• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Socket Head Capscrews vs Phillips

  • Thread starter Thread starter mhardig
  • Start date Start date
I discovered the softness of Japanese Phillips head screws immediately after riding my 73 CL-350 over (and somewhat THROUGH) a low concrete abuttment wall leading into a one lane bridge somewhere in northwest Kentucky. The impact shattered the clutch cover and painted the entire right side of me with well-used and HOT oil from the previously high-RPM centrifugal oil filter hidden inside the aforementioned cover. A friend located and shipped me a used replacement side cover to help return my ride to a useful form of transportation. I spent 3 days in a stranger's tobacco-barn trying to remove the incredibly useless (I had NO idea that lead could be alloyed with coal-mine debris to create a threaded fastener!) screws and remains of screws from the case. At any rate, I managed to get all but one of the screws cleaned out and replaced with original hardware long enough to get back home. I then invested in a collection of allen-head capscrews for every place on that bike I could get to.
I now loudly and longly proclaim the superiority of allen-headed capscrews and the judicious use of copper-based anti-seize on any motorcycle hardware. "Originality" can bite the big one.
To take this one step further, I'll happily take phillips head screws of any metallic composition over common head screws. All common screws in existence should be smelted down into one solid lump and boosted into a ballistic trajectory resulting in a solar impact. I'll pay NASA's freight bill to accomplish that.
 
Phillips head screws have long been a general PIA on motorcycles, and not just Japanese bikes (in my experience). An impact driver is required to reliably remove these screws. Perhaps the manufacturers should include impact drivers with the toolkit as standard equipment.:)

Speaking of "soft" Phillips screws, the British bikes of the '50s were just as bad. It was common practice even then for a rider to replace the Phillips screws on covers with Allen wrench socket head cap screws.
 
Polishing covers

Polishing covers

The yellowing on your covers could be alodine, which is a treatment applied to aluminum to make paint properly adhere. But, if you want to polish your covers up again, get rid of the yellow (fine steel wool or wet sanding), and then polish. I have used Eagle 1 billet aluminum polish with much success. Hope that helps a bit,

-Zack
 
A galvanic chart of metals is available here.
Click to expand...

Now that's a very useful chart! It explains very clearly why our brass jets chemically WELD themselves into the cast aluminium bodies of the carburettors, given enough time. :evil:

Mike.
 
Boondocks said:
I am not sure what this is supposed to mean and what point you are trying to make.:confused:

I did not cut-and-paste in my reply to mhardig. I read three articles, reviewed and edited the points I wanted to make, and expressed them in my own words. This is called "research" and "writing".:)
Click to expand...
I'm sorry if I offended you. I am writing a paper on fasteners and was able to use some of your text. I should have been more verbose in my comment.
 
mixongw said:
I'm sorry if I offended you. I am writing a paper on fasteners and was able to use some of your text. I should have been more verbose in my comment.
Click to expand...

Aha! So you're the cut-and-paster. I didn't have time to copyright my text, so I suppose it is fair game.:)

No offense taken. I just wasn't clear on your comment without the context. I'm glad to have been of some help with your paper. Thanks for the feedback.:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top