Plastic Side Case Plug

[BeaverMatt]

I've been reading a ride report on Sport-Touring.net.  The person making the report lost the engine in his C-14 after the black plug on the left side of the case came out and dumped out most of the oil.  In looking at my engine I'm not sure what it would take for this to come out on its own, it looks pretty secure and bullet proof.  Has anyone else heard of this?

- BeaverMatt

[C1xRider]

No, never heard of this.

Seems that hot oil all over the foot would have provided a hint something was wrong though, and resulted in stopping before the engine was lost.  I guess it depends on how fast the oil comes out.

It looks like that plug / cover needs to be removed to access the large nut behind it.  Maybe some work was done in there recently, and the plug / cover wasn't re-installed correctly?

[jonathan]

Can you post a link to that other thread?

[Conrad]

This is the first that I've ever heard of something like this happening.

[Rhino]

Just a guess but I would suspect that the plug had been removed and improperly re-installed.

[ZG]

 

[TRBN]

Can you post a link to that other thread?

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,72620.0.html

[MAN OF BLUES]

it's called a bevel gear housing cover
http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,72620.msg1695769.html#msg1695769

that had to be fiddled with, they don't simply "pop out"...

it must be pried out with a screwdriver or tool....and from the factory, it was very tight.

[Beamer]

Wow. Small world.

When I was in Montana at the beginning of the month on my bike vacation, we ran into that guy and his son while riding thru Glacier National Park. Got a chance to talk to them once we were in the town of West Glacier.

The C-14 looked pretty beat then. But their plans were to leave Michigan, ride thru the Black Hills, to Montana, then onto Highway 1 in Cali and ride south. They were really racking up allot of miles, like 1000 a day

[Laserjock]

They were really racking up allot of miles, like 1000 a day

1000 miles/day? Is that possible? Or sustainable?

=Laserjock=

[Beamer]

They were camping and riding from sun-up to sun down. At the point we ran across them, they were 3600 miles in on their 3rd day.

[Cold Streak]

1000 miles/day? Is that possible? Or sustainable?

The Iron Butt ride usually requires 10 straight days of riding with a grand total mileage of around 13-15k.  Those riders are usually pretty well beaten to death by that point.  So, yes, it is possible, but sustainable?  Not for long.

[B.D.F.]

This seems pretty serious but I think we have started to do the right things. The first thing we are going to want to do is to talk about it a lot and begin to panic. After that, we can get angry and direct that anger in useful directions starting with Kawasaki of course but then progressing onto general manufacturers and eventually to whoever invented plastic.

In the meantime I propose a practical way to deal with this very significant and potentially deadly problem- it is actually an extension of the saddlebag retention system I invented several years ago. I suggest wrapping a chain from the side stand, under the peg and shifter, directly over the cap in question, then over the fuel tank and finally to the brake pedal on the other side. This will not only retain the cap but it will prevent unauthorized access to the fuel cap.





I may be able to offer this as a pre- made kit if there is enough interest.

Of course maybe the original problem was caused by an incorrectly installed bevel gear case cap.... ?

Brian

[Conrad]

That chain install is pure genius Brian! With that heavy anchor chain installed it'll be almost like riding one of the slower colored C14s, perhaps as slow as a black bike?

[ZG]

That chain install is pure genius Brian! With that heavy anchor chain installed it'll be almost like riding one of the slower colored C14s, perhaps as slow as a black bike?

    

[jonathan]

I would consider this to be an anomaly similar to the one C14 that had the driveshaft grenade. No reason to panic unless you think your number is up next.