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[ST] 06 ST: Ignition Screws



Maybe this will help someone else down the line...

The two screws holding the ignition in place worked loose last month on my 
2006 Sprint ST, especially the left one.  One night I came home and had 
trouble getting the key to turn to the steering lock position.  Normally 
it works smoothly, but I wiggled it, got it locked, and thought nothing of 
it.

The next morning I rode to work and had the same trouble with the key, 
only much worse this time.  I really had to fiddle with the key to get it 
locked, and that's when I noticed the loose screws and ignition.

Unfortunately I was leaving on a 200 mile trip that afternoon, and I had 
no tools, so in my best attempt to patch the problem I put some duct tape 
on the screws and assumed the tape would hold them if they worked 
completely loose.

By the end of the day, the screws still held, but barely.  They worked 
loose quick once they started!  I reached my destination, borrowed some 
tools, and set to work tightening the screws.

Wouldn't you know it?  The head of the screws are NOT normal.  At least, 
not to me.  I couldn't figure out what I could use to tighten them and 
finally settled on a 4mm six point socket.  It still wasn't the right 
tool, but I could tighten the screws enough to ride a few hundred miles 
before having to tighten them again.

Tonight I finally replaced the screws with something more standard, and 
something I could fully tighten.  It was a bit of a pain finding a match 
and finding a store with the right screws in stock, but a local Home Depot 
saved the day.

Here's what I got, in case any of you end up with the same loose screws. 
You never know, since I've also had to replace the infamous screw holding 
the lower part of the right fairing, which so many other people have lost 
as well.

Anyway, you can replace the wacky screws with:

cap screw
socket
6mm x 20mm
plain steel

They tighten up nicely with a little thread lock and a 5mm Allen wrench. 
I had trouble getting my metric wrenches into the small space and was able 
to do most of the tightening with a 3/16" Allen wrench, so that will do in 
a pinch.

Sorry for the long winded story, but I wanted to share my frustration and 
pass this info along in case anyone else has the same loose screws and 
wants to replace them. :)

-- Joshua D. Scott
-- 2006 Sprint ST, Blue (ABS)
-- http://www.ozzy.net/jdscott/sprint/
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