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Pro-Bolt - the range
Pro-Bolt offer a cool looking choice of fixings and accessories. This Gloucestershire
outfit have made a name for themselves by supplying an alternative to traditional Mild Steel and Stainless Steel
fastenings. But there's more...
Pro-Bolt also supply Brake Reservoir Caps, Sprocket Nuts, Dust Caps, Oil filler
Caps, Footrests, Cable adjusters, the list goes on - all available in a gloriously tarty selection of brilliant
anodised aluminium. You want red nuts - you've got em! Blue suits you sir. If you want to be 'classic' you could
always pick the Black, Silver or Gold.
The one product that typifies Pro-Bolt must surely be the Engine Kit. Pro-Bolt
supply hundreds of fastenings kits and accessories to suit almost any modern machine you can think of. In addition
Pro-Bolt can supply kits to your own personal specifications.
What Pro-Bolt say
Any company worth it's salt, makes claims. Pro-Bolt are no different...
Pro-Bolt are proud to claim that this material is 60% lighter than steel and 40%
lighter than titanium! If you're not convinced by that, Pro-Bolt also say that the material is stronger than Mild
Steel - that's the stuff that the majority of fastenings on bikes are made from. The figures the company publish
are 490-560Mpa. Now I have no idea what an Mpa is (do I care?) but It sounds impressive. Tasty nuts are produced
from billets of high tensile grade aluminium (7075T73). In common with Stainless Steel, this grade of aluminium
is not affected by saltwater, road film or mild acids.
Pro-Bolt are quick to warn customers not to use tasty nuts on high load applications
like Suspension Clamps or Brake lever clamps. Fair enough. You wouldn't use Mild Steel fixings for those applications
either. Would You?
Fitting an Engine Kit
Fitting an engine kit is straight forward. There is very little that can go wrong. The important thing to remember,
is to take out just one bolt at a time and replace it with a Pro-Bolt of the same length. Easy.
Pro-Bolt's Honda CB750F2 kit contains 22 bolts of varying sizes. I found I had
one extra bolt at the end of fitting the kit - which I trust was a spare! Of the 22 bolts, I had to modify just
one - the longest. On the left side of the engine, there is a small round panel (about 40mm dia) with three bolt
heads. The bottom bolt was too long by just 4mm. Of course being aluminium the bolt was easy to shorten using a
hacksaw. Not a problem.
As each Pro-Bolt was screwed into place I made sure the thread was lubricated
with a little of the special grease supplied. It's important to do this to reduce corrosion. Wherever two different
metals come into close contact there is the likelihood of electrostatic corrosive effects - or something like that!
If you can get hold of a low rated torque wrench, you should use it for tightening
the screws. However, the torque setting at just 3.69 feet/pounds was too low for even my smallest torque wrench.
Using the Allen Key (wrench) supplied I tightened the screws finger tight. Just right.
There are no screws provided for the Generator body. The original screws are very
long, and I suspect replacement aluminium ones might fracture.
In all it took just 20 minutes to fit the kit. The result was very pleasing and
I hope will continue to look good at the end of the coming winter.
Value for Money?
So is the Pro-Bolt range good value for money? Yes, if that is what you want. They are very light. They are pretty.
The best practical thing about tasty nuts (apart from the name) is probably their resistance to salt and road dirt
and all the other things that make a motorcycle look crappy without a little TLC. The finish is excellent.
But let's cut to the chase. People buy Pro-Bolt kits because they look so good!
Big numbers and fancy claims apart - you won't find a better looking nut this side of Eddie Murphy.
The Alternatives.
Starting with an 'if'. If you want to improve the look of your bike and if you want coloured anodised aluminium
fastenings and maybe some colour-matched accessories - I don't think there is a complete alternative to Pro-Bolt.
Some other companies do offer colour anodised accessories, but nothing like the same breadth of choice.
Stainless Steel is a practical, attractive replacement for furry, nasty, corroded
or damaged Mild Steel fastenings. SS is strong. SS is widely available. SS can be polished to a high shine. And
Stainless Steel offers Good Value-for-Money. For example, the Pro-Bolt Engine Kit for our own Honda CB750F2 contains
22 Allen Headed bolts, an Allen Key (wrench) and a packet of lubricant. The same kit supplied in Stainless Steel
by D. Middleton (tel. 01924 470807) would cost £13.42 inc' but without the Allen Key or packet of grease.
Stainless Steel just doesn't look so fancy. And that is the point. It all depends
on what YOU like. Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing. Damn, ain't freedom what it's all about?
Contact:
Pro-Bolt Ltd.
Units 3-4
The Runnings
Kingsditch Trading Estate
Cheltenham
Glos
GL51 9NJ
United Kingdom
TEL : + 44 1242 584 447
FAX : + 44 1242 584 449
Website: www.tastynuts.com
Email: info@tastynuts.com
Pictures shown are courtesy of Pro-Bolt Ltd.
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