Buzz Kill
 

Short Story: 6 months of no riding, came home to find the oil sight gauge sitting in the sump with just about 3 Qts of oil on the ground. 1) What causes this? 2) What do I need to do to fix it? - No, I have not taken it apart. Do I need a new case? MOST importantly, has any one heard or seen this happen before?




Long Story: Came home this afternoon after a 6 month deployment to find a large puddle of oil under my buddies bike and mine in the storage unit that I rented. My girl told me about it but was not sure of what the fluid was. I was hoping it was my buddies bike. It turns out, it isn't. After a very quick diagnosis, the mystery fluid is oil and the culprit is my bikes oil level sight gauge. The whole thing was sitting in the sump. I have not taken it apart since I am still moving boxes and stuff out of there. I will probably get into it tomorrow. Now I have to call the over priced Honda dealer to get the Gasket for the case and what ever part I need to fix it. The ONE thing I was excited for. New Tires, New lid, New Chain and Sprocket, New oil change kit. Well I guess I will need that last one after all. Thanks for any help!

Sounds odd as I've never heard of the glass window spontaneously imploding inwards. Could it have be vandalized by someone punching it inwards?

Drain rest of oil, take cover off, recover glass window, order gasket - See if glass window can be siliconed back securely - to save ordering new clutch cover (difficult to find 2ndhand as easily damaged in prang). Clean up gasket surfaces. You might want to find out who else had access to storage unit which could account for the (deliberate?) damage - check if your bike/s were insured for damage. Rent another unit for your bike/s as far as possible away from that storage unit.

Wicky, Thank you. The woman and I were the only ones to have the keys. Nothing was disturbed in the storage unit when she opened it last month. The storage unit has video coverage and is open during certain times of the day. We had the ONLY 2 keys. They said if we lost the keys they would have to cut off the lock for us to gain access to the unit. Bizarre

Am also worried to bring silicone into the equation. I guess I will tear into it and see if I can find a Permanent Repair for it. Pretty damn big disappointment. Wondering if I should have put this in the Rants & Raves section.

That deal really sucks. Hate to hear of a serviceman having that happen for a welcome home. But I don't see the sight glass window or it's gasket shown on the exploded parts diagram. Hopefully the Honda dealer can source this for you maybe from other models with the same sight glass. Wish you we'll and hope the rest will sort out well for you. Good luck with all.

New cover is $165, and that sight window is not a service item far as I can tell.

I THINK I remember that sight glass being held in by a multi finger spring clip. And I "Think" I remember taking it out and reinstalling it on a cover I had powder coated.. but i may be confusing it with another motor.

If you try reinstalling it I would use epoxy not silicone.
Degrease it, put a small bead around the OD where it meets the case cover press into place and hold it there with a clamp or weight.

Let the epoxy (Lab Metal, JB Weld, ect) cure fully before exposing to oil or heat , movement or vibration.


Tell ya what... if you're not up to repairing it yourself..
Put that cover in a large USPS priority flate rate box.. send it to me.... I'll fix it and return it with a new gasket ready to install..

You can have the Special Marquez Racing Sergeant Major Retired to Service Member discount of 99.9832% off

PM if interested.

Hey Guys, thanks for the help Marquez and Crank. Yeah, its pretty lame BUT I'm over it. I built a bridge and moved on. Well really I just removed the cover, retrieved sight glass, applied gasket sealer to the cleaned and prepped surfaces (sorry Marquez, I read this after I tore into it today) and re installed. While waiting for cure time I went ahead and pulled the rear tire off and added my new go fast parts. again guys. Thanks for helping me out and for the offer to fix it for me. another reason I am apart of this forum.

Oh and Marquez, the only thing holding the sight glass in is a rubber seal. I will up load pics in a bit if you are interested.