Decided to remove the Front fender to make fitting an extender a bit easier. Sounds pretty simple? Not so! When I tried to remove the rear bolts they were VERY stiff and eventually just turned on their own. The reason? They have a square-shaped spacer/nut combination thingy that sits in a flimsy plastic surround inside the wheel area and the bolts are loaded with thread lock. In the end I had to hold the "nut" with small grip-locks and slowly work the bolt out. I ended up drilling out the 6mm spacer to 6.5mm, replacing the bolt with a longer one and putting a nylok nut on the end. Of course, I might just have been unlucky, this is just a "heads up" in case this happens to you and what seems to be a simple job turns into a marathon.
Front Fender Warning
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The situation has been reported before. Care needs to be taken. The backing plate needs to be held in place. The usual trick of defeating thread locker with heat is difficult when the threaded plate is captured in ABS plastic. A Cyanoacrylate solvent such as Loctite 768 may help but it will probably eat plastic too. Don't just put a wrench on the nut and turn. I've made this thread a sticky in hopes it may help fend off fender problems.
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I drilled off the heads of the bolts after the nut started turning. Did not want to mess anything up and bolts can be replaced.
Mounted the square nuts in a vise and used a big crescant wrench to turn them off the remainder of the bolts.
I epoxied the nuts back into place and when I say epoxied, I mean completely filled in the space the nut sits in. After the epoxy set up, I drilled into it and even ran a suitable tap in, although I don't know if I left any threads.
I had two bolts of the right size in my "extras" can and now I can mount or unmount the fender easily, without the nut turning inside.
Mounted the square nuts in a vise and used a big crescant wrench to turn them off the remainder of the bolts.
I epoxied the nuts back into place and when I say epoxied, I mean completely filled in the space the nut sits in. After the epoxy set up, I drilled into it and even ran a suitable tap in, although I don't know if I left any threads.
I had two bolts of the right size in my "extras" can and now I can mount or unmount the fender easily, without the nut turning inside.
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38,103 Posts
Please stop with the "not an issue with my Vee/Wee" posts. That's the case for most Vees and Wees. If the bolts on your Vee or Wee don't come out easily, don't force it and check for thread locker but it is not typical. This thread is about the Glee.
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I had to cut slots in the bolts with a Dremel on my '07. Last time I had the fender off, I tapped out all the nuts and ran the bolts through the appropriate die. I expect to do the same thing when I pull the 2012 fender in the spring.
It wasn't an issue with locktite on the older bikes, just corrosion. Thanks for the locktite headsup on the new ones, Pat.
It wasn't an issue with locktite on the older bikes, just corrosion. Thanks for the locktite headsup on the new ones, Pat.
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31 Posts
5mm Fender Bolt
I was installing my fork brace yesterday and the clearance between the plastic fender was different on the left than the right, so I decided to loosen the left side fender bolt. Big mistake. The 5mm allen stripped pretty quickly (the socket insert) even-though I was being as careful as possible. :furious:
Tempted to take to the dealer and ask them to remove all the fender bolts and replace without locktite.
Any other ideas appreciated. Maybe someone has come up with a break through.
I was installing my fork brace yesterday and the clearance between the plastic fender was different on the left than the right, so I decided to loosen the left side fender bolt. Big mistake. The 5mm allen stripped pretty quickly (the socket insert) even-though I was being as careful as possible. :furious:
Tempted to take to the dealer and ask them to remove all the fender bolts and replace without locktite.
Any other ideas appreciated. Maybe someone has come up with a break through.
There are a couple of solutions in this thread which (in my opinion) are better than going back to the dealer. Long term solutions rather than short.
Just fitted the fender extender on my Glee, here is the offending item viwed from inside the fender with the wheel removed....
Once the wheel was removed it was straightforward to follow the advice previously given; summarised as,
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Once the wheel was removed it was straightforward to follow the advice previously given; summarised as,
- Spray all 4 fasteners/bolts with WD 40/release oil,
- Hold the metal catch with vice grips/pliers & unscrew bolt.
- Anti seize grease when re-assembling.....
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When I installed my new forks, the first thing I took off was the front fender, my first time ever touching the bike. I had no idea about these nuts but I could tell they were going to be a pain. I used my socket and 1/4in breaker bar and bumped it forward and backward until it got looser, which was then when I could take it off.
Installed it just like it was, but with wood-type lock nuts, the ones with little spikes on the face, they work quite nicely, as I had no trouble the second time I took the fender off
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Installed it just like it was, but with wood-type lock nuts, the ones with little spikes on the face, they work quite nicely, as I had no trouble the second time I took the fender off
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Just a heads up, if you are still under warranty and this has happened to you Suzuki may warranty you a new fender. I work at a shop and this happened to a brand new unit we were putting a fork brace on and Suzuki warrantied a new fender.
For those of you who always say " don't go back to the dealer cause they wont help you", it's worth a shot. And if enough people go back to dealers and Suzuki gets enough calls about it they are more likely to fix it in the future since they are now aware of it.
Just a thought.
For those of you who always say " don't go back to the dealer cause they wont help you", it's worth a shot. And if enough people go back to dealers and Suzuki gets enough calls about it they are more likely to fix it in the future since they are now aware of it.
Just a thought.
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I have a bit of a newbie dumb question... why are the 2012+ 650's referred to as "Glees"?
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635 Posts
Because they use a motor that was originally in the short lived Suzuki Gladius. They tweaked it a bit for the VStrom.
So mix Gladius and Wee and you get Glee.
So mix Gladius and Wee and you get Glee.
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No thread lock on my 2007 DL650A fender rear bolts
No thread lock on my 2007 DL650A fender rear bolts - but the square washer is still a PITA
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503 Posts
It would have been nice if I paid attention to this before I had my service guy work on my forks. Oh well one came out no problem.
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