Bike Repair AGAIN!

I weight about 170 so it is DEFINATELY NOT your weight that caused the problem.

My seats are leaned back as yours, so I don't think it is the seat angle either.

I know you ride more miles and faster than me. I am sure that causes more stress pressure there, but gosh, it should have a safety factor of 2 - 3 and should be designed to handle it. I think it is just defective bolts.

But then again, what do I know???

 

That is why I love having "engine ears" as members. And Bill is more "engine ear" than most!!!

 

As far as i know they are factory bolts, its a 2010 model and was hardly ridden.

I think I'll save $147 an hour and go with the $3 solution. I wonder what the bill is for internet advice?

I am no engineer but my back yard, redneck, fix-it, degree says I can pretty much fix anything with 2 tools-A hammer and a drill. Well maybe three things I forgot duct tape.

I wasn't going to bother with drilling and re-tapping the holes so i just drilled them out a tad bigger and used slightly bigger bolts and lock washers. I also removed the spacer between the seat brace and the frame. I am not sure why there is a almost half inch spacer but I think any space between the brace and frame would cause stress on any bolt. I used 2 nuts- A regular one and a nylon lock nut



ON the other side i reparied last week i just used a nut and lock washer. Everything seem nice and tight now and i should not have to worry about another bolt snapping.

 

I think your problem was bolt quality. BTW almost all bolts used for luggage racks and struts on any bike are M5. What really matters is using a good grade of bolt. If you buy the bubble pack screws you are asking for trouble. If you go to Lowe's make sure you get the SS304 screws or if you want to put up with the rust get a grade 8. Stick to metric so you never are stuck trying to take an SAE bolt off with your multi-tool.

BTW Internet advice is billed at $150/hour too, but I haven't gotten a d__d nickel out of that yet.