Stuck Derby Cover Screws

A

aLwAyS_mE!

New member
I'm not sure whether to be embarrassed or mad, but I can't get my derby cover screws out so I can change the primary oil.

The bike is a '08 Road Glide and the #27 Torx screws have always been a bit stiff, I think because some oil soaks onto the threads and then the summer heat dries it out and makes them difficult to remove. But today, I stripped two torx drivers before I finally got one of them out. The other four are still in there, and even an impact wrench won't break them loose. I gave them each a squirt of penetrating oil hoping that would loosen them up, but not yet.

Any ideas? Of course, not thinking that this could ever happen, I drained the oil from the primary before I tried to remove the cover, so I can't even move the bike to get it down to a machine shop. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Any ideas short of removing the complete primary cover and taking the whole thing down to a machine shop?

Thanks!
 
You will get different opinions, But I think the easiest and safest and fastest way is to take a Drill about the size or slightly larger than the threaded part of the 1/4 20 bolt. Drill the head off the screws. remove the Derby cover. then you can probably turn them out very easy with a pair of pliers or vise grips. I have been able to turn them with my fingers after drilling the heads off. Good Luck!
 
Try the next size Torx bit if it will fit and use an impact driver. Oh, use the impact driver before they get stripped out next time. It is a good tool that many do not know exists.
 
I've never had any problems getting mine off, but I would keep at it with the impact before trying to remove the whole cover.
With the cover off, soak it from with rear with penetrating oil or apply heat from the tip of a heavy duty sodering iron.
 
Thanks so far for these great replies. After I posted, I Googled "stuck derby cover screws" and it looks like this is a ridiculously common problem. If the penetrating oil doesn't help by tomorrow morning, I'm just gonna drill off the heads and hope the threads are loose enough to back out. I bought chrome allen head replacements this afternoon, so hopefully this will be the last time I have this problem.
 
Use a left handed drill bit, it might just extract the screws while drilling. Usually works for me! Oh, and get yourself an EVO, only 3 screws to remove!
 
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