Thinking of buying some titanium bolts, thought I'd start with the disc bolts. I don't want to get too technical but what type, grade are the ones to go for ? i've seen a set of disc bolts for £15.00 on ebay, the other end of the scale is £115.00 from a website and even more. I'm a great believer in quality and 'you get what you pay for' etc but that seems one hell of a price difference for something that is just described as titanium. Any recommendations will be appreciated.
Friend got some Ti nuts for his rear sprocket on his 848 Evo corse from Pro Bolt. After a week they looked just like the mancy steel ones he took off! He has OCD and his bike is spotless so can't blame his lack of cleanliness for the fact that they don't look any different.
I've bought Ti bit's from TPO, Pro Bolt and even China on Ebay, and honestly can't see or feel any differences, never had any snap, round off, tarnish or anything. Maybe I'm just lucky. Or maybe some sellers don't realise titanium isn't the super rare expensive to produce product it was 15-20 years ago and need to start treating China as a real threat. Any grade titanium will be better than bog standard steel.
I put some titanium fork pinch bolts on my 748 today. I was amazed at the weight difference. Std = 21g titanium = 10g
if you want anything bespoke try Pete at www.ti64.co.uk no affiliation other than a very happy long term customer. Just as a warning he is a one man band, working on his own. He is beat only by his quality which can lead to long delays. He is currently full up till end of January as a guide. Check out his blog to see what he makes... I have also used Probolt and been very happy and will continue to do so for the standard bolt stuff, but the stuff that is not available off the shelf, Pete's your man
Assuming the 1098 engine is the same bolt size as the 999 , which I think it will be , heres a list of engine bolt sizes that I used to build my 9R up with Ti bolts . - 6 pcs M5 x 20mm - 23 pcs M6 x 16mm - 15 pcs M6 x 20mm - 15 pcs M6 x 25mm - 4 pcs M6 x 30mm - 7 pcs M6 x 35mm - 4 pcs M6 x 70mm
30 second job to weigh them when a set of scales are 6ft from where i was....but i understand your point.:biggrin: The leaflet that came with the bolts says there is an average 42% weight saving on titanium bolts. These are a bit more because they are 10mm heads rather than 12mm.
As sad as it sounds I have done exactly the same on everything Ti I have purchased and had made and have made some good weight savings, on my 'blade I designed and had Pete make me some new spindles and saved over 500g's on them alone.
Why someone would trust bolts bought off fleabay to secure critical parts such as brake discs is beyond me.
No that would be certain aluminium's, Titanium is lighter and stronger than steel but the important thing with Ti is that the threads MUST be cleaned prior to use and lubricated with Molybdenum disulphide grease to prevent the threads from galling.
It is like anything, do you homework, ask questions, ask what grade they use (grade 5 Ti is the best for our uses). If the seller doesn't know or is cagey then yes walk away. There are many grades of Titanium, just like all aluminiums and steels are not the same. I have bought from suppliers that can answer the questions I ask and I am in an industry where I can check and measure what I purchase but it is up to the purchaser to satisfy themselves with what they buy. HTH's?
tech speak for grade 5 If you want simple fit and forget and hassle free use Pro-bolt IMHO but you will still need to lubricate the threads
Lighter yes, stronger no. High grade steels have a tensile strength a good deal higher than Titanium, Aluminium is a fair bit lighter than Titanium too but its inherent weakness requires thicker material to give the same strength.
But for most bike application bolts they do not use high grade steels (sadly), more commonly they use bolts of an 8.8 grade, except on critical components like head bolts, mains and big ends etc... All metals are on a sliding scale and all have a trade off against weight, strength, corrosion resistance etc.. you chose which aspects you want and work around it...
Anyway, in a nutshell I wouldn't use stainless steels or aluminium on brake components. Stainless can be used on non stressed components quite safely as can aluminium. Titanium in grade 5 is perfect for all brake and stressed components but if you are in any doubt it is your choice not to buy... or read up on the metals and their properties.
a grade 8.8 is roughly comparible in tensile strength to a grade 5 Ti bolt although iirc the shear strength of grade 5 Ti is higher than grade 8.8steel (its been a long time since materials classes at uni) I completely agree about the sliding scale of weight to strength though.
