screws and bolts

[antonypo]

I know you can buy bolts and screws which are original from people such as DSS etc but they charge a premium for not a lot and of course the delivery fiver on top.
Where can you get these locally in uk for a more reasonable price which arnt particularly for Honda? After all an hexagonal bolt is just that nothing special about it. The problem is they dont quote thread sizes on the sites. For example I want the screws for the seat lock 93600060160G  but it just says 6x16 flat screw which doesnt help much without the thread size.
Obviously I will have to buy the chrome head ones from DSS etc but the stainless must be a bog standard ?

[Lobo]

Hi Anthony,

You could try 'Inox Fasteners' (Southampton) for your various screws etc... they cater old Hondas etc. If using them, be very sure as to what head they'll be supplying... this one caught me out as wanting original & got Allen drive...

Simon.

[UK Pete]

get yourself a thread gauge, probable a couple of quid, they are like a small feeler gauge ,the edges of each blade are like the edge of a saw , that edge when put against the original screw will either fit it or not when you find the one that does it says the size on it so then you can measure the original screw length as well and confidently order the right screw
pete

[AshimotoK0]

get yourself a thread gauge, probable a couple of quid, they are like a small feeler gauge ,the edges of each blade are like the edge of a saw , that edge when put against the original screw will either fit it or not when you find the one that does it says the size on it so then you can measure the original screw length as well and confidently order the right screw
pete

Most of the bolts are metric coarse (ie m6 and m8) The m10 ones tend to be metric fine 1.25 pitch. If  you get m6 A2 SS hex bolts, grind off the top markings they will then polish up, they  look like chrome and never rust or pit again, for the chrome replacements. Plus you can get SS thin wall tube off eBay that you can slot over an M6 polished chrome ones  and 'step out' to 8mm for those tail lamp type bolts. Bit risky to do that on the bar lever ones though, go for genuine.

M8's are a bit of a problem as they have 12mm AF hex heads on Honda's but standard metric bolts are 13mm AF. Never found an aftermarket source of M8 bolts / nuts  with 12 mm heads!

Oh and there are M7 threads on some chain adjuster bolts too!

Don't really like allen screws on my bikes at it's a dead giveaway (OK on specials/riders). Having said that from a practical point of view they are probably a better solution.. Just me being picky again.

Cheers .. AshD

[Spitfire]

When I rebuilt my F1 I went through the parts book and identified all the bolts by area, the ones that were missing or too ratty to rescue were replaced with ones from Custom Fasteners http://custom-fasteners.co.uk/ not cheap but their website is very user friendly and their service is great, where they would not be seen or had a plain finish they were replaced with stainless.  They also used to supply non standard metric Japanese bike style nuts and bolts and old Japanese bike style panhead bolts with info on thread and head sizes. The rest of the standard bolts were cleaned up and I sent them off to R&S Electroplating for refinishing.

Cheers

Dennis

[antonypo]

Fantastic info, thanks to all

[bike-pusher]

antonypo - I'm pretty sure I've got those countersunk screws for the seat lock catch.  I'm also pretty sure the same screws are used to hold 400 Four carbs to the mounting bar.

I was dismantling a carb bank a while back, and I thought, as I undid the carbs: "Oh, those screws look familiar...."

[antonypo]

good ! now what do we do ! haha

[bike-pusher]

IfI can find them, I'll just bung them off to you.  Might take a day or two's rootling in the lock-up, mind.

[antonypo]

Thank you for your offer will email address.

[K2-K6]

Most vehichle bolts that carry any load usually have their threads "rolled" into them, making them effectively a forging in terms of material strength as opposed to a die-cut thread which has metal literally cut out of it. Die cut are generally weaker for any given size and should not be used to replace originals that weren't the same, the risk being that they will shear off under the same level of torque loading.

If possible good condition originals replated are best or at a least match for spec to replace them.

[antonypo]

oh I  see why the originals are more expensive then. Good advice - thank's

[Spitfire]

Hi Ash Wemoto appear to do 12mm spanner size M8 bolts.

http://www.wemoto.com/parts/Bolts_Hexagon/page4_10/

http://www.wemoto.com/parts/search/uses12mmspanner/page1_10/

Cheers

Den