Topic: I'm in the doghouse - Just broke my fiancee's 85 rebel 250

[turin39789]

Took my bike down for some cleaning up/issues.  In the meantime my fiancee bought a rebel 250, but since she hasn't ridden since our msf course in june, she's been riding on the weekend in a parking lot until she's comfortable out on the roads. 

At the same time, I've been taking it to work and class on monday and wednesday because it's much easier to park it at school without a parking permit than it is my car. 

I'm about 3 blocks away from class, and I'm going over some speed bumps.  I increase my speed some because I can, and then jump up on my pegs so as not to spank myself - just as I was taught at msf.  Unfortunately my left side peg(with the shifting pedal) snapped when I stepped on it.  I've been on it before, and im hoping it was just a badly worn bolt.

Well I had a warm walk the to class with the bike, There appears to be some grease down there that has me concerned.  Other than that it appears like the bolt from the peg to the exhaust mount snapped, but the grease has me puzzled.  I'll be walking home after class in about an hour(3 miles or so pushing the rebel on the sidewalk) and just want to get as fast of a start on this as I can.

 I think I've found the big rebel forum on the net(rebel250) but had some trouble with the registration form and I can't register and ask for help there at this time.  I just wanted to see if anyone here had any ideas on what happened. Was it just a weak bolt or did I break something expensive?  Is there something obvious that explains the small amount of oil/grease that showed up?

[turin39789]

Looks it was road grime and some chain grease from the po down there.

So I'm just left with a new bolt(bought one that should work from home depot that should work m8 x 1.25 30mm long) and getting the old broken bit out. This is my first broken bolt, it went pretty clean. I picked up a black and decker screw extractor set for about 8 bucks, A proGrabit broken bolt and damaged screw extractor for $20 both from home depot and then stopped by autozone and grabbed their OEM brand bolt extractor set(all standard sizes not metric) for another $20.

Are these my best bet for getting the rest of that bolt out? I'm no welder so I can't add a head back on. Do I dare going at it with a drill and these extractors or should I ride it up to a shop and pay them(how much would that run?)

Oh, I started to do the 3 mile walk home(uphill) but I think the bike stopped in second or third, so I babied it to get it started and rode it home at a bit under the speed limit.

[mattcb350f]

We need some pics! But I think from what you say, the assembly for the foot peg broke off where it attaches to the frame. I don't know how they attach on a 250 rebel. If that's the case, then how much of the bolt is left sticking out? sometimes you can get a Vise-Grip to grab onto it and unscrew it out. The rest of the bolt might not be in there too bad, as long as it's not rusted.
 Matt.

[turin39789]

We need some pics! But I think from what you say, the assembly for the foot peg broke off where it attaches to the frame. I don't know how they attach on a 250 rebel. If that's the case, then how much of the bolt is left sticking out? sometimes you can get a Vise-Grip to grab onto it and unscrew it out. The rest of the bolt might not be in there too bad, as long as it's not rusted.
 Matt.

Tried the vise grips, but it broke off smooth. The assembly attaches with two bolts, the forward one broke.  pulled the bolt from the opposite side for the purposes of finding a replacement, and it came out easy but was also fatigued, so I bought a replacement for that side too. 

Just want to make sure that if I go out an d give the easy-off method a try, I'm not going to break it beyond repair.I've had to deal with stuck nuts before, but I could cut those off with a dremel fairly easy, this is my first drill out.   

[333]

Okay, the grade of bolt that was there apparently wasn't strong enough to hold your weight, but the grade of bolts at Home Cheapo is most assuredly less.  The Honda part will definitely cost more, but has a better chance of doing the job.

[turin39789]

Will definitely replace with the proper bolts as soon as I get a chance, The home cheapos will be used for a week tops.

[mattcb350f]

If the bolts on the other side came out fairly easy then the broken one should be in there about the same. Make sure you drill directly on the center of the broken stud and not off to the side. And the last thing you want to do is break off the extractor, so no hard wrenching on that little extractor no matter how tempting it is. 
A broken off extractor is much worse to deal with, beleive me I've done it. 
If it won't come out, then I'd recommend having a garage look at it and take it out, but I bet you'll get it out no problem.
 Matt.