Battery bolts

Well, I lost one of the battery bolts over the winter. Does it make any
difference what type of bolt I use to replace it? Does it matter if it is
different than the original material? Perhaps a stupid question but I
always that questions not asked are even more so.

Thanks.

 

I don't know if it'll make any difference but you can easily get a
replacement though. Drop by a local motorcycle dealer's service area,
and you'll probably see a bunch of dead batteries. You can probably get
one for free if you frequent that shop or ask nicely. These dead
batteries are trash and going to recycling centers anyway.

 

Probably not. Never had a problem with this.
You should check the terminals occasionally
anyway so it's easy to swap if you see any
corrosive problems.

 

No, it doesn't matter what the material the bolt is made of, but, if
you could find a 1/4-20
BRASS bolt and square BRASS nut in the specialty boxes at your local
hardware store, that would be the optimum
solution.

If you don't want to look for brass hardware, an ordinary 1/4-20 steel
bot and hex nut will work just fine.

I find it sad that motorcyclists are so mechanically ignorant that
they have to take their motorcycle to a $tealer$hip and be ripped off
by the part$ department when they have the simplest problems, like
lost hardware.

One rider wrote that he'd lost a bolt, and the prick in the part$
department told him he had to buy a whole new battery...

 

Thanks for the feedback. I ended up buying a few ordinary steel bolts.
Nuts were not needed in my case as they thread right to the battery.
I don't think this is necessarily a mechanical question but more of a
chemistry related question. I just wanted to make sure that the bolts I
use wouldn't have a reaction, particularly if each bolt was a different
metal alloy.

 

You were right to be concerned and steel bolts are not a good permanant
solution, for the reason you suggest.

A bolt for an old battery, as per other response, is your best bet.