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Front Fender Warning

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fender glee
85K views 56 replies 46 participants last post by  9fingers 
#1 ·
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.
 
#2 · (Edited)
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.
 
#4 ·
If it is a problem on Wees, I haven't heard of it. It's a good idea to check for thread locker. As years have gone by, Suzuki has used thread locker on more and more fasteners. The Glees are practically dipped in the stuff.
 
#5 ·
loctite



blame the Risk Managers for this - a fad that started in the USA
 
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#7 ·
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.
 
#8 ·
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.
 
#9 ·
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.
 
#11 ·
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.
 
#13 ·
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,
  • 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.....
 
#14 ·
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


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
 
#15 ·
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.
 
#18 ·
See my sig.
 
#19 ·
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
 
#21 ·
I took my fender off after work today and was concerned about these fasteners. I sprayed them with PB Blaster and then waited a little bit. I wedged a screw driver along side the square nuts and then used my 3/8" drive impact wrench to remove them. Not much trouble since I was warned! I can't believe that they used what appears to be "permanent" thread locker on these connections.
 

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#23 ·
#25 ·
Forewarned is forearmed. Thank goodness for this forum and this post. One tip I can add is to reach up in the recess and put a smear of grease on the end of the bolt. I then jammed a screwdriver in-between the square nut and the recess. I could not see what I was doing but could feel when the screwdriver was properly jammed in. Then I was able to crack open the bolt without any problem and as it unscrewed the grease helped to ease it out and I could feel it getting easier and easier. Manufacturers over using locket is a a pain and reminds me of a previous era when Japanese makers used an air gun to do up all the crosshead screws holding a bike together. Without an impact driver it was impossible to get anything undone without mashing the screw head. I hardly ever need the impact driver these days, although still handy for the occasionally seized bolt/screw.
 
#26 ·
You can't get the front fender off with out removing the front wheel. Somewhere along the way I missed that bit of information. Anyway the orange coated allen bolts came out without incident using a needle nose pliers poked up under the fender & grasping that "V" shaped inside plate. Now I can jiggle the fender for a little more room to put on that fenda extenda I hope.
 
#27 ·
Glad I read about this. I would have run into it while reworking my forks with the Cogent Dynamics stuff. Now I have a plan for dealing with the fender.
 
#28 ·
I ran into a different problem with the bolts on the fender. I didn't have much of a problem with the rear bolts with the nut/washer in the plastic fender. But the front bolts that screw into the forks were a problem. They too had some thread locker on them. The recess for the hex bit was so shallow that I had trouble getting enough bite with the bit that it ended up rounding it out. Luckily, there was enough of the mushroom head exposed after a few turns I could get vice grips on them. The bolts ended up with a nice knurling to the edges by the time I was done. Hard to see how they were worth $3.50 at the dealer, but I ordered them. I couldn't use a standard bolt because it has the standoff on the bolt so it doesn't crush the fender.

But I got the fork boots installed. :)
 
#29 ·
I just removed the front fender on my 2015. It was actually pretty easy.

The key, I believe, was that I sprayed PB Blaster on the threads from the inside (after removing the front wheel). Then I let it sit for about 10 minutes, and used a close fitting Bondhus allen T driver and applied pressure until the bond broke. After that, the PB Blaster penetrated and all four screws came out fairly easily. I did not have to hold the square nut (except with my fingers pressing it back into the recess while spinning the allen wrench), or jam anything in there.

If you are going to do this job, get a can of PB Blaster (it's generally useful stuff to have around anyway, you are not buying it just for this particular job, you'll need it again sometime for something else).

And use high quality straight ended (not ball end) allens like the Bondhus T-handle set I have. Ball ends won't go deep enough into the relatively shallow recess and make it much easier to round out the hex recess.
 
#34 ·
Kroil is even better. Every home mechanic should have or mix your own!

http://www.amazon.com/Kano-Aerokroi..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1RG9RS577KN1D7C0XTJN

"Machinists Workshop magazine actually tested penetrates for break out torque on rusted nuts. They arranged a subjective test of all popular penetrates with control being the torque required to remove a nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.

WD40...................238 LBS
PB Blaster ............214 LBS
Liquid Wrench.......127 LBS
Kano Kroil.............106 LBS
ATF -Acetone 50/50 mix ...53 lbs (Home brew)"
 
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