A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

I've removed my share of broken of studs in old rusty equipment. In my experience the best solution is a center punch, left hand drill bit set, and oxygen propane torch. I've found traditional propane torches do not have the heat output to sufficiently loosen bolts. Another benefit I believe is the left over oxygens ability to actually burn some of the rust deposits holding the stud in.

You have to be veeeeerrrry careful with aluminum castings though as you can and will melt them.

I use a center punch to mark the bolt several times to get the left hand drill bit started and follow the same process as the video above. The benefit is that the left hand bits usually will remove the bolt all on their own after going up a couple sizes without needing to use an eazy-out (whomever named these had quite the sense of humor because they are never easy).

Another old mechanic trick is take a MIG welder and weld a nut to the top of the stud. Steel weld wont stick to aluminum castings, and the intense heat from the weld loosens the bolt. I have less success with this method than the drill method though.