New VFR owner - Finally!

Hello, All.

Without boring everyone to death with all the details, I finally bought a new VFR (anniversary edition). It only took me 15 years to get around to it...

All in all, a nice bike. The VTEC is a bit bizarre in the transition stage, and the jury is still out on the stock suspension, but all in all, I like it.

Anyway, I removed the lower fairings for the first oil/filter change, and had a real struggle removing them due to the upper corners being held in place by the captive rubber grommets that I could not get to to push out of the recessed holes (I could not see them; I figured out what the problem was after I got the fairings off). My concern is that the grommets will not pull back through the hole when the retaining screw is tightened. I sprayed the grommets with "Son of a Gun" silicone, and tightened/loosened the screws a few times, but I can not figure out a clever way to make sure that they are in position since they are not visible (or whether or not to worry about it too terribly much).

Anybody else have this problem?

Thx!

 

These rubber grommets are called "well nuts" and create a ridge on the back side to hold the grommet in place when the screw is screwed into them the first time. They are reuseable, but if one pops out and you have a hard time getting it back in, you can buy replacements that look like a threaded rubber cylinder with a thin rubber flange on just one end. You just slip them into place with the flange end on the outside, put the body panel over it, thread in the body fastener, and this will cause the back side of the well nut to bulge out, keeping it in place for future use.

 

Thanks for the info. I learn something new every day...

I was not very clear in my description. The well nuts stayed in place on their brackets. The lower fairings were hard to remove because the Honda well nuts have an upper flange that pokes up through the fairing hole and expands, which captures it into position. My concern was getting it to poke back through the fairing hole and expand back into the OEM location, since it cannot be seen or manipulated once the fairing is in position. It probably isn't an issue, but I lose sleep over things like this.

 

The fairings are back on, so I can't get a picture. The well nuts I am concerned with are the ones that the allen head screws go into. They are visible from the top of the bike, closest to the instrument panel. When I had the fairings off, I took a close look at them, and also the fairing. It appears that the width of the well nut upper flange is intended to go through the fairing hole and expand around the top of it. The fairing itself has a slight recess to accomodate the well nut flange.

You're right. A picture would be so much easier. Next oil change, I'll make sure to take some. Thx!

 

Thanks for the info and pictures. That's KIND of what I am talking about, except the ones I am concerned with are attached to the bracket that stays on the bike. You cannot get to them once the fairing is back on. It would probably be best if I take pictures the next oil change. Could be that the 2007 fairing attachments are completely different. Thanks again, I really appreciate it!