[Rocklandrider]

Hello,

First post on here and thanks for answering in advanced

Went to remove the fork bolt on the wives 2007 crf150f, the aluminium was so brittle it just stripped in the socket. Now its completely rounded. Anyone got some tricks out there to get the cap off. Juat want to change the oil and seals. I bought the bike used I'm thinking these bolts were never taken out

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

Are you talking about one of the 8 bolts that hold the fork in the triple clamps ?? , if so and it did not snap off , then if it is just the head rounded , then you can try lubricating the bolt in between the pinch points so it gets penitrent on the threads ,what I would use if you have access to it (I know with everything being closed because of the virus , it might be difficult to find a hardware store open , but if you can) , is get some Acetone and some ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid for a car *the cheap stuff will work fine* , you can find the Acetone in the paint dept.) , mix it 1-1 and pour it as close to on the threads as you can , so it can soak in , ...... if you can't get those 2 items then something like PB Blaster , if you don't have any of that , then WD-40 or Liquid Wrench will still work , but might take longer , let it soak as long as you can , overnight if possible , but even 15 or 20 minutes will help ,

Then use a flat vice grip pliers on the bolt head to hold it , you want the flat ones as opposed to the rounded one , so it grips solid and flush on the flat part of the bolt head to give you the best bite ....... clamp it down tight , so you have to force the handle closed , then while holding it with one hand , use a hammer (preferably heavy like a brass hammer or a small 1 lbs hand held sledge hammer) , and hit the vice grip right at the bolt head , while trying to loosen it , you don't need to beat it , just let the weight of the hammer do the work , what the hammer will do is shock any buildup that might be keeping the bolt from breaking loose easily , which is most likely why it was stuck , as steel bolts and Aluminum corrode when in contact with moisture or high humidity , and the bolt can corrode itself to the threads ...... like yours has .....

Once you get the bolt out , and get a replacement (always use a shouldered bolt on the clamps) , then get some Anti-Seize and put it on the threads of all the bolts for the clamps , this will keep them from doing that again , ...... Hope that helped ..... if I got the bolts ou were trying to remove wrong , then try to explain in a bit more detail , or post a pic so I can see what exact bolt you are referring to ....

[Rocklandrider]

Doesnt seem to let add a picture.

It's the actual bolt cap ontop of the shock. Has nothing to do with the triple clamp all those bolts just came out fine.

It's the bolt cap at the top of the fork that holds the spring and oil in

[Back2-2]

The very first thing that should have been done was to loosen the top triple tree bolts before trying to loosen the fork cap. The top bolts are pinching the fork cap. Now that it's rounded off you are going to need to do the method Jim described to get the fork cap off. There is not much purchase area but you will have to get a hold of what you can. If you do not have large enough vise grip type plies you may have to resort to Channel lock type pliers. The cap is going to need replacement by the time you are done. It's going to be ugly but removable. With the top clamp bolts removed you will probably find it comes loose fairly easy. Not much torque is required on fork caps because they have large O-rings on the cap itself to do the sealing. When reinstalling, do the reverse and tighten the cap and then the clamp bolts.

Don't worry, you are not the first person to have this happen to.