[Nathang]

I've got this question posted "over there." ... and a PM to Max but haven't gotten an answer or advice yet. The question is becoming urgent, I've gone 62 days w/o my V-Rod fix...

My left subframe section was bent inwards by my slip & fall, one of the things attached to it was an engine cross-brace, right side of engine anchored by this cross brace to left side of frame. The brace is adjustable, however, while I was able to easily disconnect it from the bent frame section, it will not reconnect to the new straight frame section. There is a good 1/4" to 5/16" gap that seems to indicate that the engine is moved right in the frame by the fall.

No part of the engine was scuffed of bent, nothing seems to have touched the ground, my broken foot provided the padding necessary. That said, it appears that the only thing that could have transferred force to the engine to shift it to the right would have been this same brace/mount assy that now confounds me. I am not willing to just adjust to fit, I am concerned that I need to know what is out of square. Can engine mounts break and act like this? Bike is an '05 B-Rod with under 20,000 miles

 

[DiamondLil]

Nathan,
One suggestion about your post over there, bring it out of Rhyno's thread and into its own.

 

[Nathang]

Up front now.

 

[GAZOO!]

I'd hate to think the motor shifted because that would sound like the frame got tweaked.

 

[Pete Logan]

What he said - loosen up all the mounts, then see how it fits. If the strap then fits, just tighten up the rest of the motor mounts.

These things are not manufactured perfectly correct - they do have a certain amount of slop built in to them to allow for that.

You are certainly right that if the adjustable strap won't fit, something is wrong.

Maybe loosening up everything will let it all get back into place.

Check with your local dealer whether they can check the frame for straight. Better still, check out how to do that. It's not that tough, all they do is measure between fixed points on the frame.

Personally, given the nature of your down, I seriously doubt you have bent the frame. More likely just knocked something adjustable out a little.

 

[Nathang]

Got good advice... read the f'ing manual...

Do you have the '05 VRSC Service Manual? You shouldn't be attempting this repair without it. The wheel alignment needs to be checked and the engine needs to be centered before installing the stabilizer link. Section 2.28 on pages 2-77 to 2-79 has info on wheel alignment and the engine stabilizer link adjustment.

The manual says..

The stabilizer link between the engine and frame is a horizontal engine locator only. The stabilizer link is not to be used to adjust the horizontal alignment of the rear wheel.

..and also

IMPORTANT NOTE If installing the stabilizer link causes interference between the rear tire and the fender mounting hardware...

Apparently the structural and functional realtionships of these parts are not a simple as they look.

That makes it sound like the pivot points for the swingarm are not integral with the frame, but with the engine/transmission sub-assembly, which would be a floating assembly, relative to the frame. But there are pivot bearing holders integral with the frame.

So if the engine/transmission sub-assembly is not square in the frame, the rear wheel alignment, actually the centering in the fender will be affected?

I think I'm gonna have a headache.

 

[Pete Logan]

Got good advice... read the f'ing manual...

.............................

I think I'm gonna have a headache.

I think I'm gonna join you

 

[Dragonfire]

Your impact causes alot of problems. Engine alignment is important and even the mounts on the off side may be damaged. Buy the service manuel. Best $60 you'll ever spend.

 

[Nathang]

I have the manual for both of my bikes.
That's how come I'm quoting it.

 

[Pete Logan]

I have the manual for both of my bikes.
That's how come I'm quoting it.

My headache came back

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

[Nathang]

OK, now I have deduced the relationship between the rear engine mounts and the rear fork pivot point.
I say deduced, because it is sure not mentioned in the manual, other than cautioning not to screw up rear wheel
alignment when messing with engine mounts/

Look at these pix, and the parts nomenclature.
Is it just me. or are they really carefully avoiding mentioning this is a common mounting point?

On the right drawing, the #20 part is called "bracket, rear engine mount." In the left drawing, the rear fork pivot bearings are shown to fit onto some unnamed fixture that IS the rear engime mount bracket, the "pivot shaft" that goes through both rear fork pivot bearings also goes thru both rear engine mounts and both cast in ring structures on the back of the engine.

 

[DiamondLil]

The pictures appear consistent with your explanation.

 

[Pete Logan]

The old ways had some merit to them

 

[Nathang]

Sure glad I got another bike to ride.

I loosened the front mount, and relaxed what seemed like excess tension on the drive belt last night, that seemed to reduce the discrepancy in the cross-brace fit a little. I have the bike up on the lift, not a great place to try to measure front to rear wheel alignment, tonight I'm going to take it down and roll it around, maybe try to lean it over to see if off center weight on the swing-arm could give some leverage to shift the engine some, since the front mount is loose. At least sitting level w/o the lift's front wheel holder I will be able to check front to rear wheel alignment. From the poor measurement I am able to take right now, the front to rear wheel alignment seems to be off just as the discrepancy in the cross-brace fit indicates it would be. It looks like I need to have King Kong hold the front of the bike in one hand and push the whole rear wheel and swingarm assy toward the rider's right a little bit.


I should have let my insurance handle it from the beginning, I just know the dealership will rape them, and I hate to be party to that even when it's not my money.

 

[Nathang]

Gentle persuasion

Shown here I have gently persuaded the engine and it's associated rear swing-arm pivot points to re-center itself so the cross mounted engine stabilizer dropped into it's bracket w/o adjustment. I'll pull it back out when I stand the bike back up and see if it shifts back any. Note the rear wheel is off the ground, the front wheel is barely touching as well. Think this was too severe?

 

[Pete Logan]

Shown here I have gently persuaded the engine and it's associated rear swing-arm pivot points to re-center itself so the cross mounted engine stabilizer dropped into it's bracket w/o adjustment. I'll pull it back out when I stand the bike back up and see if it shifts back any. Note the rear wheel is off the ground, the front wheel is barely touching as well. Think this was too severe?

Naw :rofl:

 

[Nathang]

OK
I stood the bike back up with the cross-brace / engine stabilizer strut in place, figuring I'd try to push it up out of place as the test of how tight it is. I can't get it to push up out of it's mount, but I can turn it easily with the wrench in fact it will sort of wiggle in place, shifting it's alignment slightly, leading me to believe that it is not under great tension. The manual warns that if you misuse this brace to enforce engine centering, you risk causing stress fractures in the engine case.

I'm not calling this fixed yet, I still want to try to get a good check on front to rear wheel alignment, but I'm encouraged that this might just be resolved shortly.

 

[Pete Logan]

Sounds like progress - well done :ride

 

[Rustyg]

What was the final resolution here? I have a friend with wheel alignment problems and we are kind of stuck.

 

[Tucson_Tim]

What was the final resolution here? I have a friend with wheel alignment problems and we are kind of stuck.

Hope they can remember. It was two years ago.