Fork Bridge

[1150rTodd]

One of the places the touring windshild mounts to is on the bottom of the fork bridge. Well, as my luck would have it, where the bolt goes is stripped. Also it is in such a bad angle and with difficult to get to that I can't tap it in its current position. Being I am 100 miles from the Daytona dealer I was wondering what kind of task removing the fork bridge is. I've looked at the repair manual but it goes into pot-type joints. I was just wondering if I was going to get in over my head or not. I'm a little better than a novice wrench turner but not much. Thanks.

[1150rTodd]

I'm just going to take it to Daytona.

[TicTac50]

1150rTodd
Do not remove fork bridge.
I had same problem with my bike. I was at the Chicken Rally in Alabama and bike tipped over and ripped the bolt out of the fork bridge,yes, the bolt that supports the upper bracket for the BMW touring shield. Discount Auto Parts or AutoZone has a HALICOIL kit. I got the one (M8X1.25) part number is 5546-8. Everything is in the kit except the bit. And the bit size that needed is 21/64 or (.328). You will have to remove bracket that supports the headlight and turn signals, three bolts only. Rotate the bracket toward and up, be careful with the wires. Drill and tap the damaged side. Insert HELICOIL. Make sure you brake the tap at the end of the helicoil, after the coil is all the way IN. When putting the headlight bracket back, do not tie it up until you put the bolts for the upper brackets of the touring shield back into place.
Kit --- $29.00
Bit --- $ 3.00
Time 1 hour..
Good luck.
P.S. If Daytona BMW does not work out, come to Miami. I still have some coils left from that kit.

[DJ Downunder]

One of the places the touring windshild mounts to is on the bottom of the fork bridge. Well, as my luck would have it, where the bolt goes is stripped.

I'm sure in the past someone else had this happen and found the longer bolts was a fix because the holes (with un-stripped thread) go in further.

Might be worth trying...also I find it much easier to mount the brackets without the screen on..and mount the screen after the brackets are in place.

DJ

[towerworker]

I don't think you want to tackle removing the bridge. Had a similar thing happen to me two years ago when my bike got knocked over. Popped the touring shield off and stripped the upper bolt out of the bridge. That bridge is nearly $500! The BMW touring shield bracket bolt does not go in nearly as far as there is threads in the bridge. I went to a local good hardware store and found a longer bolt and changed it out, There is probably at least another 3/8" inch of thread up in there that the original bolt never sees. You also need a good set of ball drivers to remove the old and reinsert the new.

Wayne

[1150rTodd]

Excellent. Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll try the longer bolts and if that doesn't work I'll go with TicTac50 recommendation. I got some ball drivers but they aren't great. I'd love to find some like they had at the dealer where they are used with a socket instead of being turned by hand.

[1150rTodd]

I'll try again but it appears my brake line and other electrical wires are too tight to move the bracket enough to get in there with the tap.

[Airman]

I'll try again but it appears my brake line and other electrical wires are too tight to move the bracket enough to get in there with the tap.

There's a coupe of things to try here.

First cut the plastic ties on the wire bundle to give a little room. You can loosen the brake line with an allen key slightly and not get any air in it. This will allow you to rotate the line some. You can actually afford to do some disassembly to avoid removing the triple tree.

The Helicoil kit should come with a drill bit and tap. Assuming you got the hole drilled out and are having trouble getting the tap up in there, try this;
Find a plain nut with an ID just a bit smaller then the square base of the tap. Drive the nut down on that square tight. Now you can either use a small socket and ratchet to turn the tap, or a wrench.

As for installing the bolt;
I have a set of long T-handled, ball ended, Alllen keys I use for this sort of thing. Also the 3/8" drive keys are available. These are both something you should have for motorcycle maintenance and both sets are available at Sears, Ace hardware, and any motorcycle shop with a Tucker Rocky catalog.

Don't get in a hurry. Be patient and you'll defeat this little problem.

[1150rTodd]

Well, I found if I take the instrument cluster off I can work the head light bracket forward enough to get it out of the way. The tap that came with the kit is somewhat long and at first I couldn't get it to fit so I tried to tap the hole with a 8x1.25 bit. I was able to tap it but I still have the same issue. I don't seem to be getting enough of a bite. I think I will try to find a slightly longer bolt first as that may be the easiest and I believe will work. If not though, I will certainly try your suggestion with the tap that came in the kit.

[Airman]

Well, I found if I take the instrument cluster off I can work the head light bracket forward enough to get it out of the way. The tap that came with the kit is somewhat long and at first I couldn't get it to fit so I tried to tap the hole with a 8x1.25 bit. I was able to tap it but I still have the same issue. I don't seem to be getting enough of a bite. I think I will try to find a slightly longer bolt first as that may be the easiest and I believe will work. If not though, I will certainly try your suggestion with the tap that came in the kit.

You can also cut the tap off shorter, but I don't know what you have for tools or your skill level. Sounds like you are making prgress though, a man willing to remove the instrument cluster for access will surely overcome the problem. I looked at the triple tree last night and have to agree with the others that it doesn't look like fun to remove.
The Helicoil kits I have used had an installation tool that I fancy would be hard to get around that bracket, but that too can be overcome.

[1150rTodd]

Yeah, cutting the tap would certainly be an option if the time comes. I found a 8x1.25 40 (35 was the previous length) bolt at Lowe's with the correct head and it seems to be holding fine for now. If this fails I'll tap it and use the Heli-coils. Thank you everyone for your help! This board truly is amazing. I figured I had to be the only person who had this happen but noooooo.