Engine mounting bolt question

Hi guys, hope you can see the image.

The engine mounting bolt spacer is cracked - any idea if this is a big job to replace? And is there a risk of some terrible situation emerging if I keep riding it for now? Obviously it's gone, but how serious is that short term?

Also is this a tricky spare to get hold of?

Thanks

This is a problem that most Honda owners suffer at some time or another.
So I started making stainless and alloy ones.
The link below should give you an idea of what they're like.

http://www.cb500club.net/t4612-stainless-engine-mounting-bolts-and-alloy-spacers

Due to the cost of the materials the costs have had to increase a bit.

The 's' faired models with alloy spacers are now £30 and £38 with stainless spacers.
The 'r' naked models with alloy spacers are now £35 and £42 with stainless spacers.

The most difficult part of replacing the engine mounting bolt is getting the old one out!  It has a nasty habit of sticking in the engine case - heat and lubrication are often both required ease it out.

Thanks people. I'm gonna scratch my beard a bit more before taking the plunge on this.

To be honest, is the structural integrity of the machine endangered seriously by a cracked spacer? (Presumably it is there for a reason, but any thoughts?)

Funnily enough that's exactly what my spacer looks like. It should be safe enough until it falls out. Mine is pretty corroded so should be there for a while longer. My front bolt is solid in any case so this might be a job I will attempt this winter but need to do a few jobs on the VFR as well as well as the other half having a list of much MORE IMPORTANT jobs to be done.

Start applying the WD40 or similar stuff now then. It may help later on when you try to remove the bolt.

Plusgas is the stuff to use........

Cant get plus gas in ireland as far as i l know... bought are seized in my cb 500v and cb500s... i be nervous cracking engine mount be also nervous going at exhaust studs too

skyerae wrote:Plusgas is the stuff to use........ :D

Yes, but WD40 is cheaper to apply if you are planning to do splash it on every day/after every ride.

Try get some heat into the spacer and when hot get some ATF and let that soak in. Leave it for a while and try it then

Many people have reported trouble with the front mounting bolt. As time goes on, this will only become more widespread - unless CB500 owners starty proactively lubing up this particular bolt as part of ordinary maintenance.

My point here is that if you've got a sticking bolt, you'd better start applying plusgas and dab the bolt with a mallet - on a daily basis - until the wretched thing comes loose. Waiting will only aggravate the pain.
Here, it's worth noticing that the bolt crosses the front of the crankcase emerging from one open ended cavity ang going into a similar open ended cavity. Those cavities seem to have been specifically designed to collect water and crud getting thrown at the area by the front tire. Genius.
Thus, when fettling with the bolt, see if you can get ATF, WD40, Plusgas or whatever you fancy for loosening up seized bolts into those cavities. This is the underbelly of the beast...

Once you've got the bolt loosened, extract it (may require liberal amounts of patience, sanding paper and/or scrapers) and clean up the whole area including cavities. Then fill the cavities with heavy grease, replace all parts applying more grease as you go and tighten to torque.

Repeat once per year. We really should have a "National Front engine bolt Awareness Week" every year - much along the lines of Nuckuckaw (National Clutch cable awareness week, as proposed by our mongolian resident Trevor Machine (see this post for an explanation of Nuckuckaw).

thanks storm

I've a Honda NTV650 and its a fairly common problem + you can't get the bolt out no matter what you try!  Sometimes the spacer will break  in two and fall out. When that happens, we just buy a new spacer, cut it in two and put it back with a jubilee clip round it.....  then just tighten the nut up.  If you can't shift this bolt, a jubilee clip might be the answer here.

Engine is now out of the '02 500s but with front engine mount frame cross member still attached as bolt well and truly stuck in casing. Will persevere with plusgas etc. Plenty of time as this is a long term project but it willl have to come out eventually. Part of me thinks it could actually stay in and just remount cross member with engine still attached but thats not the real answer is it?

wrighty wrote:Engine is now out of the '02 500s but with front engine mount frame cross member still attached as bolt well and truly stuck in casing. Will persevere with plusgas etc. Plenty of time as this is a long term project but it willl have to come out eventually. Part of me thinks it could actually stay in and just remount cross member with engine still attached but thats not the real answer is it?

It's not the textbook answer but it is better than breaking the engine casing!