Miss November XS2 tribute

You might have better luck looking for info on hand tapping a hole. That's really all you'll be doing here. Drill the hole, tap it, and install the grease fitting. They screw right in just like a regular bolt. If you've never used a tap before then here's some tips - put oil on it, cutting oil if you have it but any oil is better than none. Go slow and back the tap out frequently as it begins to bind. About half way through, you may want to pull it out completely and clean the metal chips off it. You don't want to break the tap off in the hole. It's just like dealing with a broken drill bit, it's very hard steel. As you're running the tap in, you won't get much more than 1/4 to 1/2 turn at a time before it starts binding up in the hole and needs to be backed out a little. Backing it out a bit then running it back in clears the chips out of the way and lets it cut some more.

 

Lots of tap "kits" out there. A kit comes with the tap and correct sized drill bit.

 

Hi Raymond,
like Jim sez, you need a metric tap & die set,
1) Most sets won't have the appropriate tap-drills but will have a list of the necessary drill sizes.
2) I'd also recommend you get a metric thread gauge.
3) Yamaha likes to use Metric Fine threads which an el-cheapo tap & die set may not have.
None of this kit is cheap but it's way less expensive than causing major damage by not having it available.

 

Yes, but the tap you want for this job is the standard M6 x 1mm thread pitch. It's the normal 6mm thread, not the fine version.

I'm surprised you don't have some taps what with owning old bikes. The M6 is the size you will probably use most. That's what I started out with, one M6 tap, lol. Eventually I added some of the other common sizes (M4, M5, M8), and finally bought a nice tap and die kit. Being the most commonly used, I do have several M6 taps now. I didn't used to but I made the mistake of loaning mine to a guy, and of course he broke it, lol. So, I went on eBay, found some nice brand name ones for cheap, and bought a few "extras". I also finally acquired some M6 bottoming taps, again off eBay cheap. You need these for tapping blind holes.

 

If the threads on the new bolt are the same as the old ones, you may want to clean up and re-use the original nuts because they are a locking type.

 

And rightly so.

 

And after that, live on forever in a frame as garage art!

 

Hi Mailman,
great thought, but there's 12 of them every year. What happens when you run out of wall space?

 

You rotate the inventory of course! But his November calendar girl should always remain up!

 

Very pretty indeed - and such a nice sunny day in the UK for the photos!

Pete

 

A few comments regarding thread standards, taps and drills:
M4, 5, 6 and 8 is 99% of the time metric standard coarse thread.
10 and 12 mm on japanese bikes and cars normally had 1.25 mm pitch, same as M8.
M14, 16 and upwards is always some kind of fine pitch thread, but actual pitch may vary between bikes, so double check!

For selecting the correct drill bit size, it is actually very simple. Thread diameter minus thread pitch, rounded up to nearest 0.10 mm. Like this:
M8x1.25- that gives 8 minus 1.25, which is 6.75, rounded up to 6.80.
M12x1.25 gives 10.80
M16x1.50 gives 14.50
And so on.
So much easier than the Imperial system, in all possible ways

 

I actually have one of each. My XS2 has it on The bottom,

And on my ‘77D I mistakenly drilled and tapped the top side of the swingarm before I realized my mistake, but it actually turned out ok, it’s not hard to access there. I don’t have to lay on the floor to get to it.

 

Nice bike Raymond!!
Turned out Great

 

And it's brightening my mornings now!
Shawn; Good job Placing Raymond's beauty as Ms November.