Loose Top Motor Mount Bolt

[Big Dog Mastiff]

My bike was squeaking on deceleration, it sounded like an old sewing machine. It was very noticeable while riding and had me very concerned, so much so that I wouldn't ride more than a couple of miles from the house. I noticed the noise could be duplicated in the driveway without putting it gear if I revved it up slightly and gradually let off. I started by going over the entire bike and checking each bolt, about 20 min into my task I found a loose top mount. Once tightened the squeak went away, easy fix and I'm ready to ride.

 

[Iman]

Use Loctite!!!

 

[Twisted]

I just found mine loose the other day too, noticed the bike vibrated more than usual, and that was the first place I looked. Read a few posts about these loosening up.

Twisted

 

[Sven]

AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame | C.R. Axtell

Maybe some of you might find this interesting, others is why are you still reading it then? Guy buys a dealership, wants to keep me around [old boss said nothing about selling the place] so he throws a bone at me. For some reason, I'm presented with a gray market T140V, dual disc, not the 4-valve engine but the old 2-valve.

I find a local tuner with dyno and knows CR, small world and all that. I bought megs for some other bike from CR. He takes the megs off some yammie twin: they slip right on a h-d header. He said, 'take these, I'm having a bunch made the same way.' But back to the Tri, a few years before that harley ride.

The new owner spots the money for the machine work, cam [another story], the dyno time, etc. The Tri rep comes to the shop, I'm trying to get more parts out of the backdoor, and this is besides this brand new gray market bike the new dealer and factory have going. So all the rep can do is bring me a warranty spun crank, get it x-ray'd, fill it with weld and there you go. Meanwhile, they are going under at the time.

So the tuner guy who builds the engine, dyno's it, tells me not to run the head steady. Why? Because CR said you get more HP if you let the top end float. Okay, I now shake the bike down before a national. This is at Riverside mind you. I enter a club race and win by a lot.

I tell the person writing the race results that I just won a race with the top end going up and down as I nursed it home for 2 remaining laps (I looked down because something was up) of the race. She said that there was no race story me beating the field like that even [with the top end bobbing for apples]. To this day I still hate that bitch for some lame story of engines being together winning races. LOL

So fuck CR, fuck the tuner's decision, I used the head steady and the bike was first Tri to beat the 4-valve and 2-valvers that showed up for that national. That's my story about a head steady and I'm sticking to it.

 

[awg]

And how tight does it need to be??

 

[05chop]

SVEN Can you explain to me how is it that you get more horse power from the engine thats is steady or floating? This one is making me think but im willing to learn.

 

[Sven]

05, I cannot explain other than thinking what makes HP but friction loss. The explosion literally would lift the studs right out of the cases if we locked the piston at TDC. Add the peak kinetic, any non-burned fuel, but say detonation is right now at ideal damage, it would kill the head gaskets, if it were not for the movement of the piston.

See where I'm going? If we free up the studs, we can't see it happening, but if you google a slow speed movement of a valve spring at peak rpm, that retainer is flexing that valve and lets say a lot of metal is moving we just don't see.

So if I remove that head steady and let the top end flex on its own, I can see how that friction loss would free up movement and let it run out its course with the stud float.

As far as how tight a head steady, we are back to thread stretch so we want max torque at the threads and that set diameter/thread pitch has a given torque range. I go max toruqe plus a pound or two and stop.

If say I had loctite the base nuts, cylinder to head studs, who knows? It may have stayed together or the vibe would have fatigued somewhere else, who knows?

Assholes put me on the front row of another club race. Imagine, Big Z-1's in the back and the chain breaks. They come flying by me from the back and they are hauling by the time they pass me. Someone clips my boot and I was so lucky not to lose a leg or be plowed into. BTW, one of the best handling bikes with my fat ass on it.

 

[BadDawg Bill]

And how tight does it need to be??

Well, if you tried to get mine off to put on a dual coil bracket and it took 2 men and a boy to get it lose I'd say pretty damn tight. Also a BFH and a propane torch...

 

[Little-Boo]

And how tight does it need to be??

85 Ft lbs.

Carlos

 

[Raywood]

If its the coil cover bolts buy some 1/4 inch longer bolts and they will hold better. The holes in the heads are deep