A simple question: Is the bolt that retains the battery on my 999 an allen bolt, or a torx bolt? You'd think I could spot the difference, but my garage is bloody gloomy and the bolt hard to see. I can't shift it with either tool. Some bloody idiot has screwed it in with Popeye forearms again. I'd quite like to get the battery out for the winter, but otherwise, I'll just have to charge it periodically in situ. It's not that important. In 3 months' it will be time to get the bike out again. If that is a torx bolt, why Mr. Anderson? Why?
I recall having problems with that fastener too, can't remember what flavour the fastener was, but it didn't respond to my allen keys , and it wasn't a torx head. I seem to remember I managed to use a screwdriver to eventually undo it though! Someone might have replaced the O.E fastener with a replacement which did the job at some point in the bikes life though, so without seeing it it's hard to judge.
We are all ; most of us any way, living in a dream world. How to escape from the dream, now that's the question!
So...........the OP can charge the battery in-situ in the garage which is bloody gloomy................. Perhaps they don't have multi socket extension leads and inspection lamps in Switzerland??
Well, yes, OK, I could get an inspection lamp out, and get down on my hands and knees in the dirt to find out. But I figured it would just be more elegant to ask on here. It's not obviously an allen bolt, as if the hole is sort of rounded at the end, if you know what I mean. I suspect it's the original bolt, though, as I've had the bike from new (unless someone lost one once). It's a pretty small allen key that's required, but the bastard thing seems very tight (my key keeps slipping off it). After a while I started to wonder if it wasn't a torx (although that would seem pretty stupid for such a basic bolt). Maybe I just need a more sophisticated set of allen keys with handles or something.
Maybe you could back up the Allen key with pliers on the head, so you apply force with both at once. Sounds like you need to replace it anyway, so it doesn't matter if it gets marked up.
Also, do you have an iPhone? iPhones have a built in torch facility, which comes in pretty handy at times. I'm sure other phones do too and if they don't, there will be apps available to enable them to be used as a torch.
As 900 street fighter says. 5mm Allen key bolt. I just whipped mine out to do the same. (???) But I can only show you the path to the door you have to walk throught it.
I had to drill mine out a couple of years ago as it wouldn't budge. Replaced it with a nice deep head Allen cap bolt that was liberally coated in Copaslip and not tightened too much.
I've an idea that the bolt goes into a brass insert, so it's surprising it would need drilling out but I have to admit my knowledge of the electrolytic potential of materials is sketchy at best. For instance, I would have thought that carbon fibre would be an inert material but apparently it's not at all.
I had the same problem and did exactly the same . It appeared to be the original bolt with a head made of plastic so the internal hexagon rounded off .
