Reply With QuoteI think most guys use a timesert for this repair
I decided to change the oil after a quick shakedown ride of my new to me XB12.
<sarcasm>
I was screwing in my drain plug by hand and figured I give it a little turn with the wrench to snug it up and seat the seat.
Luckily for me, the engineered in torque limiting feature kicked in and she just spins under light pressure from a wrench. Everything sounds great, right?
</sarcasm>
So, timesert kit it or oversized drain plug with removable inner plug?
I think most guys use a timesert for this repair
timesert
the "sarcasm" escapes me here as does your intentions with this thread. been discussed at length thru the years on here. yes....the factory un-revised owners manual and shop service manual quoting 30-something ft. lbs. of torque is WRONG.Originally Posted by 34nineteen
TimeSert preferred method of repair on swingarm drain as well as primary cover drain.....HeliCoil preferred if stripping out cover threaded hole that holds the post for the primary chain adjuster shoe. a5e7b40b-1959-421a-86f7-2f046b30f481_400_compressed.jpg
been preaching the merits of a set of these forever. all XB drain plugs 5/8th inch hex. with one of these and fresh O-ring each drain you'll never strip another threaded drain hole.
I was joking about the plug not being able to hold any torque. I have a feeling this "feature" was added in by the PO, by not following your instructions above or just being hamfisted. I'm not trying to cite this as a Buell flaw, it just is what it is... aluminum threads vs steel fastener and add too much torque = stripped threads.
When I read the torque rating of (over 10 ft-lbs), I thought "I'm just going to go snug". Unfortunately, I was one oil change too late.
I did a cursory search to see what people had done in the past, as I figured it had probably been happening since some peoples first oil change. I read about helicoils, oversized drain plug, welding aluminum bungs, replacing the swingarm, bulkhead rubber plugs, JB weld and lastly the timesert. Some people had some success, some failed and caused more damage.
I just didnt want to follow the wrong path and it looks like the timesert is the winner. I'll probably just spring for a new kit and see if anyone on here wants to buy the kit when I'm done. You know, passing it along to the community.
Plus, I figured a new thread calling out the fix that stood the test of time couldn't hurt.
Anyways, I'll post up my end results, but I'm expecting it to be positive.
PS. I do have a baggie of new HD drain plug orings.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the thread size is 1/2" sae standard for both swingarm threads and primary cover drain threads. i have a new HeliCoil kit that i'm happy to loan out if ever needed by board members. WHAT MIGHT WORK for you is that a few board members as i recall have the same size in TimeSert. perhaps post up "wanted to borrow" message and field any responses. if i had the TimeSert kit would be happy to lend you mine. BuellXB board members in general are a very kind, generous and helpful group. perhaps someone would be willing to lend you their kit? worth a shot posting up.
I'll probably just spring for this kit and go from there. They're about $115 and it should be a "forever" fix. I'll probably do the primary cover also, and send it to get that clutch ramp (pre-emptive) fix done.
Speaking of helicoil kits, I have the one for where the clutch cable feeds into the primary case (5/16-24). On my old M2, that also had the torque limiting feature (by the PO as well).
Damn, O-ring seals are so EASY. They don't need to be cranked down. Not even close.
You can feel them compress and when the plug wants to stop...
I sort of understand it on normal crush-gaskets, people just don't trust them sometimes. But stripping out an O-ring plug? Tsk tsk.
Well the timesert kit is on the way. Hopefully it gets here before the weekend.
I can't wait to get out my 1/2" breaker bar and show it who's boss!
Why stop there? Put a cheater on that!
Steel fence post or something!
Believe it or not, I've done that. Trying to replace leaf springs on a Cherokee.
Impact wasn't doing crap (cheap impact), and before we went in with a cutoff wheel we tried a 6 foot breaker bar.
Amazingly, we didn't break the bolt! Did the trick!
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