Broke a bolt off in the triple clamp

OK, so I am an idiot.  I installed a Yamalink to lower the rear so I decided to lower the front a little.  When I was finished sliding the forks up in the triple clamps I tightened the first three pinch bolts with the tork wrench set at 16.5 pounds, and when I went to tork down the fourth bolt it seemed to turn in further than the other bolts so I hesitated.  For some reason, I got the bright idea to give it a few more turns and wait for the click of the wrench.....and SNAP.  The bolt broke in half.  The break is right in-between where the clamp comes together......I am so pissed at myself.  The bike is brand new.  I'm not really sure if I just over torked it and broke it off, or if I stripped out the threads.


Since the clamp is threaded all the way through to the back is it possible to use an easy-out on the back side of the clamp where the bottom of the bolt is exposed? It seems to me that the easy-out would have the same effect from the bottom of the bolt, and Since it broke off in the middle of the clamp I am concerned that I won't be able to get to it accurately from the front side.......or should I just drill it out and re-tap it?  I've never done a re-tap before, and I know easy-outs have mixed results.............DAMN this sucks.

Also, does anyone know off hand what size that bolt is?......thanks

BobbyCheese wrote:

OK, so I am an idiot.  I installed a Yamalink to lower the rear so I decided to lower the front a little.  When I was finished sliding the forks up in the triple clamps I tightened the first three pinch bolts with the tork wrench set at 16.5 pounds, and when I went to tork down the fourth bolt it seemed to turn in further than the other bolts so I hesitated.  For some reason, I got the bright idea to give it a few more turns and wait for the click of the wrench.....and SNAP.  The bolt broke in half.  The break is right in-between where the clamp comes together......I am so pissed at myself.  The bike is brand new.  I'm not really sure if I just over torked it and broke it off, or if I stripped out the threads.


Since the   clamp is threaded all the way through to the back is it possible to use an easy-out on the back side of the clamp where the bottom of the bolt is exposed? It seems to me that the easy-out would have the same effect from the bottom of the bolt, and Since it broke off in the middle of the clamp I am concerned that I won't be able to get to it accurately from the front side.......or should I just drill it out and re-tap it?  I've never done a re-tap before, and I know easy-outs have mixed results.............DAMN this sucks.

Also, does anyone know off hand what size that bolt is?......thanks

Man that sucks balls!

You don't happen to know a good machinist do you? My EZ out skills are lacking so when I have something like that happen I usually bring it in to work and let one of our machinists look at it - I have seen them do miracles with a hammer and chisel.

I suspect you may want to remove the top triple to have any work performed on it.

Unfortunately I don't know a machinest.......the bolt is broken off in the lower clamp.

get yourself a cheap bolt extractor kit from harbor freight tools and drill into the back side of the bolt (opposite side that broke), it will pull it right out exiting the triple clamp towards the back of the bike

Try a left hand drill bit sometimes they will catch and extract the bolt

jbwi112 wrote:

get yourself a cheap bolt extractor kit from harbor freight tools and drill into the back side of the bolt (opposite side that broke), it will pull it right out exiting the triple clamp towards the back of the bike

Thanks man....got it out.  Just had to really take my time. Thank God it wasn't cross threaded......next up is a better torc wrench lol