I got knocked off my NC30 a few weeks back. :notfair: Car drivers fault, he admitted liability and it's all gone through smoothly so far thankfully. Every cloud and all that..



I Thought I'd have a closer look at the bike today and make my own assessment on it's condition. The fairing is pretty beat up and there's a big dent in the tank but I can get replacement fairings from eBay and can fix the tank. The forks, frame and wheels are straight so I have every intention of repairing the bike (if they'll let me although I cant see it being an issue) and putting it back on the road. The bike lost a lot of oil at the scene so I thought I'd investigate that further and found a hole in the clutch cover. I took this off to have a look inside..



Poor NC30! I've put the battered panels in the garage for now.



Closer inspection of the starter assembly, pickups + rotor and clutch..



Even closer inspection revealed this 3" long bolt languishing in the oil sump! I don't know if it's fallen out of the crank cases as a result of working loose over time or what but I'm glad I spotted it it! Sump off for further inspection will be required on this one!

That looks an awful lot like a cylinder head bolt! How it would have made it down into the sump though I have no idea...

That IS a cylinder head bolt..wtf!!!..pfff.defo get the sump of chap.you might be lucky and find a full hrc system in there!!!

richyrd5 wrote:That IS a cylinder head bolt..wtf!!!..pfff.defo get the sump of chap.you might be lucky and find a full hrc system in there!!!

Brilliant!

I intend to have a good rummage! I have no idea how its in there or how long its been in there but frankly, I found it pretty terrifying that something that big is in there and hasn't been battered by gears, crank, big ends etc. Could have been carnage! For the record my oil (whats left of it at least) is clean with no bits of metal or metally silver sheen to it. I've also turned the engine by hand and on the starter (after removing the bolt!!!) to make sure it's ok and it seems fine.

Do I have to remove the front exhaust pipes to get the sump off or will it simply wiggle past? I'll remove the rocker boxes too and see if there's anything missing up-top.

No.pipes have to come of..so.so lucky it didnt munch your motor!!

hopefully they replaced that head bolt.

Guessing the engines been apart at some point and upon re-assembly they have dropped the bolt into the v and its landed in the sump.

Found all sorts of shit in sumps before, valve collets etc.

depending on how much you get might be worth at least considering getting a new 30 with the money and breaking that one to supplment the cost, i reckcon you could get somethign ncie then. hopefully less bolts in the sumpish.

I think that might be a spare. Honda maybe threw a few spares in the sump before assembly.

Thanks guys..

I'm still astounded to be honest! I found bits of gasket and general dirt in the strainer on my FJ but no bolts!

That's totally crazy finding that in the sump. How can somebody not notice they've dropped something like a head bolt?? Glad you're okay after being hit though.

I've never had the rocker-boxes off and inspected the top end it so it may have been in there for years. Very worryingly!

I'm ok, a bit stiff and sore but no broken bones or anything so it's not the end of the world. And there's a big NC30 sized dent in the car door! Cheers..