Titanium bolts are a common upgrade on modified bikes. They’re lighter than steel, they don’t rust, and the anodized colors let you tie the hardware into the look of the bike. The ones here are made from Ti-6Al-4V, also called TC4/Grade 5 (GR5), and cut to the sizes each job needs. Because we machine these custom titanium motorcycle bolts to spec, you aren’t limited to what’s on the shelf.

Titanium is about 40% lighter than steel for the same size, so a titanium bolt weighs less than the steel one it replaces. One bolt on its own is a small saving, but a bike has a lot of them, and taking weight off rotating or unsprung parts like sprockets and calipers is felt more than the raw grams suggest.

Ti-6Al-4V is also strong. It’s the most common structural titanium grade, with strength close to a high-tensile steel bolt at a lower weight. And titanium resists corrosion without plating, so there’s nothing on the surface to wear or flake off over time.

The main reason to have them machined is fit. We make bolts to the thread size, pitch, length, and head style a particular spot on the bike needs, matching the original fastener so it threads straight in. Bike hardware is mostly metric with a range of pitches, and some positions use sizes that are hard to find off the shelf, which is where a machined bolt earns its place.

We can cut the common head types, flanged, cap, countersunk, and button, including the knurled flange heads shown here. For track bikes, the heads can also be drilled for lockwire, so the bolts can be safety-wired where the build or the rules call for it. If you have the original bolt or the spec, we match it. If you’re doing a whole bike, we can work through it as a set so the hardware stays consistent.

The colors on titanium come from anodizing, but it works differently than it does on aluminum. There’s no dye. The color comes from a thin oxide layer grown on the surface, and the exact shade is set by the voltage used. Because it’s the oxide itself and not a coating, the color won’t chip or peel.

That gives a range of finishes, from blue, purple, and pink to bronze and the mixed “rainbow” or burnt look, so the hardware can match a theme across the bike or stand out against it. We can hold the same color across a batch so a set matches, or mix colors if you want certain parts to stand out.

Riders use titanium bolts across the bike: engine covers, sprocket carriers, brake calipers, rearsets, fairings, and more.

Titanium bolts on the rear sprocket carrier.

One thing worth saying plainly: some of these spots are safety-critical. Brake, steering, and other high-load fasteners have to be the right grade and torqued to the correct spec, the same as any other bolt in those positions. Ti-6Al-4V is a strong grade suited to this kind of use, but the bolt still has to be the right size and fitted properly. If you’re not sure what a spot needs, it’s worth checking before swapping the hardware.

A Note On Installation

Titanium can gall (seize) in the threads, and where it meets aluminum parts there’s a mild galvanic effect in wet conditions. Use an anti-seize on the threads when fitting titanium bolts, torque to the wet (lubricated) spec, and keep the contact areas clean. For coastal or track use, isolating the titanium from aluminum is worth doing.

Custom titanium bolts are just some of the parts we make. We machine custom parts for motorcycles, from one-off prototypes to small production runs, in metals like titanium, aluminum, steel, and brass, plus engineering plastics such as PEEK, POM, and acrylic (PMMA). Finishes include bare, bead-blasted, polished, and anodized in the color you want.

Send us a drawing, a sample part, or a rough idea with some dimensions, and we can help sort out the design for machining. Contact us to get started, and we’ll get back to you with a quote.