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Old 28-02-2020, 06:20 PM   #2
utopia
No turn left unstoned
 
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: leicester
Bike: M750
Posts: 4,543
On my 750, I usually tighten by hand and only use the torque wrench to check the final tightness once the job is essentially finished.
And I very much do it in stages .. often four or five until the final torque is reached (which isn't very much anyway).
During the process it is very noticeable that the clamp area distorts as each bolt is tightened a little more.
If you've gone in with the torque wrench at full spec from the start it will be very likely to give an inaccurate result and can even sometimes lead to cracking of the casting due to overtightening on one side (even if the spec torque has not been exceeded).
My method is as follows.
Using a std allen key with no extension, I first snug both bolts down.
I then tighten one bolt a fraction further.
Then applying the allen key to the other bolt, I usually find that it has gone slack as the clamp area has distorted .. so I snug it back down and then tighten just a fraction more.
Then applying the allen key back to the first bolt, I often find that it too has gone slack due to further distortion of the clamp area .. so I repeat the snugging down and slightly tightening process again.
After that the bolts will probably remain snug on both sides but might still lose a little of their former torque as the opposite bolt is tightened.
I proceed from there, alternating from one bolt to another until the distortion ceases and the residual torque is maintained and ultimately gradually increased up to the estimated spec figure.
Finally I get the torque wrench out and check the final torque.
The whole process is very much about feel in my experience and a torque wrench can, if used insensitively, do more harm than good.
Essentially, its all about tightening evenly.

Hope that makes some kind of sense .. and that your fork bottoms remain crack free.
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