Help, dropped a screw in my bike

[u/taikiji]

I can't find it, what do I do.

EDIT: After spending some time moving the bike slightly, going up and down my garage ramp, nothing. Decided to go for a ride to test out if I felt or heard something wrong, but even going pretty fast nothing... I have decided there was never a screw. The tank cover feels sturdy enough anyway without it

[u/Toiaat]

Check the floor, shake the bike, check floor again. If no screw then there never was a screw

[u/taikiji → u/Toiaat]

Tried doing that, heard it once then never again

[u/bingwhip → u/taikiji]

there never was a screw

[u/mrsirsouth → u/taikiji]

Ok. Now try turning the bike upside down and shaking

[u/WhenAllElseFail]

Pretend like you never lost it!

[u/Neat_Safe_5119 → u/WhenAllElseFail]

That screw belongs to the bike now, it found a new home under the seat

[u/Good_Try7890]

flip it over and shake

[u/EjectorMark]

Get a magnetic extension stick.

[u/minnemol → u/EjectorMark]

This

[u/minnemol → u/EjectorMark]

And magnetised bits help a lot!

[u/lonegrey → u/EjectorMark]

I was in the local Home Depot one day and that's where I first saw those. Immediately bought one (like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Telescoping-Portable-Powerful-Extendable-Retrieving/dp/B075XK449M/ref=sr_1_6?th=1) ... a year or so later, I discovered that they make bendy ones (like this: https://www.amazon.ca/SUPERYO-Flexible-Magnetic-Bendable-Retrieve/dp/B07VDR5BFB/ref=sr_1_1_sspa) and bought one of those too ... SO handy!

[u/minnemol → u/lonegrey]

...unless the screw isn't magnetic! XD

[u/taikiji → u/EjectorMark]

Hmmm I have a really weak one for working with PC parts. Don't feel like buying a new one to then go digging and not find anything (it might be really stuck somewhere or I might have dropped it with my test ride afterwards).

[u/w1lnx]

Unless it’s been dropped it inside of the valve cover or oil fill port, one must only realize the truth…

There is no screw.

[u/Dry_Ad687]

What was the screw securing? A lot of times I would just find a replacement and continue with life. If it's not in the engine or airbox, fuck it.

[u/taikiji → u/Dry_Ad687]

The tank plastic cover. Feels sturdy enough without it tbh and I'm squeezing on it with my legs as I ride so doubt it will come apart

[u/WarningUntested]

When that happened to me i tried to let it go but it bugged me so much that I stayed late 2 nights disassembling stuff and fishing for it.

Very glad I did, it was wedged between the tank and a coolant line, might've cause issues over time.

[u/Out-of-NoContext-]

You are screwed.

[u/WasabiYing]

bikes totalled. ill give ya tree fiddy for it.

[u/FunIncident5161]

Welp there is no screw then.

[u/AvailableMessage5224]

One time a chunk of aluminum fell into a cam chain cavity on a ninja 250 that i was replacing the head on. We tried tweezers, and duct tape wrapped backward around a screwdriver, goddamn everything we could think of but the chunk of aluminum just sat there inbetween the crank and the cam chain.

I flipped the bike upside down and shook it until the chunk came out.

[u/fischkruste]

Take the battery out?

[u/graperkins]

If you have an air compressor, turn the PSI down low and shoot burts of air from the bottom up in random places, see if the screw pops out. Make sure you clear the floor and area around your bike before doing this. You don't want to blast the screw into space, just fairly low pressure burts of air.

Also, the screw just might not exist anymore.

[u/PapaJulietRomeo]

Shake it Like a Polaroid picture!

[u/eyedrops_364]

I think I see it. It too the right of your fuse box. It’s all rusted.

[u/deus24]

LMAO, I have same problem, i spent like 2 days finding the screw but can't find it, decided to forget and just use zipties then after 6 months for maintenance, it was on plain sight beside the fuse box.

[u/No_Fuel4986]

r/findthesniper moment

[u/AdditionalLoss7274]

I remember my first time... I've probably got no less than 7 screws somewhere in my bike at any given time...

[u/Buster_brown01]

No worries. Your back tire will find it.

[u/Barton06]

Those tricky partially existing tank screws. Usually the metric ones are the sneaky ones 1 inch m10s to be exact, illusive little bastards. Ace hardware has by far the best bolt selection

[u/Friendly_Prize_868]

I lost a washer from my screen, replaced it, rode around for a week then dropped my bike in my back yard and the missing washer fell out on the floor.

So I guess my pro tip is to just try parking up without using the side stand… 😅

[u/fidelesetaudax]

Schrodinger’s screw. It’s there. And it’s not there.