stripped thread fork drain plug

[livingdeadhead]

i wish i'd a pound for every helicoil i've done! lol! jap alloy is even softer!

[Kookaburra]

I am probably going to get heaps of scorn and safety concerns here but as a 'temporary' fix for this problem on the R65 I have to admit I used plumbers thread tape. So far (5K) the bolt has held and no leaks.

[Luca]

My first bike was a Yamaha XS400 Maxim.  Got it right out of high school and I didn't know a thing about wrenchin.

Drain bolt was cross threaded, so when I changed the fork seals, I couldn't get the thing to hold oil anymore.  I used a stick of plumbers epoxy and mounded it over the bolt head!

It really wasn't that hokey when you considered that one of my MC reservoir cover screws was snapped and replaced with a zip tie.

[Tony Smith]

Don't know if a 'helicoil' or threaded insert type repair will work in this application, due to not a lot of metal thickness in the area .

It will. I stripped one years back and used a Helicoil "clone" to fix. the trick of it is to carefully count the number of turns available and to then use an insert cut to just *less* than that number of turns and to use loctite "studlock' or equivalent on the insert - otherwise it may leak past the threads. Of course do not insert the drain bolt for 24 hours to make sure that the studlock as gone off first.

[georgesgiralt]

I also have HeliCoil at this place and it's both fit and sealed. I put a little drop of Drei Bond on the thread in order to be able to reduce the torque applied to the screw while retaining the oil inside. I do not want to strip it again...