I've spent the best part of the day struggling to remove the exhaust system from my Harley Sportster, the main problem being that all the conveniently (?) tucked away fasteners have badly rusted.
I'm now about 2/3 of the way through replacing all the fasteners and other fittings on the bike with stainless...
But why am I doing this?...Isn't it about time all manufacturers fitted stainless fasteners as standard? The additional cost at the manufacturing stage would not be high and I don't believe that the pricing is so keen on at least 'top end of the range' models that it couldn't be done.
It seems to me that if you are paying upwards of £10,000 for a bike (more than the price of some new cars) this level of finishing should be provided.
The only manufacturer that springs to mind that used stainless fasteners was Vincent...Pretty poor really when the likes of Ducati, BMW, Harley, Triumph etc. etc. are supposedly selling a quality product.
Either manufacturers believe zinc plated fasteners ARE serviceable, they don't really care about the 'quality' and 'serviceability' of their products or they don't actually expect their 'quality' product to last very long. The sad fact is you can pay £15-25,000 for a new bike (or an old one) and still have rusty fasteners after one winter....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

some one did tests on releasing agents the best one was a mixture of brake fluid and automatic transmission oil

email (option): roger.beck@node6.com

hi ian,check your spam,have sent you a pm
nowt to do with rusty nuts
cheers rick

email (option): richardholt@rocketmail.com

Talking of Harley Exhausts! My neighbour has a big black 2 year old HD (I don't know the model) He went out on Friday with the women he loves (About 8 stone) and came back with the right side exhaust/pillion peg bracket hanging off. The threads have all pulled out of the engine case. He asked me if I would fix it for money.....No thanks! The exhaust looks like an arse to remove. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Your nieghbours will be worse than mine Ron..The newer ones have all the emissions sensors etc. in the exhaust as well and the rubber mountings ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Ian: I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't know, but manufacturers (m/c, car, refrigerator, etc.) desing to a price point. Upgrading fasteners is your beef and may only cost a few more bucks (quid, euro) but someone else's priority may be something else, e.g., digital speedo or a power outlet or a frame point for locking your helmet, each of which may be a small increase of cost but which together take the bike out of the price point.

Also, stainless fasteners, especially the ones which are not readily visible, don't sell (new) bikes. It's simply not something that a buyer of a new machine considers in the calculus of whether to buy this one or that one. So why should a manufacturer incurr the additional cost?

Finally, most buyers of new bikes today don't intend to do their own work. They either have a mechanic that they work with or intend to take it back to the dealer when something goes wrong. This is especially so for high-end bikes, like HD. So what if some bolts are rusted, eight or ten years down the road? Someone who spends $25,000 for a new HD cruiser is not planning to remove the engine himself when the time comes for some heavy repair work so the question of whether or not it has stainless engine mounting bolts simply does not arise in his mind.

On the positive side, once someone like you or me has replaced the stock fasteners with stainless, you have a selling advantage when you sell on. Tell the truth, if you have sold a bike on which fasteners have been replaced with stainless, isn't this one of the very first things you've pointed out to prospective new buyers?

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

$25,000 HD cruiser will go rusty as soon as you push it out of the showroom

email (option): roger.beck@node6.com

Hi John..All good points and an additional one is that many 'motorcyclists' don't ride in the rain these days..or the Winter..(so they don't ride much ..and they don't really need stainless fasteners etc.). I do all that though, so tend to look for functionality (and simplicity) and don't worry too much about blue tooth connectivity..what ever that is.. and all the other gizmos and 'rider aids'. I guess that makes me out of date with an out of date set of priorities, such as durability..
I imagine that is another requirement most people don't look for either, after all they like to upgrade to the latest thing every couple of years...
Ah well, I guess I'll just have to keep on replacing those fasteners etc. myself!...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Hi Mates,

IKi can get US size stainless nuts less expensively than you and can sent them to you in UK rather inexpensively. If ya want to ghet together and make an order, let me know.

I need BSCY stuff like crazy here.

email (option): Britool51@hotmail.com

Took my ES2 in to my local bike shop for a WoF (NZ version of an MoT) yesterday, arrived in the rain to a "goodness you're keen".
It passed of course

Hi Iain..Good man..it's only rain water, and they say it's good for your complexion. Doesn't seem to have worked for me though ....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

In my younger days there was a period when I lived up north and worked the night shift at an establishment about 15 miles from home. In the winter I rode home on one of the thin strips of asphalt which was "cleared" of snow by the tires of the passing cars. In the beginning the local coppers thought it very strange that someone would ride a bike in the middle of the night in the snow so they stopped me every night (a welcome diversion as I got to warm up for a few minutes in the back of the patrol car - no electrically heated gloves/seats/handgrips in those days, even if I were up to such use). After a short while of that, they didn't stop me any more, apparently realizing that some ride in the winter, not only in better weather.

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net