$2 bolts

[UberXY]

Doing the additional cam chain guard update thingy on my K12 today.

 

$7 for the part, $36 for 18 one time use aluminum bolts! 4 lbs of torque, as I recall.

 

[beemerboy]

I once lost one of the SS Torx head screws on the battery plate of my '06 K12s. I was at the local dealer the next week and casually asked for another one and it cost $1.26 plus tax.

 

$1.26 and that was four years ago which has me wondering what it costs now.

[fourteenfour]

go check the costs of the bolts from a R1200C... that front fender's bolts might cost more than the painted part they hold on

[DiggerJim]

I once lost one of the SS Torx head screws on the battery plate of my '06 K12s. I was at the local dealer the next week and casually asked for another one and it cost $1.26 plus tax.

Not going to defend the price because I often whine about the same thing. But I'll pay $2 for a soda that will last minutes and costs pennies to make (the local CVS had it on sale for 10 cents a can last week and this week it's 50 cents but at my local diner it's $2). Then I think about something that is precision (relatively speaking) machined, will last years without rusting or seizing and keeps important bits attached to my bike or car or whatever and I wonder how they can make it, ship it half way across the world, pay for a wholesaler's profit, pay for the retailer to stock and profit from it and still I can get it for less than the soda.

 

Then I bitch anyway because it's "only" a freakin' little screw.

[SWB]

I once lost one of the SS Torx head screws on the battery plate of my '06 K12s. I was at the local dealer the next week and casually asked for another one and it cost $1.26 plus tax.

Not going to defend the price because I often whine about the same thing. But I'll pay $2 for a soda that will last minutes and costs pennies to make (the local CVS had it on sale for 10 cents a can last week and this week it's 50 cents but at my local diner it's $2). Then I think about something that is precision (relatively speaking) machined, will last years without rusting or seizing and keeps important bits attached to my bike or car or whatever and I wonder how they can make it, ship it half way across the world, pay for a wholesaler's profit, pay for the retailer to stock and profit from it and still I can get it for less than the soda.

 

Then I bitch anyway because it's "only" a freakin' little screw.

 

Makes me laugh. I wanted to replace the Torx body panel screws on my RT with stainless ones, why I'm not sure, I'd lost 3-4 and just said "heck, I'll just get a stainless kit and replace 'em all". Well, the aftermarket "kit" was perpetually not-in-stock, so I went to various fastner companies to piece them together myself. I got close, real close, but the screw caps are smaller than OEM, so then I added a washer, and now it takes me twice as long to pull and replace the plastic!

 

In the end, I should have just bought a dozen OEM screws and I'd saved myself money, and DEFINITELY time and aggravation.

 

But NOOOooo.. I can't just do stuff the "ordinary", simple way. I have to do it BETTER and faster and stronger and .. in the end, stupidly more expensive.

[Guest Kakugo]

The front disc bolts are 1,10€ each. I'd say they are expensive, but then I remembered the same parts from Honda were 2,22€ two years ago.

 

PS: if you want stainless steel bodywork bolts, they are available from Germany. 108 pieces for 50€ (plus shipping). Only drawback is they are Allen and not Torx.

[lkraus]

Makes me laugh. I wanted to replace the Torx body panel screws on my RT with stainless ones, why I'm not sure, I'd lost 3-4 and just said "heck, I'll just get a stainless kit and replace 'em all".

 

The (stock) panel screws on my '06 RT ARE stainless. Did older models come with plain steel?

[Albert]

Makes me laugh. I wanted to replace the Torx body panel screws on my RT with stainless ones, why I'm not sure, I'd lost 3-4 and just said "heck, I'll just get a stainless kit and replace 'em all".

 

The (stock) panel screws on my '06 RT ARE stainless. Did older models come with plain steel?

 

I was thinking the same thing.

[4wheeldog]

The originals on my '02 were plain steel with black paint applied. The paint does not last very well when you remove and replace. I actually repainted mine a couple of times before I overcame my cheap gene and bought SS.

[lkchris]

Come on, these things come from Germany, a much healthier economy than ours. Go there and see if you can get a Big Mac for under $10.

 

Plus, there's the cost of warehousing the part both in Germany and in the USA and at the dealer.

 

Frankly, I'd hope the helpful guy behind the parts counter at the dealer made at least $2 helping me.

 

Once upon a time in my pre-retirement life I produced a video along with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service instructing technicians how to remove and keep a chain of evidence for "Chinese bolts" that got into the system and onto a shipping container for a nuclear artillery shell.

 

Yeah, you can get "bolts" cheaper at Home Depot, but it's not a credible supplier for motorcycle parts. This stuff has meaning.

[upflying]

We were paying $37 for screws 27 years ago, $2 bolts is no biggee.

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-07-30/news/vw-18804_1_nut