Loose engine mounts

[Petefix]

This afternoon I decided to remove my crash bars as a trial with the aim of reducing the bikes weight. I left the upper 'centre mount' attached to the steering head, & the two mounts attached to the upper engine mounts - so I could refit the bars quick & easily if I want. 

 

When removing the left hand side section I noted that the crash bar mount that is attached via the upper engine mount was very loose - like, rattling & easy to swing loose. Not a good sign! The engine mount bolt was reasonably tight, but obviously not clamping the whole system together as it should. At first I thought maybe the bolts was  too long & bottoming out? Undid the bolt approx 20mm & then wound it back in. This time everything came up tight - so, not a 'too long bolt' issue but more a cack-handed installer problem! Checked the RH side - also fairly loose but not as bad. Made sure both were tight as should be. 

 

The bike came with the crash bars installed when I bought it - will be interesting to see if I notice any difference next time I ride!

[Hollybrook]

Good that you found it before it became a bigger problem. 

 

Out of curiosity, do you use thread locker on these bolts?  I have been using loctite blue on just about every nut, bolt and screw. 

[katana]

Snap.  Had the same happen.  Only that one.  It is my favourite side to drop on.  Probably due to the standard exhaust.  

[Petefix]

I didnt use any thread-locker on the bolts as I didnt remove them completely. I wasnt sure that the engine wouldnt move slightly making it difficult / impossible to re-install the bolt easily. Im very glad I found the issue, & will monitor the tightness regularly. I didnt actually 'torque' them to any set value, just tightened them as felt right...

 

[Redneckj]

The right side of my upper crash bar was found loose one time about 4-5 months ago.   I was dumbfounded as I "normally" put a lil blue locktite on bolts like that.  Oh well,  I tightened it up and it has been fine ever since.  You live and you ride.

[dobbi]

Crash on them hard with the oem crash bars on and it does a good job of shearing the splines in the alloy head. especailly as they use the same bolt to put the crash bars on reducing rhe reach inside the head. I stripped my  splines after a really good crash on the RHS. only went back together after buying a liger bolt so it reached the splines that had not been damaged. defo use locktite!

[Tenerider]

Just removed my crash bars, too - in my case, the bolts which go through the front subframe mounts were not really loose, but definitely not torqued to 34 Nm (see pic, the ones with LT symbols). It looks like my dealer skipped Loctite during install (clearly mentioned in the service manual!).

 

 

Furthermore, on both sides one of the red encircled bolts had some slight thread damage. I have reused these and torqued them down but don't feel good with it, so I just ordered spares and will install these as soon as they arrive.

On the RHS, even the frame thread seems to be affected a bit.

I think I'll use Loctite on these, too.

 

My suspicion: Dealer "aligned" the bars with force because the holes didn't line up. Bolts got damaged because of that.

 

Regarding the probably damaged thread in the frame tab: Shall I get a tap and try to re-cut/fix the thread? Or will I make things worse this way?

[winddown]

I trust the Japanese workers who built my bike, they do the same repetitive work day in day out, but a pimply faced apprentice mechanic in a western bike shop not so much.  Wherever possible I do my own work, certainly install my own mods.  I can relax, take hours, if need be so I get it right.  In a shop they are under pressure, how often do you think they pick up a torque wrench?  And God help you if the job is being done Friday afternoon or Monday morning.

[Tenerider]

1 hour ago, winddown said:

I trust the Japanese workers who built my bike, they do the same repetitive work day in day out, but a pimply faced apprentice mechanic in a western bike shop not so much.  Wherever possible I do my own work, certainly install my own mods.  I can relax, take hours, if need be so I get it right.  In a shop they are under pressure, how often do you think they pick up a torque wrench?  And God help you if the job is being done Friday afternoon or Monday morning.

100% agree.

[Rallyrider]

Yamaha produces the Tenere in France

[qInvention]

1 hour ago, Rallyrider said:

Yamaha produces the Tenere in France

... but not for every market.

[winddown]

On 12/13/2023 at 5:00 PM, Rallyrider said:

Yamaha produces the Tenere in France

Yes, you have a euro assembled one.    My vin starts with a J

 

Quote

 

Have one the guys post their first 2 digits of their VIN then we will know.
 

If it's France, it will be VF, VG, VH, VJ, VK, VL, VM, VN, VP, or VR

 

if its Japan, then it will be J.

 

 

[Black99S]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:59 AM, Tenerider said:

Just removed my crash bars, too - in my case, the bolts which go through the front subframe mounts were not really loose, but definitely not torqued to 34 Nm (see pic, the ones with LT symbols). It looks like my dealer skipped Loctite during install (clearly mentioned in the service manual!).

 

 

Furthermore, on both sides one of the red encircled bolts had some slight thread damage. I have reused these and torqued them down but don't feel good with it, so I just ordered spares and will install these as soon as they arrive.

On the RHS, even the frame thread seems to be affected a bit.

I think I'll use Loctite on these, too.

 

My suspicion: Dealer "aligned" the bars with force because the holes didn't line up. Bolts got damaged because of that.

 

Regarding the probably damaged thread in the frame tab: Shall I get a tap and try to re-cut/fix the thread? Or will I make things worse this way?

Check the installation instructions. I believe the original engine mount bolts are reused and therefore minimal thread engagement into the engine with crash bar bracket.  Mate had to heli-coil his engine after the bolts stripped out.

[Tenerider]

30 minutes ago, Black99S said:

Check the installation instructions. I believe the original engine mount bolts are reused and therefore minimal thread engagement into the engine with crash bar bracket.  Mate had to heli-coil his engine after the bolts stripped out.

Completely right, original bolts were used. Their length seemed sufficient, but this may have caused the thread damage indeed.

By the way, re-tapping the threads was easy and the damage was minimal. Guess I'm a lucky guy. This could have turned out () worse.