Why not?

[Adamal47]

Recently while I was doing some cleaning and looking things over I noticed the kickstand was kinda wobbly. Upon further review I noticed that one oth the three bolts was missing and another was loose. So I proceeded to take apart the floorboard assembly and remove the kickstand. I tried to remove one of the remaining kickstand bolt to see if it would fit into the empty hole left by the missing bolt. When I tried to remove it the head snapped clean off. Was able to get it out with a pair of vice grips. Replaced all three bolts with new grade 8 bolts. I also noticed that both bolts that held the rear exhaust bracket to the frame had also snapped. Going to replace those with grade 8 as well. So now for my question(s). Does anyone else have problems like this of bolts breaking? Why doesn't everything come grade 8 from the factory? Is it bad to replace with grade 8 bolts?

 

[Bodeen]

While I haven't broken many bolts, I have broken exhaust hardware and saddlebag hardware. Grade 8 is a good move. My bike had some grade 8 bolts on the it from the factory. The primary cover, cam chest cover for instance are all grade 8. Seems that of all places to use a grade 8, the jiffy stand mount would be one of them.

 

[Iceman24]

Exactly...HD's "should" run/last as long as cage so why not ensure "quality" hw is matched to extend life...??

 

[Jack Klarich]

Bolt Torque Chart | Portland Bolt Having a look at this chart may help you to understand the torquing and clamping force of the different grade bolts:s Grade 8 is a very good choice in critical fastener applications, they will be a harder grade of bolt making removal of broken fasteners more difficult , that said they should have been installed from the factory and placed on your periodic check list(Except) head bolts which should not require any retorquing

 

[Midnight Reign]

Dont know if it is true or not but have been told in the past that although grade 8 bolts have a higher strength they are also more brittle and tend to break more often in a high vibration enviroment, as well as being more suceptable to failure under shock loads. once one of these bolts has failed they a much more difficult to remove.

 

[bigfish_Oh]

Dont know if it is true or not but have been told in the past that although grade 8 bolts have a higher strength they are also more brittle and tend to break more often in a high vibration enviroment, as well as being more suceptable to failure under shock loads. once one of these bolts has failed they a much more difficult to remove.

I would tend to agree here, and if the bolt is stronger what is the next weakest link? I always replace old tractor manifold bolts with what was original, brass bolts, takes the heat changes and easier to remove if broke or stripped, same idea. They don't always take a cheap route to be cheap.

 

[michael martin]

I would disagree with the idea that grade 8 bolts are brittle, or more brittle, than say common fasteners. But, they are certainly tougher and have a much higher tinsel strength.
Grade 8 fasteners are commonly found in aircraft where vibration is a common problem, so a brittle bolt would be problematic.

 

[papacierra]

I ve worked in the steel industry for over 30 years. Grade 8 bolts are stronger but will break, they don't bend much. Grade 5 witch is a standard will bend quite a bit before it breaks.