BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Now that I have your attention.
Biggest problem I've had with the Parabellum Scout was changing a headlight bulb on the road. Normally an easy task on the R1200R it becomes a problem (minor) when you cover the headlight with a fairing. The Scout is held on by four 5mm bolts and tiny washers and nuts on the back of the fairing where you can't see them. You can almost guarantee that one or more of those little guys will end up on the ground, if it's at night or your over grass say goodbye to the little piece of hardware.
Ask me how I know.

I had some time so this is what I did. I installed cage nuts on the Parabellum hardware now I wouldn't have to worry about dropping the little nuts. Back the bolt out and the nut stays in place. I also changed the small bolts to 6mm stainless not for the strength but because they would be easier to work with in a parking lot on a rainy night. If you grind down the diameter of the pan head 6mm bolts a little you can reuse the original plastic covers. No one wants a lamp to go out, but they usually pick the worst time to do it. A spare H11 fits easily under the seat and taking an hour now to do this will make life a lot easier down the road.

Naturally IMHO

Here's a picture of the cage nut, most well stocked hardware stores will have an assortment of them:

Nice fix Harry - it's almost what a Phone Company guy would come up with

When'd you find time to do this - with the great riding weather this past weekend? (I managed about 250 miles - FINALLY..)

Good to know...my Scout is on order.

deilenberger wrote: When'd you find time to do this - with the great riding weather this past weekend?

Did it before 10AM this morning. Came to me in a dream last night. When I was done I still had time to go for a ride to get a cup of coffee, and then home for a nap.
What were you doing this morning. Hee Hee.
I hope you didn't forget to pay into Social Security

mogu83 wrote:What were you doing this morning. Hee Hee.
I hope you didn't forget to pay into Social Security

62 working days left as of today..

Hay call me stupid but i have know idea what you are talking about! Is this some USA thing?

Kieran R1200R wrote:Hay call me stupid but i have know idea what you are talking about! Is this some USA thing?

Yes - and I'll most likely get yelled at for a non R1200R post.

This is a very simple explanation so don't all you legal or lawyer types get your panties in a wad.

In the States, we pay into a fund our whole working career. When we reach retirement age (varies by date of birth) we draw out in the form of a monthly check. It's not an outlandish amount and in most parts of the country a person would be hard pressed to live on it, but it is a nice kicker.

Being a recipient (on Social Security), I always remind my working friends (that would be Don) to pay in so their will be money in the fund for me to support my motorcycle habit.
So all you working guys (USA), Thanks for your contribution, be assured that at least one guy is spending the money properly.



I assume that his reference to 62 working days is the amount of time left till he also joins the ranks of the non-productive and parasitic.

mogu83 wrote:I assume that his reference to 62 working days is the amount of time left till he also joins the ranks of the non-productive and parasitic.

61 today..

[Actually 61 days, 6 hours and 12 minutes... not that I'm counting..]

This looks like something I'd like to try, except I'm mechanically challenged. It's hard to see from the picture what a cage nut is and how it's attached to the bracket. A little more description would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
--Roger
---------------------------------
Roger Poppen
<http://mypage.siu.edu/drrock/>

The picture I posted is about as close as I can get.
Here's one from the net:


I've always called any nut that held on to the hardware a cage nut but after consulting the hardware bible ( McMaster-Carr catalog) I find that these things are called J-nuts. You can always learn something.

The smallest I could find was a 6mm, I didn't look any further because moving from 5mm to 6mm on the mounting bolts seemed like a good idea.



I

This is still a loose part; why don't you us a blind rivet nut ?
http://www.rivetsinstock.com/rivet51.htm (took the first site I came across on the internet)

Boxerpunk wrote:This is still a loose part; why don't you us a blind rivet nut ?
http://www.rivetsinstock.com/rivet51.htm (took the first site I came across on the internet)

Or a threaded pop rivet
Or welded a nut on the hardware
Or a pressed in panel nut
Or a blind stand off nut.

But I used these because:
Thier available in metric and sae
Every decent hardware store in the US carries them
They cost 25 cents each
They lock into the hole, can't fall out
They install with your fingers
No special skills required to install
I didn't want to make a major project out of it

Thanks. I think I get the concept and will give it a shot.
--Roger

Happy birthday for the 1st Don, I'm jealous -still got 7years of grind to go!!

rpoppen wrote:This looks like something I'd like to try, except I'm mechanically challenged. It's hard to see from the picture what a cage nut is and how it's attached to the bracket. A little more description would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, --Roger

Roger, don't know your skill level so forgive me if this is too basic.
You might have a problem finding a 5mm J nut. The smallest my hardware place had was a 6mm. I had to buy four Pan Head bolts 6mm and 20mm long (Stainless). The head of the bolt won't fit into the exsisting plastic covers so I put the bolt in a drill and laid it on a file till it fit into the plastic cover. You could use a grinding wheel but the file and drill were an arms reach away and the grinding wheel was 50 feet away.
Placing the J nut is super easy just but the open part of the nut over the bracket and push, you'll hear the click when it snaps in to place.