Tightening resin with metal bolts is a setup that surprisingly exists even in factory designs.
Everyone feels the same tension when doing this work.
• Over-tighten and the resin cracks or breaks
• Too loose and the bolt falls out or loosens
Loosening and falling out, so we use thread-lock. Cracking, so we insert rubber.
Basically, the simpler and easier the mounting setup, the more effective it is for everyone.
We really want to apply the proper torque to the bolts.
Fundamentally, I think the mounting structure itself is the problem.
I don’t think there’s anything good about sandwiching resin between metal bolts and tightening them down.
It’s not a matter of the spec torque being weak for M5 or M4.
Resin is simply easy to deform.
When the bolt tightens and the resin deforms and dents, the torque is lost.
And with age, the resin itself becomes more prone to cracking.
Ideally, we want to bottom out metal-to-metal while putting as little stress as possible on the resin.
I think things have improved a lot since around the 1990s.
Dampers with sleeves (collars) inserted to bottom out,
bolts with stepped shoulders to bottom out,
and the existence of well nuts and push rivets is huge.
Just these alone make a real difference.
I’ve been thinking for a while now—the GSX1100S screen mounting method is a bit iffy.
From what I can see, almost everyone’s screen has cracks in it. The ones without seem to be under-tightened.
I’m going to get around to proposing a method that resists breaking, resists cracking, and has better serviceability. *Though it’s pretty much a standard approach…
Same issue with the Z1R screen mounting.
The other day a customer was installing the screen themselves, and… I felt sad seeing the tightened area dent.
The tightening seemed awkward and took an unusually long time.
Back in the 70s and 80s, convenient parts were scarce, and sometimes even lock nuts weren’t adopted.
Methods adopted as original equipment back then aren’t always the best solution in the 21st century.
It’s important to examine various materials and techniques and always adopt what works well.
