All,
It appears I have a stripped riser top clamp bolt. The aft top clamp bolt on my left riser spins freely. The other three are still torqued to spec and holding tight. My question is, do I have a big problem here (or potentially dangerous one)? I'm trying to decide whether to hold what I got or to replace the riser. The bars don't move, but I just don't know how serious the issue is. Thanks in advance for the replies.

Nick

 

It's very common that they strip...

Helicoil(sp) it and be done.

Eventually the other three will loosen.. Then you will have a problem

 

+1 on the Helicoil. I would go ahead and do all four if I were you.
I have done it to all of my bikes over the years.

 

Yes it is a problem. You need a 5/16-18 Heli Coil kit. Mine is an Emhart Teknologies kit no. 5521-5. It comes with the Heli Coil inserts, tap and Heli Coil insertion tool. You'll need a 21/64 (.328) drill bit. It's that or replace the risers. The stock ones are really cheap metal, that's why we have problems with them.

 

This is the very reason that I am replacing my risers...I actually fixed the risers I have with a simple bolt. By looking at your sig you went with apes, my risers where fine until I did the same. What I did was went to lowes and bought the same bolt as stock but 1/8 of a inch longer, trust me look down the hole and you will still see threads. With the extra 1/8 inch it will grab the exsiting threads and believe it or not cut new ones in the riser I know it sounds crazy but it works! I am putting on 2 inch risers from LA choppers over the weekend I will let you know how it goes..1 thing I did have to do is buy the adaptors so my bars will be 1 1/4 for the new risers..

 

You certainly don't want to ride like that. But it's a simple fix with the helicoil kit. You can pick one up at just about any auto parts store. Do the helicoil fix and be done with it. And don't ride until it's fixed!

 

To close out the thread, I used the helicoil kit to fix the riser bolt problem. Thanks to everyone for the advice - a $20 fix was much better than a new set of risers. I drilled and tapped both holes on the left riser while I had everything apart, installed the inserts, and included a patch of 150 grit sandpaper when I put the top clamp back on as well as some blue locktite. As soon as I had the problem riser back together, I took off the top clamp on the other one, stuck in the patch of sandpaper and locktite, and torqued everything to spec. Good to go. Also, I didn't have a 21/64 bit like Budmiester suggested (the instructions in the helicoil kit sucked ***** and didn't tell me what size bit to use), so I just used a 5/16 bit, and it worked like a champ. Thanks again for all the help.

 

Glad you fixed it when you did. Especially running with taller apes. I had this issues with one of my riser holes stripping and decided to ride until I got it fixed because when I tried to move the bars while the bike was parked in my garage they seemed solid. I figured I was good to go. However as I was heading down the interstate I came upon a dip in the road that gave me a decent bounce and when that happened I pulled the handlebars back about two inches. It didn't really scare me nor did I feel a loss of control or anything but it did cause my mirrors to be off so I could no longer see behind me. And of course, I worried that it might just get worse. I fixed the problem over the next couple of days.

 

Just a thought: With the springer risers and apes, you might want to consider pinning the bars. With the extra twisting force you exert on the risers due to the longer leverage of the bars, the pinning can sure keep the bars more secure. YMMV.

 

Just picked up the FSAP2 from Carlinidesign. Replaces the upper tree, and allows for use of regular risers.

Since I have an '03, I found a 100th anniversary top clamp too.

Not the cheapest route, but opens the options for different bars...