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Went to pull the tank tonight to get some room to work on the carb. The insert by the coolant overflow bottle is spun. I have a good head on the bolt, but the insert turns in the tank. I can't get to the insert due to the little bracket that the bolt goes through. I'm letting a little penetrating oil soak in now, hoping that will defy the laws of physics and let the bolt turn easier than the insert. Other ideas?

Don't know if this'll work but one time I spun an insert in my Yamaha tank. I took a teeny tiny drill bit and drilled into the insert (through the shroud) at an angle just enough to get a scratch awl into the insert. Soaked with penetrating oil then slowly and gently worked the screw back and forth until it freed and was able to turn it out. Used some glue in a hypo to reset the insert.
I've heard of people just pulling the inserts out then gluing them back in.

I've had to pull them out with the bolt and then glue them back in.
I think I used JB Weld. It does not stick to the plastic very well but will keep the insert from turning in its hole.

I've cut off the head of the bolt and removed the shroud and the remaining bolt. Careful not to get it too hot while cutting as that will heat the insert and melt the area around it.
Then clean the area with acetone, use CA glue around the insert - several times being careful not to get any in the thread.
Run a thread restorer into the insert (or a flat bottom cutting tap) to make sure the threads are clean and not binding.
Then really lube the insert threads and new bolt with anti-sieze to make it a smooth, friction-free re-installation.

Re: 'with anti-sieze...'

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

Darn near every threaded fastener on a bike should have either a threadlocker of antiseize on it.

If the carb is what you were trying to get to, completely remove it. Takes all of a minute (if you're sucking on a brew during) and makes anything having to do with the carb a whole lot easier and less time consuming.

If it happened to be something in the reed assy you may find it saves time to take the pipe off. With a good spring tool and a pipe that's not out of alignment, that doesn't take much longer'n a minute, either.

Re: 'I took a teeny tiny drill bit and drilled into the insert (through the shroud) at an angle just enough to get a scratch awl into the insert.'

Now THAT'S a good idea!

Sadly, the insert I spun is not behind a shroud, it's behind a little tab of frame where I could not remove the tank from the bike even if I got the head off the bolt. Right now I'm not worried about it, as I don't really need the tank off, but first time I do this is going to be a real bother.

bmcd308 wrote:Sadly, the insert I spun is not behind a shroud, it's behind a little tab of frame where I could not remove the tank from the bike even if I got the head off the bolt. Right now I'm not worried about it, as I don't really need the tank off, but first time I do this is going to be a real bother.

Come to think of it, that's where mine was, too. It wasn't behind the shroud. And the heat and vibration from the dremel cutting of the head freed up the threads in the insert enough to allow me to use a screwdriver and such to get the rest of the threaded shank out.

I was ready with an Ez-out, just in case.

So once you got the head cut off the bolt, what was the plan? I worry that once I get the head cut off the bolt, I'll be in the exact same mess I'm in now, but with no head on the bolt. The take has very little side to side play, so getting the head off will not allow the bolt to move far enough to get the tank out.

Cut head off bolt, remove grommet insert, remove grommet, try and cut the rest of the threads off if needed. That was the plan A.

After dremel cutting the head off with a composite saw disk, the heat and vibration loosened up the threads in the insert, so it was "unscrewable" without much else.

Now the insert has been afixed, and the threads are soaked with anti-sieze.

Good luck.

Sounds like a plan - a plan I will implement when I have to, but not right now.

Thanks.