What type of drill should I use to drill a hole in a Beta 80 kick start shaft?

My son keeps losing the kick start bolt, thankfully we’ve found the kick start. I’ve tried Locktite 242, but it still shook off, so now I’m going to use a lock wire!!

I started to drill a 1.5mm hole, but the drill broke. I bought two more drills from B&Q, but they’ve both gone blunt without making much more impression on the hole. I was going to order a tungsten carbide bit, but wanted to make sure that it will drill a hole in the shaft.

Good quality cobalt drill should do it but they ain't cheep.

Did you degrease everething properly before applying loctite?

I would try loctite 270 (high strength) before I start drilling holes in the shaft (and making it more fragile).

Thanks Jimbo. Found one on UK Drills for £5.16 which is 10% the cost of a new kick start if he loses another one.

Shaft is hardened steel,you won.t drill it.Even if you could it would be considerably weaker.Loctite 270[as above and degreased threads] is favourite.Check it every trial to see if it loosens,but I don't think it will

Not that happy using a strong Locktite on something that I will want to remove in the future.

I once used it on disc bolts that kept coming lose. I rounded the holes in the allan bolts and ended taking the wheel to an old boy in the club who disassembled the wheel to remove the bolts from the hub. He said that you shouldn’t have to use Locktite if it’s tightened properly. He’s dead now so I wouldn’t know who to take the bike to to get the kick start removed if I use any stronger Locktite.

Not that happy using a strong Locktite on something that I will want to remove in the future.

I once used it on disc bolts that kept coming lose. I rounded the holes in the allan bolts and ended taking the wheel to an old boy in the club who disassembled the wheel to remove the bolts from the hub. He said that you shouldn’t have to use Locktite if it’s tightened properly. He’s dead now so I wouldn’t know who to take the bike to to get the kick start removed if I use any stronger Locktite.

You just heat the part where the bolt is screwd in with loctite to about 150°C and you will be able to loosen the bolt with no problem...

(By the way, almost every manufacturer uses a locking agent like Loctite on safty parts as the bolts on brakediscs...)

Edited January 6, 201313 yr by guys

My grandson got a new 80 from santa - 1st time out (2 days later) The kick start fell off

I drilled and wired it using a 1.5 dewalt drill through the Allen cap screw. Drilling through the plating was the hardest part thereafter like butter.

His first trial yesterday, found the float needle sticking and cutting out through fuel starvation. Both problems I believe are very common to this model, which has been around many years with little change!

Beta UK could do better than this!!! This is a fabulous machine otherwise

I had an old air cooled crosser that did that. I put the bolt in and the arm on the splines as normal. I then put a blob of silicone onto the shaft end and smoothed it over so it covers the shaft end and onto the face of the arm. This way the silicone absorbs the vibes. It also lets you pull the arm off agin if you need to.

You could also make a small loop of 25lb fishing line from the kicker arm to the bike so if it does fall off you don't lose it. This can be handy on many parts if you have a vibey bike or ride on hard rocky ground fast and regularly.