Prevent cracks in bodywork

Check the well nuts holding your bodywork together - Honda calls these 'cowl setting nuts'. This pertains to any VFR that uses cowl setting nuts to fasten body panels together. Like us riders, the older the VFR, the more important it is that its nuts get a thorough inspection.

I wondered why a couple of the bolt holes in the upper cowl of my 5th gen had cracks at their edges. These are the row of three holes where pan screws go into well nuts in the lower cowl. The PO was very careful and I have not run across any examples of fasteners being overtorqued. At my second oil change, I noticed that many of the cowl setting nuts - perhaps original parts - had squished up through their holes over time, creating bulges between the faring panels that they joined. The pressure of the bulges acted like wedges under the outer panels of the upper cowl, and the pressure of the pan screw was applied to the wedge from the outer side of the upper cowl, resulting in cracks.

Just a heads up as you service your VFR - check your nuts [cowl setting nuts]. New cowl setting nuts have my fairings lying flat and happy against each other.

 

For those wanting to replace your well nuts without going bankrupt, I found that these two models work great for the 5 Gen. The main fastener well nuts also work with the 6 Gen.

Main fastener well nuts: http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/Well_Nut_M5_8_665_Length_p/a16248.htm

Upper front (on the front sub-frame) and rear cowl (on the rear sub-frame) fastener well nuts: http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/Well_Nut_M5_8_554_Length_p/a16242.htm

 

Good info--- I'll be sure ta check my nuts asap


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And like the doctor, wear a rubber glove inspecting those nuts, you don't know where they have been.