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AT - Crankcase Leak

kubotamiketx

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Location
Austin
First Name
Michael
Last Name
Morisoli
Well, seems like on the last Hill Country 500 when I was riding (or should I say high centering) on the larger log my Touratech skid plate decided to impale the bottom of my engine case causing a tiny pinhole oil leak. Not a big one, but enough to make a mess.

The silly thing is the stock skid plate wouldn't have caused the damage, it really is a bad design and I checked the web site today I see they no longer sell this first generation one and have a new design. Mine has a small stainless cage that mounts to the frame that provides some mounting points for the skid plate. There are 4 hex nuts welded to the cage and it was one of the hex nuts that when the tree pushed on the skid plate, it came in contact with the oil pan on the AT.

I called Touratech not to expect anything from them, more just to gauge their response. This is where I started to turn red in the face. The guy on the phone actually told me I should not be riding big adventure bikes off road, they are meant for gravel roads at the most and it was rider irresponsibility that caused the problem. He did pull up some pics and could see the hex nut but still insisted that adventure motorcycles are not built to be ridden like dirt bikes. Now I am worried that all of us are complete idiots for abusing our adventure bikes.

Anyway, the good news is Honda designed the bottom of the engine as a separate oil pan, so it is only about $300.00 for a replacement. I kept thinking of pulling out the engine and trying to split the cases, I would have sold it before I tried that. This is a simple 10 6MM bolts and a new gasket, good to go. All without pulling the engine.

I think I will do a little redesign of the cage before I put the skid plate on again.

Oh the guy did offer what he said was a smoking deal of 20% off the new design skid plate. But why would I need it if I am going to stick to gravel roads only from here on out! Not a big fan of Touratech right now, isn't their entire business model based on adventure bikes going off-road???

Lastly, no I don't typically let my bike get so gross and dirty, this is because it is an oil leak and dirt got stuck to it. I will clean everything before I really dig into the repair :)
 

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I would pull it and weld it, if it is just aluminum. May not be great for resale though. May modify old bash guard also. Anyway, thank goodness it is a removable pan.
 
I hadn't even considered that. A million years ago I used to do a bunch of heliarc welding of aluminium and chromoly tubing. I do have a beautiful Millermatic welder that does Arc, MIG and TIG, but I don't have the TIG setup for it and a quick check shows the TIG kit would be more than the new OEM case... May have to justify that purchase later...
 
Mike you silly man taking a big adventure bike off road[emoji23]

That was smart of Honda to make the pan replaceable.

I have the same bash plate[emoji41]
 
Well, seems like on the last Hill Country 500 when I was riding (or should I say high centering) on the larger log my Touratech skid plate decided to impale the bottom of my engine case causing a tiny pinhole oil leak. Not a big one, but enough to make a mess.

The silly thing is the stock skid plate wouldn't have caused the damage, it really is a bad design and I checked the web site today I see they no longer sell this first generation one and have a new design. Mine has a small stainless cage that mounts to the frame that provides some mounting points for the skid plate. There are 4 hex nuts welded to the cage and it was one of the hex nuts that when the tree pushed on the skid plate, it came in contact with the oil pan on the AT.

I called Touratech not to expect anything from them, more just to gauge their response. This is where I started to turn red in the face. The guy on the phone actually told me I should not be riding big adventure bikes off road, they are meant for gravel roads at the most and it was rider irresponsibility that caused the problem. He did pull up some pics and could see the hex nut but still insisted that adventure motorcycles are not built to be ridden like dirt bikes. Now I am worried that all of us are complete idiots for abusing our adventure bikes.

Anyway, the good news is Honda designed the bottom of the engine as a separate oil pan, so it is only about $300.00 for a replacement. I kept thinking of pulling out the engine and trying to split the cases, I would have sold it before I tried that. This is a simple 10 6MM bolts and a new gasket, good to go. All without pulling the engine.

I think I will do a little redesign of the cage before I put the skid plate on again.

Oh the guy did offer what he said was a smoking deal of 20% off the new design skid plate. But why would I need it if I am going to stick to gravel roads only from here on out! Not a big fan of Touratech right now, isn't their entire business model based on adventure bikes going off-road???

Lastly, no I don't typically let my bike get so gross and dirty, this is because it is an oil leak and dirt got stuck to it. I will clean everything before I really dig into the repair :)
RATS!
 
That sucks.

Dirty? I've ate off worse than that skidplate..

I'd buy a new pan then see if you can use someone's tig setup to repair the old one

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
LOL, I think it was the larger one off my left shoulder in the photo. The first time I attempted it I high centered pretty good, that is where it happened. Still its not like it was a rock that pushed the middle up, it was a large diameter log with some soft dirt on top that pushed the entire plate up to the frame rails. The the hex head (which is not in the new design and will get removed from mine before being reinstalled)
 
Epoxy? Rode a 74 CL450 with similar damage. Some JB Weld kept the oil inside. BTW Honda CL450 Sramblers really weren't meant to be off-roaded.
 
Hi Mike,
Just a thought. You could take the case to a good TIG Welder and get it welded for $50 and spend the rest on a good bash plate (stock or maybe one from Alt Rider).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ok, I am watching a Dakar Rally race as I type this and there are Africa Twins competing. One is actually in third place. I guess the Touratech guy doesn't get out much.
 
Ok, I am watching a Dakar Rally race as I type this and there are Africa Twins competing. One is actually in third place. I guess the Touratech guy doesn't get out much.
The Honda Dakar bikes are crf450 rallyes. Dakar has a 450cc limit for the last few years. They wanted to keep the power and speed down if I understand correctly.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
The Honda Dakar bikes are crf450 rallyes. Dakar has a 450cc limit for the last few years. They wanted to keep the power and speed down if I understand correctly.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Let me find the video, pretty sure it was an Africa Twin I saw
 
By the way, I ordered a new oil pan, gasket and various o rings. All in it was $320 which is way better than I had ever thought. Not only that, I can replace the oil pan without removing the engine (I think). I had to remove the engine to fix this, it would be time for J B Weld for sure... LOL

As to brands, since I have the Touratech upper and lower crash bars, I have to stay with a Touratech skid plate. I am going to remove the hex nuts that are in harms way and put it back together. The plate is fine except for the design flaw.

Whats is crazy is all the rocks I have hit in Colorado have never caused any harm, then a silly log causes a DNF.
 
By the way, I ordered a new oil pan, gasket and various o rings. All in it was $320 which is way better than I had ever thought. Not only that, I can replace the oil pan without removing the engine (I think). I had to remove the engine to fix this, it would be time for J B Weld for sure... LOL

As to brands, since I have the Touratech upper and lower crash bars, I have to stay with a Touratech skid plate. I am going to remove the hex nuts that are in harms way and put it back together. The plate is fine except for the design flaw.

Whats is crazy is all the rocks I have hit in Colorado have never caused any harm, then a silly log causes a DNF.
That's not to bad. Atleast the swap is easy.

It seems like you arent the first guy this happened to. And they do not want to be held liable, hence the "gravel roads" comment. And the design change

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
I would have pressed the guy at Touratech to send you the updated bash plate at no charge and send them back the old one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I am still pondering what to say to Touratech, their response that we should not ride adventure bikes off-road is so ridiculous I just don't have the proper response.

Good news, I washed the bike real good yesterday, dropped the old oil case, installed some new O rings and a new screen, put her back with a new filter and fresh oil and she is leak free again !!! Maybe I can actually get out and ride this next weekend!!!

Total cost for parts was just over $300 with tax. Way better than having to split the cases :(
 
I am still pondering what to say to Touratech, their response that we should not ride adventure bikes off-road is so ridiculous I just don't have the proper response.

Good news, I washed the bike real good yesterday, dropped the old oil case, installed some new O rings and a new screen, put her back with a new filter and fresh oil and she is leak free again !!! Maybe I can actually get out and ride this next weekend!!!

Total cost for parts was just over $300 with tax. Way better than having to split the cases :(
I'd just email them a link to that guy riding hard single track. No words, just the link. And never use them again.

If it was me
 
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