Torque specs?

[hambonee]

OK!!! Why the heck do people produce motorcycle accessories and not include basic items like torque specs?!?!?! ::005::

Does anyone have the specs for the two side stand bolts and the 4 bolts that hold the big black plate on at the front of the engine?

Thanks in advance! ::003::

 

[WJBertrand]

Not sure about the side stand bolts but the four front engine mount bolts are spec'd at 54 ft.lb. per the shop manual.


-Jeff

 

[hambonee]

Here are the values from the 2014 manual:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5784/20578668631_b04365e638_b.jpg[/img] Hope that helps Fred [/quote] sheeot! Thanks! big help ;D Bit paranoid about putting that much torque on the side stand bolts but hey!!..manual says so... Just worked as an Army mechanic for years and stripped bolts scare the crap outa me..lol

 

[Checkswrecks]

Thanks Fred.


As always, those numbers are for new bolts in new parts. In real life, I personally have no problem using a little Locktite and applying slightly less torque in a lot of situations. In my experience, Yamaha does pretty well, but book torque will strip out a number of things in Suzuki and Kaw, who seem to use pot-metal for their fasteners.

When in doubt, Google the words "Yamaha general tightening torques" and look for the chart with the wrench. Yamaha seems to use the same values for across their product lines and the chart includes wrench size references.

 

[summitboy]

Some people are torque nazis ! If you have been wrenching long enough u can kick the tq wrench to the curb !

 

[timothy.davis]

I was on the Air Wing side while working in the calibration field in the USMC. I had many conversations with the aircraft maintenance and power plants mechanics. The salty or want to be salty mech's often disdained the need for calibrated torque devices; they had the "feel". When invited to the calibration laboratory to challenge the "feel" against a torque wrench calibration standard the "feel" seldom if ever specked out and was even less to never successful of repeatability. The old salts "quote" natural abilities, if practiced by a more novice mechanic, could have dire consequences. Aircraft mishaps in that community did involve close friends and or yourself. Adherence to best maintenance practices is not a bad idea.

 

[OldRider]

Some people are torque nazis ! If you have been wrenching long enough u can kick the tq wrench to the curb !

I agree 100%. I've been twisting wrenches 5-6 days a week for 40+ years and i don't use a torque wrench 1/10 of 1% of the time. Some things are very critical when it comes to having the exact correct torque, but most things aren't. Just because you're using a TW doesn't mean your going to get it right. Too wet of threads, too dry of threads, the surface conditions, new bolt or old bolt, quality of wrench, even how you are holding the TW will determine how close you get it. All that $20 TW is going to do is give you a false sence of secutity.

 

[fredz43]

Yeah, my method is to get the bolts as tight as I can get them, then go another half a turn.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Or to keep tightening till turning the wrench starts to get easier again?
O

 

[hambonee]

Or to keep tightening till turning the wrench starts to get easier again?
O

Was an Army mechanic for years..seen WAY too many examples of that. I'll stick to my torque wrench thank you...

 

[Kwatters]

I agree 100%. I've been twisting wrenches 5-6 days a week for 40+ years and i don't use a torque wrench 1/10 of 1% of the time. Some things are very critical when it comes to having the exact correct torque, but most things aren't. Just because you're using a TW doesn't mean your going to get it right. Too wet of threads, too dry of threads, the surface conditions, new bolt or old bolt, quality of wrench, even how you are holding the TW will determine how close you get it. All that $20 TW is going to do is give you a false sence of secutity.

Maybe if you are using $20 torque wrenches we found part of the problem.

 

[jbrown]

I agree 100%. I've been twisting wrenches 5-6 days a week for 40+ years and i don't use a torque wrench 1/10 of 1% of the time. Some things are very critical when it comes to having the exact correct torque, but most things aren't. Just because you're using a TW doesn't mean your going to get it right. Too wet of threads, too dry of threads, the surface conditions, new bolt or old bolt, quality of wrench, even how you are holding the TW will determine how close you get it. All that $20 TW is going to do is give you a false sence of secutity.

I'll humbly suggest that all of the issues you mention (other than the wrench quality) exist whether you are using a torque wrench or not. If you can make an adjustment for oiled threads by "feel", then you can certainly make a similar adjustment to an actual measurable value. I think the saving grace for the "by feel" technique is that there is usually a wide range of acceptable tightness. If you have a correct specified value, an accurate torque wrench, and can fit the wrench in the available space, you will always be able to do a better job using the torque wrench. It may not matter if your "by feel" is close enough. No one is going to convince me that their 30 year trained arm is going to result in a level of tightness that is better than a good torque wrench. (I'll absolutely agree that it is faster!) And there is nothing preventing an experienced wrencher from detecting a bad torque wrench when it doesn't click at what seems like the correct tightness.

 

[shrekonwheels]

I only torque things which matter, such as heads etc. Things which are not critical such as oil pan bolts or stuff like that I do not bother.

 

[scott123007]

This sounds like a damn oil thread!

The reality is, like Oldrider said, there are only a few critical nuts/ bolts that need proper torqueing, and that has more to do with stretch values. If you tighten a bolt enough that it does not break, strip, or come loose, you have done what you needed to do. And yes, just like riding itself, there are plenty that have learned that skillset. The sky does not fall if you don't use a torque wrench for every bolt.

 

[OldRider]

Maybe if you are using $20 torque wrenches we found part of the problem.

What grade are you in?

 

[Don in Lodi]

There's a whole genre of head bolts we call 'stretchy bolts'. As with all head bolts, they have a torque value. These go beyond that and have a degrees of rotation required after the torque value has been reached. Torque reached, add 90 degrees of rotation... or, torque, add 120 degrees. It is insane, the sensation of winding on ever more torque to get the 'stretch' put into the bolts. So on top of an accurate tq wrench, you need a degree wheel and a good solid, long, breaker bar. Obviously, as you should with all head bolts actually, these are not re-usable. Then there's anything with an aluminum block, forget doing head gaskets. The stretch extends into the threads in the block. Heli-coil works ok, they're special long reach coils, but what a PIA.
With the alloys we're dealing with, a torque wrench can be indispensable. Gets things tight with less of a chance of pulling the threads out of the hole. One of the reasons I promote the studs in the front of the head with the crash bars and skid plates when someone asks. Sure, use a torque wrench to be safe, but the alloy head is not meant to have those bolts torqued over and over again, bolts re-threaded over and over. With the stud you torque the bars and the mount on nice and secure, then you're free to work the nut for the pan on the steel stud as often as needed, never increasing or decreasing the torque for the threads in the head for the mount.
All that being said, I haven't used a torque wrench on this bike in 50,000 miles. I'm doomed.

 

[ace50]

Maybe if you are using $20 torque wrenches we found part of the problem.

There is nothing wrong with $20 TW, I use ($10 on sale) Harbor Freight TW and just calibrate them before use. All they are is a spring and detent.

 

[viewdvb]

It never fails to amaze me how many people know better than the engineers who designed and manufactured the bike. And it isn't just torque wrenches. I've heard the same old same old about just about very aspect of motorcycling. Best example ever was the bar-tender I met in Texas who had only half a face after falling off at just 30mph. "Never wear a helmet, man. Those things can break your neck." Yeah, that's why so many racers don't wear them! There's always someone who knows better. At least, in his case, he was the only one to pay the price for his own stupidity. Might not be the case if you use "experience" to torque a brake mount, a brake fluid connector or a suspension mount.