrication jobs that required dissimilar metals or oil soaked parts to hold.

Better still, is to get locking nuts with metal inserts like Honda uses.