I changed over to a M4 full exhaust system a few months ago and ever since I've had to remove all the fairings to tighten the bolts because they back so far off from the flanges. Since I've noticed them backing off I have been routinely checking them and yesterday I noticed that I lost 3 bolts that obviously vibrated off in the past 3-4 days.

My question, what else can I do to keep the bolts from vibrating off and eventually falling off. Blue loctite? I'm kinda frustrated because I'm tightening the header bolts down to spec, yet to no avail they keep loosening up on their own and eventually falling out while riding.

Any advice would be appreciated.

That IS weird. I'd avoid any kind of thread locker that will render them hard to remove. Seems the regular blue Lock-tight should be fine. Run the motor a while if you need to loosen the bolts. Be careful if you use the red Lock-tight. You will probably be able to loosen the bolts but red is taking it to another level.

Would safety wire work? If memory serves, the 14 has header nuts, not bolts. The nuts are pretty small but you could drill them and apply safety wire, that would prevent them from turning. Be wary of over-torquing them. The male threads will stretch before the females if both are steel. Another thing to try is tension springs under the nuts.

If you go with Lock-TIte, maybe deposit drop on the exposed threads AFTER the nut is torqued. Blue or red, you should be able to get that nut off when needed. Other colors......be very careful. Obviously look for Lock-Tite formulated for high temps. I used Permatex copper spray on both of my bikes when installing the full systems.
i had no issues with the nuts/bolts coming loose.

Did you replace the exhaust gaskets? That might do it if you didn't.

1. Drill a hole at the V area of the nut, then safety wire the two so the wire can't back off the nut, meaning, the wire stops the nut from backing off of the spin. If wired the opposite, that little turn the other way goes loose.

2. Would need to buy a stud remover from Snap-On, maybe pull the engine out to get to the others, then use a high grade bolt, and still safety wire the bolts to each other.

3. Double nut 'IF' the OEM studs are long enough to capture enough threads (5) at least so as not to strip the end of the threads off.

Thanks Rook and Hub. I ended up using a tiny bit of Blue lock tite and checked the header nuts today after some long rides, and they appear to be holding up fine for now. I backed off one of the header nuts and it came off just fine but now I need the ratchet to completely remove the nut, when usually I could take them off by unscrewing them with my hand. Meaning that they shouldn't vibrate off, so only time will tell. You know the only way to get to the header nuts you have to remove all the side fairings and loosen up the 3 bolts holding the radiator in place. It's definitely a task just to check and tighten up those bolts when they loosen over time.

Regards

I believe the Gen2 is more cramped in the radiator/header nuts area but I was able to reach all the header nuts on my Gen1 with a U-joint swivel adapter and a long extension, like 11 to 14 inches long. No need to tilt the radiator. It was still a bit tricky but I was able to get to get the socket on all of the nuts.

I've always found lock-Tite to last a few times after the initial application. I usually didn't apply it every time I took a fastener off because there was always some left on there. It can make getting the threads started a little ambiguous. It's hard to tell if the threads are crossed or if it's just the resistance of the Lock-Tite. So be careful, especially in that cramped space.

Yeah, . The knowledge of great mechanics never ceases to amaze me.

double nut?

I too am surprised you're having this issue. I have never heard of this before. Which is sort of surprising, now that I am hearing about it.

It usually seems like between the pipes and flanges that there's enough...tension created to act sort of like a lock nut.

Did you torque the nuts to spec on the initial install?

Yes torqued to spec...so far all good since applying loctite.