I thought some of you might be interested to hear of my recent experience. I purchased my VFR1200F new last weekend. After 2 days of ownership and 95 miles on the odometer, I noticed what appeared to be oil/grease was splattering all over the inside of the rear wheel. Closer inspection found the final drive to be leaking oil. The oil was being slung off of the rear brake rotor (entire surface of rotor was covered on the FD side).
Of course, I immediately took the bike to my nearest dealer for warranty service. I caught them just as they were closing for the day and they wheeled it straight inside and onto the lift for diagnosis & repair. No word yet on what they've found. Hopefully it's just a bad seal and nothing more serious. I'll keep you posted as things progress.
Has anyone else experience such a failure? The leak was bad enough that it was dripping onto the garage floor. I'm sorry I didn't have time to take a picture, I was literally racing the clock to get to the dealership before they closed last evening.
If the final drive oil is overfilled the oil pressure will break the seal of the oring on the plastic filler bolt and spill out onto the wheel. Its just a nylon bolt holding an oring, it is not designed to handle exess oil pressure build up from too much oil in the resevouir. If you have a center stand or a way to hold the bike up open the filler bolt and let the exess drain and then close it back up, then clean up the mess, and clean the oil on the tire with soap and water if it is on there.
[image: View Post]rydfly, on 14 June 2011 - 11:39 AM, said:
Hi folks, new member here.
I thought some of you might be interested to hear of my recent experience. I purchased my VFR1200F new last weekend. After 2 days of ownership and 95 miles on the odometer, I noticed what appeared to be oil/grease was splattering all over the inside of the rear wheel. Closer inspection found the final drive to be leaking oil. The oil was being slung off of the rear brake rotor (entire surface of rotor was covered on the FD side).
Of course, I immediately took the bike to my nearest dealer for warranty service. I caught them just as they were closing for the day and they wheeled it straight inside and onto the lift for diagnosis & repair. No word yet on what they've found. Hopefully it's just a bad seal and nothing more serious. I'll keep you posted as things progress.
Has anyone else experience such a failure? The leak was bad enough that it was dripping onto the garage floor. I'm sorry I didn't have time to take a picture, I was literally racing the clock to get to the dealership before they closed last evening.
-Kennet
Closing in on 11,000 miles and not one problem. Will have had it 1 yr the end of this month.
Like I said, I've only had the bike a couple of days, so whatever the fault is (over-fill, bad seal, etc.) either the factory assembly or the dealer prep is to blame. I wasn't real keen on doing much investigation myself. Hopefully it can be easily and quickly remendied.
I have no accessories yet, but a centerstand is high on my must-have list.
Funny thing is, I just sold my trusty old Beemer and bought this bike because I was tired of having final drive issues... hopefully this will be an isolated incident
[image: View Post]HispanicSlammer, on 14 June 2011 - 08:52 PM, said:
If the final drive oil is overfilled the oil pressure will break the seal of the oring on the plastic filler bolt and spill out onto the wheel. Its just a nylon bolt holding an oring, it is not designed to handle exess oil pressure build up from too much oil in the resevouir. If you have a center stand or a way to hold the bike up open the filler bolt and let the exess drain and then close it back up, then clean up the mess, and clean the oil on the tire with soap and water if it is on there.
I thought we were suppose to fill the final drive using the side stand. Why wouldn't he just open up the filler bolt on the side stand to drain possible excess oil out.
[image: View Post]Dae, on 15 June 2011 - 02:10 AM, said:
[image: View Post]HispanicSlammer, on 14 June 2011 - 08:52 PM, said:
If the final drive oil is overfilled the oil pressure will break the seal of the oring on the plastic filler bolt and spill out onto the wheel. Its just a nylon bolt holding an oring, it is not designed to handle exess oil pressure build up from too much oil in the resevouir. If you have a center stand or a way to hold the bike up open the filler bolt and let the exess drain and then close it back up, then clean up the mess, and clean the oil on the tire with soap and water if it is on there.
I thought we were suppose to fill the final drive using the side stand. Why wouldn't he just open up the filler bolt on the side stand to drain possible excess oil out.
This is correct. The FD oil is checked with the bike on the side stand. If you set the level on the center stand, or with the bike in a vertical position,it will be over filled.
Of the four 1200s I've seen, all have aluminum filler caps. Though it's possible some were supplied with plastic caps
I spoke with the service manager yesterday and apparently it's worse than I had hoped it would be. The leak is actually coming from the seam between the two case halves. That means the FD has be removed and split so it can be re-sealed. He's also going to replace the hub seal for good measure while it's apart, and I'll be getting new brake pads too because the original got covered in oil.
In short, it means it'll be closer to 2 weeks before I get the bike back while we wait for parts and special tooling required for the job. They've done final drive repairs before, but never on a VFR1200. Can't say I'm real excited about my new bike becoming a learning tool for them, but I don't see how I have much choice in the matter. It sounded like the service manager himself will be doing the work.
So much for having a new bike this spring, it'll be July before I get to ride it again :dry:
Make sure you get NEW rear brake pads. Once oil soaked, cleaning is fruitless. I tried. As soon as the pads get hot from normal use, the oil soaks out of the pads again.
[image: View Post]PorradaVFR, on 17 June 2011 - 07:09 PM, said:
Did you ask for a dealer loaner?
I've never know any dealer to offer a loaner out here in the mid-west. Most folks don't use a bike as their only conveyance like some do in the warmer states. It's unfortunate. At least I still have my old Ducati.
[image: View Post]rydfly, on 17 June 2011 - 04:07 AM, said:
I spoke with the service manager yesterday and apparently it's worse than I had hoped it would be. The leak is actually coming from the seam between the two case halves. That means the FD has be removed and split so it can be re-sealed. He's also going to replace the hub seal for good measure while it's apart, and I'll be getting new brake pads too because the original got covered in oil.
In short, it means it'll be closer to 2 weeks before I get the bike back while we wait for parts and special tooling required for the job. They've done final drive repairs before, but never on a VFR1200. Can't say I'm real excited about my new bike becoming a learning tool for them, but I don't see how I have much choice in the matter. It sounded like the service manager himself will be doing the work.
So much for having a new bike this spring, it'll be July before I get to ride it again :dry:
The goldwing is more complicated final drive components, I am sure they have done a bunch of them.
[image: View Post]rydfly, on 18 June 2011 - 06:02 AM, said:
[image: View Post]PorradaVFR, on 17 June 2011 - 07:09 PM, said:
Did you ask for a dealer loaner?
I've never know any dealer to offer a loaner out here in the mid-west. Most folks don't use a bike as their only conveyance like some do in the warmer states. It's unfortunate. At least I still have my old Ducati.
Wouldn't hurt to give a call or mail to HONDA USA to see if they will pay for your dealer to provide a -fully comp insured- loaner.
Mention that your case is followed by 10,000+ Vfr riders worldwide..... :biggrin:
Yup fill the motor oil with the bike strait up or on a center stand but not the final drive oil thats on the side stand. Done and done, just did mine. I got it wrong so says the owners manual.
I brought the bike home from the dealer yesterday, 2 weeks to the day when it was dropped off originally. They re-sealed the case halves of the final drive and replaced the hub seal as well. Also got new rear brake pads to replace the oil-soaked ones. I'll be keeping a close eye on it for a while to verify all is well. I've only done about 30 miles since the repair, but so far so good. Hopefully this was just a fluke thing and no further troubles will occur.