The longest 6th Gen oil change on record...

This just goes to show... no matter how well you look over a bike before you buy, there are always hidden glitches...

Here's the scoop. I was getting the bike ready for her inaugural riding season with the couple things that I KNEW I needed to do, new front tire (Conti Road Attack), chain lube, and an oil change. Went out to the local mega bike store (Iron Pony) got oil, filter, chain lube, and new tire mounted, (1 day turn around due to store closing earlier than I thought) balanced, and nitrogen filled. Got home and started in on the maintenance. Front tire went on without a hitch, then I removed the right fairing... and that's when the FUN started:

1. I noticed when I removed the left fairing that there was a mounting screw on the lower fairing that wasn't there, and found the small bracket (lower fairing attach point) dangling off of the radiator overflow drain hose.

2. I noticed when I removed the right fairing that the EVAP canister was dangling on one side. Again small bracket dangling (again the lower fairing attach point), but this side had the screw in it.

(Day total = 1)

Luckily there was NO FURTHER damage done to the bike visible outside of these tabs being broken, so whether they were victims of over-torquing, or a possible large speed bump that caused them to break, I'm not sure, but again, no further damage, and the pan itself had no blemishes on it, nor did the exhaust pipes under the pan. Also the fairings aside from some road grime on the underside were damage free.

Upon further inspection of these dangling brackets, I found that there are/ were 3 tabs (cast aluminum) protruding from the oil pan. One on the left (lower fairing bracket holder), one on the right (EVAP canister AND lower fairing bracket holder), and one in the front (EVAP canister holder).



Well I decided to throw caution to the wind and look up one of my red-neck buddies (JB Weld) and see just how well he would work.... While JB was setting-up, I drained the oil, changed the filter, and put the new oil back in. Somewhere between when the breaks actually happened (previous owner) and when I bought the bike (about a month ago) oil/ road grime penetrated enough into the cast aluminum that my buddy JB didn't or couldn't set-up correctly, so getting the tabs to stay... didn't happen. (2 days here tried to let JB work 2 times in case I didn't have things clean enough on initial weld)

Old Pan:



(Day total = 3)

At that point it was research time. My local stealerships don't carry much in the way of repair parts unless you have a Goldwing, or a CBR... and even so, they on average charge about 25% more for the part than if I were to get them online (including shipping). I managed to find the oil pan online for about $90 so I bought it. I did manage to get the bike out for a couple of rides while waiting on the new pan (bike went naked, I wasn't....). (4 days later I had my new pan.)

(Day total = 7)

In prepping to put the new pan on, I needed to drain the newly changed oil, and remove the exhaust. This wasn't a real biggie, 4 bolts to remove the front exhaust from the heads, one support bolt on the Catalytic converter, 2 exhaust clamps to hold on the Cat to the rear headers, and 2 clamps for the a Micron Exhaust. Got the front off ok, got the Micron off ok, but when trying to remove the stock clamps that held on the rear headers to the Cat, the bolts snapped in the clamps... (add another 1 day here)

(Day total = 8)

I got the old oil pan off the bike, used some Yamabond (again my local stealership didn't have the necessary Honda equivalent and they said that Yamabond was essentially the same thing) to seal the oil pan to the block. I torqued the pan to proper torque put the exhaust back on temporarily (no clamps or replacement gaskets), and turned around to finish draining the new oil from the old pan, only to see that I had forgotten to transfer a couple of o-rings from the old pan to the new pan... (add another 1 day here as it was about 1:30 AM when I noticed this)

(Day total = 9)

I managed to get the new pan back off (interpret as -removed the F***ing exhaust again... stupid, stupid, stupid), put the REST of the parts into it, then RE-SEAL the pan with Yamabond after scraping off the OLD Yamabond, cleaning the new pan, re-installing the exhaust temporarily, and torquing everything (but the exhaust) back up.

New Pan Installed:



I took this opportunity to clean and lube the chain. While doing so, I looked over the rear sprocket only to see that it was HOSED!

Ok time...

WHY do you put an ALUMINUM rear sprocket on a street bike? I mean I can understand it if you are racing and the .5 to .75 lbs of rotating mass really MEANS something, but on a street bike where you want longevity in the life of your bike... why would you use ALUMINUM???

Here endeth the

Luckily I had the stock seel rear sprocket and was able to put that on. Unfortunately, however, I needed to break the chain and remove 2 links. Don't worry all, according to the receipt on the chain, it's only about 1.5 years old, and according to the service records from Honda during that period, only has about 2K miles on it. I also have a couple buddies that have the chain break/ crimp tools, and was able to remove the links without issue.

Once I managed to again determine that my local stealership didn't have either the clamps, nor the exhaust manifold gaskets, nor the exhaust donuts that go between the header and the Cat, I went back to the trusty Internet to do some searching for Stainless Steel exhaust clamps (like the Micron exhaust). (Add 2 days here to track everything down)

(Day total = 11)

I found some clamps local to Ohio, but the gaskets had to come again from Service Honda (as did the pan). Luckily I made use of this down time to install my new frame sliders VFR Frame Slider Install.(Add another 5 days here for shipping)

New Exhaust Clamps Installed:


(Day total = 16)

This brings us to tomorrow (5-14-09)(when I'm supposed to have all of the Gaskets necessary). Nice part is that aside from putting the gaskets on, the bike is essentially ready to ride, so I should HOPEFULLY be able to put on the gaskets, and then bolt the rest of the exhaust back on, torque it up, then go for a ride on a FULL fairing bike...

Best thing about this whole experience...

Daddy's Helpers...



... And I now know how to almost pull the WHOLE bike apart...

 

:chairshot::focus:op2::faint::bootyshake2::tsk::soapbox::kaboom::kev::hangme::amen::drinker::amen::rambo::yield::frusty:op2::vtr2::vtr2::cheersaf::drinkers::vtr2::vtr2:

 

Still workin on the pics... I'll try and get some up tonight... and ammend the above with the pics...

 

hummm, sounds like it's time you give her a solid once over. Especially those places you have never been.

 

Well since I did get to ride her a bit while waiting on the new oil pan, I was able to determine that the shocks are in good working order, and she still sounds good, no hesitation, or missing. I will be replacing the spark plugs later this season (22K miles and can't find record of last plug change), so I figure that I'll tackle that $50-$75 job later. Right now I just want to ride my bike again... lol

Only thing I have left to do for the moment is to button up the exhaust, put the fairings back on, verify the oil level once I've let her run for a bit, and reset the Speedo Healer for the -1 front and stock rear configuration.

 

Holy smokes, that sucks.
I guess you are pretty intimate with her now.

 

Well I'm not testing her exhaust out for fit... but I about know her inside and out... lol

 

still not that bad. I changed the oil on my old car one time, found a crapload of metal in the oil. So I took out the motor, tore it down, and couldnt find anything wrong with it.


I checked all clearances, pistons, rings, everything. It took me 1 week working 6 hours a day to inspect everything. COme to find out, my freind thought it would be funny to put some metal shavings and chunks in my oil filter before handing it to me.


Then he didnt tell me till I started rebuilding the motor with new rings, bearings, and oilpump. 1 month turn around time,.

 

There are tricks to making an aluminum sprocket last....I will take the one and a half pound loss of weight over a steel sprocket, when coupled with titanium bolts, nuts and washers. Every little bit helps.....

 

bad news Josh


I heard rain from now till Monday

 

hopefully your kidding

 

Well it's supposed to move out tonight from what I heard on the news today, partly cloudy tomorrow, rain Sat, partly cloudy on Sun.

I'll take all the chances I can get to ride... since she'll be back together tonight...

 

hit me up if ya want to ride

 

I got to change my oil JB let me see if I can top you.

 

Man, that sucks. I HATE getting something back together only to discover extra parts that have to be put on.

At least you're getting an intimate working knowledge of the motor and associated other naughty bits. :smile:

 

Where are you located? I'm in Canal-Pickerington (south east of Columbus)

To do that, you need to spend about $300 and at least 16 days 02... lol

 

Lancaster here josh not far from ya

 

Update!!!

Well not only am I done with the "oil change", but I've got the frame sliders on the bike as well...

Here's how she spent the last 3 weeks...



Here's the water bottle mod and slider installed...



Here's the right side mount location... (for you 02...) VERY strong bolts!



You can see the modified bracket that I put on to keep the valve out of the way of the slider... gotta LOVE pipe strapping!

Another pic of the strapping mod...



Pic of the fairing in place on the right side with the slider hole cut in the fairing...



But here's the BEST part... After waiting on the Gaskets... here's how they looked when they arrived from Service Honda... Last time I checked, they were supposed to be ROUND....

(1)...



(2)...



(3)...



can you say OOPS?!?!

Needless to say, I'm going to have it out with a person at Service Honda tomorrow about getting my Gaskets replaced for FREE (Shipping included), and it will be OVERNIGHT shipping at that. That is uncalled for!

 

go get em' JB

 

so what happened??