Use Loctite or not

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Mar 22, 2009 | 04:05 PM

forever young

Thread Starter

Cruiser

Joined: Feb 2008

Posts: 120

Likes: 0

From: Dover, New Jersey

Use Loctite or not

I sure hope I'm not the only one who's had this happen. Every now and then the bolts that secure the dog bone mount to the forward cylinder of my XL1200R would come loose. No big deal, just annoying. So, I went and bought new bolts, new lock washers, some blue Loctite and a service manual. After I put a drop of Loctite on each bolt I torqued them to spec., which is pretty damn tight at 55 to 65 Ft. Lbs. Anyway, after a nice long cruise I realized the Loctite tube says it has a temperature range of -65 to +300 degrees fahrenheit (probably should have read the directions first, duh!) Seems to me the head will get hotter than this. Anyone know if I did a stupid thing and should remove the bolts and clean off the Loctite, or should I just say the hell with it and see what happens?

Mar 22, 2009 | 04:43 PM

phatman

Road Captain

Joined: Mar 2008

Posts: 575

Likes: 1

From: WI

you should be fine.

Mar 22, 2009 | 04:46 PM

gunner11

Ultimate HDF Member

Joined: Apr 2008

Posts: 5,356

Likes: 8

From: Roswell, NM

No problem.

Mar 22, 2009 | 05:40 PM

forever young

Thread Starter

Cruiser

Joined: Feb 2008

Posts: 120

Likes: 0

From: Dover, New Jersey

Answered my own question

After the bike cooled down I rechecked the torque. I was able to loosen the bolts with a short 5/8 wrench with light effort. Apparently the Loctite boils off at high temperatures and can cause loosening. I cleaned the bolt threads and bores with compressed air, put a tiny pinch of anti-seize on the first thread of the bolts, then ran the bolts in and out a few times to make sure I had cleaned out all of the Loctite. The bolts would bind in their threads till I did this. Then I installed and torqued the bolts. All seems good. Next time I'll read the instructions first!
THanks for all your help guys!