First off, the 'Easy Boys' should have gone in the first paragraph, right after 'either one slips on fairly easy if you use a solution of soap and water....'. It is OK though, you have to work with it for a while and they you will find all kinds of places to stick that into..... (see?).
The bolts 'self- welding' into the bike may partly be the result of electrolysis (dissimilar metals) but I think the main cause is that damn orange stuff Kawasaki uses: I think it must be named 'Carpe Treadum' (Latin for seize the threads) or something like that. My own personal preference is to use a lubricant rather than any kind or retaining compound (because getting it out is as important as keeping it in <yep, right here is where it would go>) and a properly tightened fastener will not generally loosen anyway. That way, only the first time is exciting and after that, it becomes old- hat to remove any fasteners on the bike. I prefer anti- seize but grease or even oil is far, far better than nothing or worse yet, the remains of that evil orange compound.
And yes, that application is about the silliest one of all the fasteners on the bike; it is a gigantic screw, with several diameters of thread engaged, and you can tighten it like a lug nut if you want; torque alone will hold that thing in forever without any kind of thread retaining agent.
Funny thing but notice they (manufacturers) use that thread galling material all over the place EXCEPT in critical places such as engine / transmission / final drive parts? And they do not seem to be falling out all over the place or even loosening. So we are terribly concerned about a blob of mass on the end of the handlebar but the cam bearing caps are lubricated and retained by simply tightening them, and not all that tight either. Go figure. Oh yeah, and add in the part where they use neither (thread retaining compound OR tightening) to hold the stem cap screw in place.... how many of those have fallen out?
It really is a silly world sometimes.
Brian
+1 on the Grip Puppies if you want to give them a try. My local MC shop also has "universal" replacement grips (black foam rubber) that work well also. Either one slips on fairly easy if you use a solution of soapy water and it dries overnight or you can use a hair dryer to evaporate the water. Just be careful with the heat, you don't want to wind up with over-vulcanized grips! I found that the stock grips tend to harden with time/use/sun exposure so it was inevitable that they would need replacement.
No experience with heated grips tho. I use heated gloves when it gets cold enough to bother my finger tips.
Nice work on getting the bolts out without shearing them. The problem lies in the dissimilar metals between the aluminum handlebar and the steel bolt I think. Some galvanic thing going on. There are, at least, two schools of thought on lubrication as it applies here when you put it all back together. 1. No Lube, just clean the threads prior to re-assembly. 2. Clean the threads. Lightly lubricate the bolt with oil prior to insertion (Easy fellas!). There shouldn't be any need for Locktight in this application but it is a personal preference for most people.
My 2 cents.
Good luck! Safe Riding!
