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Loctite your kickstand bolts.....

4K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  Squidly 
#1 ·
....one of mine just walked out of the bike, the other two almost followed suit before I noticed that my brute was leaning over quite a bit more than usual.

Gold coast gave me a free bolt, I was suprised that they had them on the shelf but this has apparently happened to several other riders.

MV uses anit-sieze on the bolts, I guess so you can really crank down on them, but it doesnt help keep them in place. A few dabs of blue locitite (I would have used red but I ran out, hopefully this will do the job) on all three bolts, and 2 bolts of the kickstand switch and I'm back on the road. Its a five minute job, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to avoid seeing your bike layed out on the concrete due a stupid decision by the folkls at MV.
 
#3 ·
Bolts (even those coated with anti-seize compound) don't tend to loosen and fall of inline fours for no reason, twins and thumpers maybe but not inline fours.

There are three possible reasons for those bolts working loose and falling out...

1. MV have got the torque specs wrong and are fitted loose and standard (possible but doubtful).

2. The bolts have not been fully tightened when it rolled off the production (quite possibly).

3. Your bike is suffering from excessive vibration and things are being shaken loose (quite possible).

You might be lucky and it's just cause 2 but personally I'd be keeping a close eye on the torque on your engine mounts, if they are loose at all then you may have more important things to worry about than a loose side stand.
 
#4 ·
Hartley Hare said:
Bolts (even those coated with anti-seize compound) don't tend to loosen and fall of inline fours for no reason, twins and thumpers maybe but not inline fours.

There are three possible reasons for those bolts working loose and falling out...

1. MV have got the torque specs wrong and are fitted loose and standard (possible but doubtful).

2. The bolts have not been fully tightened when it rolled off the production (quite possibly).

3. Your bike is suffering from excessive vibration and things are being shaken loose (quite possible).

You might be lucky and it's just cause 2 but personally I'd be keeping a close eye on the torque on your engine mounts, if they are loose at all then you may have more important things to worry about than a loose side stand.
Mine when new came with the stand to bracket, bolt and locknut lose, it also came with one of the rubber 'O' rings located on the plastic inlet trumpets hanging out and cut, plus one of the jubilee clips on the rubber inlets was tightened with it not completly on the rubber inlet, just a mess basically :jsm:
 
#5 ·
mikef4uk said:
Mine when new came with the stand to bracket, bolt and locknut lose, it also came with one of the rubber 'O' rings located on the plastic inlet trumpets hanging out and cut, plus one of the jubilee clips on the rubber inlets was tightened with it not completly on the rubber inlet, just a mess basically :jsm:
And that's just the stuff you can see, ever wondered about the stuff you can't?

It's a funny thing, (not specific to MV, just in general) there's enough people/companies involved in the distribution chain that alot of this stuff could be picked up on if they were to re-QC things at some point along the way. The bikes presumably have to prepped for sale at the dealers, it amazes me why they don't/can't give it at least a cursory check over at that time.
 
#6 ·
I don't think any dealer should just assume that any bike is properly put together from the factory, especially after travelling across an ocean. I think most dealers DO check everything they reasonably can (some charge you fro this, some consider it part of the purchase), some dealers unfortunately don't.
Regardless, not everything can be checked on every bike, whether by the factory or a dealer.
 
#7 ·
My bike has so many little inspection marks on it. Every bolt has a little mark made when it was checked. I'll admit that I don't know who made those marks... was it the dealer? The guys in Varese? I'm glad someone checks.

Having said that, I'll check my sidestand tomorrow, while I'm cleaning/lubing the chain.

Thanks for posting
 
#8 · (Edited)
Hartley Hare said:
Bolts (even those coated with anti-seize compound) don't tend to loosen and fall of inline fours for no reason, twins and thumpers maybe but not inline fours.

There are three possible reasons for those bolts working loose and falling out...

1. MV have got the torque specs wrong and are fitted loose and standard (possible but doubtful).

2. The bolts have not been fully tightened when it rolled off the production (quite possibly).

3. Your bike is suffering from excessive vibration and things are being shaken loose (quite possible).

You might be lucky and it's just cause 2 but personally I'd be keeping a close eye on the torque on your engine mounts, if they are loose at all then you may have more important things to worry about than a loose side stand.
Hey buddy, the fuckin bolt fell out, there is no loctite on the bolt, and there should be. Can you chalk up the few guys who had thier headlight lenses fall off as excessive vibration (mine looks like it was siliconed by a poorly trained chimp), or is someone on MV's assembly line got his head up his ass?


To anyone who found my dscovery usefull, you're welcome, glad I could help!
 
#9 ·
Yeah folks, this shit happens. My sidestand's main bolt fell out last year and the other two bolts were loose. I noticed it when wiping the bike down. Rode to the dealer with the sidestand jangling around. Needless to say I wasn't best pleased. Nothing else has fallen off since, and I've not had a problem with the stand bolts ever once they were torqued down properly. Used blue loctite.
 
#10 ·
Some Guy said:
Hey buddy, the fuckin bolt fell out, there is no loctite on the bolt, and there should be. Can you chalk up the few guys who had thier headlight lenses fall off as excessive vibration (mine looks like it was siliconed by a poorly trained chimp), or is someone on MV's assembly line got his head up his ass?


To anyone who found my dscovery usefull, you're welcome, glad I could help!
I'm not your buddy and secondly, why so irrate?

In my opinion, coating these bolts in an anti-seize compound makes perfect sense, applying loctite to them does not. I stand by my inital statement in that if the bolt(s) are fitted correctly and tighten down properly, the addition of an anti-seize compund will not cause them to work loose under normal operation conditions.

Your claim that the root cause is the addition of an anti-seize compound is provable false. I have an F4 sitting out side and for the last 8000 (or so) miles of it's life the side stand mount has been secured with bolts coated with Copaslip. The bolts are still tight and side stand is still secure, that in itself is evidence that a coating of anti-seize compound on these bolts is not the root cause of your issue.

As for your comments on the headlight lens falling off, go back and read my initial post. At no point did I say your problem was definately due to excessive vibration I merely mentioned it as a *possible*, it was also meant as a specific to your bike not your model or marquee.
 
#11 ·
Hartley Hare said:
And that's just the stuff you can see, ever wondered about the stuff you can't?
Yes!! quite often, there is always a lot of swarf on first oil changes that comes from componenet machining and not breaking in, that's only poor cleaning prior assembly.
 
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