Fasteners are the cheapest part on the bike and the most common cause of a cracked panel. This is how to tell what needs replacing, and what happens if you reuse it.
The four things holding your bodywork on
- Bolts into clips or well nuts. The bolt is reusable; the clip behind it often is not.
- Push rivets. Plastic, one-piece, designed to be pushed in and released. They lose grip after a few removals.
- Grommets and rubber bushes. They allow movement and absorb vibration. Compress them flat with overtightening and they stop working.
- Quarter-turn fasteners. Reusable many times, but the receptacle wears and the fastener starts backing out.
How to tell a clip is finished
Look for white at the bend. Plastic that has been flexed repeatedly turns white before it cracks, and a white clip is a clip on its way out.
Also check grip: if a clip slides onto the panel edge loosely, or the bolt turns without resistance, it is no longer holding anything. It is just occupying the hole.
Why reusing them is expensive
A clip that does not grip lets the panel move. A moving panel frets against its neighbours, wears through paint at the edges, and eventually cracks at a fixing point. The clip cost a couple of dollars; the panel costs a hundred times that.
This is the single best argument for keeping a small stock of clips and push rivets for your bike.
Fastener rules that prevent damage
- Hand-start everything before tightening anything.
- Tighten in a cross pattern, in two passes.
- Stop when the panel stops moving. More torque does not hold better; it cracks holes.
- Never use a power driver on bodywork fasteners unless you can set a very low clutch.
- Replace clips when you replace a panel, not after the new panel starts rattling.
When a bolt spins
Usually the clip or well nut behind it has failed, not the bolt. Access the back of the fixing, remove what is left, and fit a new clip. Drilling out a spinning fastener should be the last resort, because the drill is what damages the panel.
If a fastener is missing
Do not substitute a longer bolt or a larger screw. A bolt that reaches too far can contact something behind the panel, and a screw that cuts new threads removes the material that was holding the original fixing.
Order the right part, or leave the panel off until it arrives.
Keeping spares
Two or three of each type your bike uses, in a labelled bag, costs very little and prevents the situation where a job stops because of a two-dollar clip.
The panels these fasteners hold
- CFMOTO 675SR-R Side Panel — USD 219
- CFMOTO 450SR Half-Wrap Tank Cover — USD 299
We do not sell clips or fasteners separately: the panels above are designed to reuse your stock fixings, which is exactly why the condition of those fixings decides how the panel ends up sitting.
