G
Guest
Guest
So I decided to replace many of the screws and bolts on my GS650GL with SS socket head screws. The last ones to go were the 3 small bolts that secure the starter motor cover. The two on the left were easy to remove and replace. The third, not so much. As you may be aware, that bolt is located pretty much dead center of the engine, under the cam chain tensioner and carbs. I was able to just get a wrench on the bolt to loosen it and I should've stopped there. But no - I replaced 2 and I was damned well going to replace the third. I couldn't get the wrench on it to actually turn it and loosen it, and I could barely reach it with a finger. It wouldn't turn at all with finger pressure alone. So I used a long, flat head screwdriver and slowly turned the bolt until it finally came out, which took a very long time. Success! However, the feeling of elation was short lived. How the heck was I going to get that tiny socket head screw in there AND tighten it? It took me a very long time to just get it started with a long pair of needlenose pliers. An allen wrench was too big, a 4mm bit was too long and there wasn't enough room to turn the screw using the pliers. I was frustrated and almost resigned myself to the fact that the carbs may have to come off. All for ONE TINY SCREW.
I called it a night thinking a fresh look at it might help the next day. When I woke up the next morning it hit me - cut down a 4mm allen wrench to fit in the available space. So that's what I did. I sacrificed an old wrench, cut the short leg so it would fit under the cam chain tensioner and into the head of the screw, and cut the long leg so I'd have enough room to actually turn the wrench. I used my needlenose pliers to set the wrench in the screw, turned it, and repeated about 25 times. Success!
All of that work for one tiny screw. Somewhere a Suzuki engineer is laughing at me.
Cheers!
K
I called it a night thinking a fresh look at it might help the next day. When I woke up the next morning it hit me - cut down a 4mm allen wrench to fit in the available space. So that's what I did. I sacrificed an old wrench, cut the short leg so it would fit under the cam chain tensioner and into the head of the screw, and cut the long leg so I'd have enough room to actually turn the wrench. I used my needlenose pliers to set the wrench in the screw, turned it, and repeated about 25 times. Success!
All of that work for one tiny screw. Somewhere a Suzuki engineer is laughing at me.
Cheers!
K
