Any space to weld a bolt head onto the nut?
That was everyone's first thought, after 'just set fire to it and claim on the insurance'.
A couple of handy welders have looked at it and say it would most likely damage the surrounding paintwork and they wouldn't want to risk it...
The cylindrical head of the offending item is about 12mm dia and 4mm 'longer' than the head of a standard wheel bolt but slightly narrower in diameter.
It has two 5mm holes drilled in what would be a three-hole pattern, were there a third hole i.e. two holes at 1/3 of the circumference.
The current plan is to punch and drill the 'missing' hole to give a 3 hole pattern with the holes symmetrically spaced (asuming I can still drill straight) and then to enlarge each hole in turn until the 3-pointed bit in the middle falls out...
At this point (about next Friday), I should have access to the centre of the bolt and can start to drill the rest of the head off the shank. See, it only took me five seconds to type the last part of that sentance...
To stop my drilling skills from knackering what is currently a good wheel, I have a piece of steel tubing about an inch long which fits over the circular head and inside the hole in the wheel. I intend to keep this in place and drill 'inside' it so if the drill skids off it won't hit the wheel...such confidence in a short piece of narrow curtain rail
If you or anyone else has the welding skills and confidence to try welding a bolt to it, I'd be happy to travel to get it done. The only problem is that if that fails to release it, then drilling will be virtually impossible.
As to Matt's point about Cotswold, one assumes they torqued it to BMW's spec. The guys at Protyre said BM's are always tight but mine were particularly so.
I'm cursing myself because I 'always' undo wheel nuts on cars and bikes after having them serviced or new tyres fitted and then tighten them up to my own spec which means I can always get the wheels off in an emergency. Never had a wheel come loose in 50'odd years. Needless to say, when it came back from Cotswold last summer, I broke my own rule and didn't bother.
If only it were a BMW car #farmer. BMW don't do locking wheel bolts for bikes. This one came from Nippy Norman about 11 years ago and was originally on my 1150GS. I mailed him and he is trying to be helpful by saying he needs the part no. before he can help me...
