[9to]

Somewhat provocative post, but true.

One night while riding home, the engine cut out on me (loss of power in a few blips and then totally cut off). I coasted to a stop. No leaks, starter motor would crank but the engine wouldn't turn on.

Got it to a shop. Dealership claimed low battery voltage. Replaced battery. It would start but turn off within a minute. While it idled, there was knocking/noise from the engine that wasn't there previously. Oil levels looked fine.

Dealership removed oil drain plug and claimed "lots" of brass filings in the oil.

Dealership said my bike (2016 CB300F) was subject to a recall. Dealership claims they have no record of a repair. After I bought brand new, I took in for service but never any recall work (crankshaft recall). I bought this bike in 2017, so the recall work should have been done before I got it. Anyhow, according to the dealer, Honda says the recall work was already done. Dealer says they don't have any record of the recall work. Dealer says Honda won't pay, and now it's up to me.

I don't understand. If the recall work was done, I shouldn't have this problem (or the recall was done incorrectly). If the recall work wasn't done, Honda should be on the hook.

In my estimation, my bike is worth no more than 3K USD. The service to fix will likely be 2K. I love my bike but cannot find it in me to pay this 2K. Perhaps I should take the dealer to court to pay? Perhaps I should just pay it and get back on the road? This seems utterly baffling to me.

Any gurus out there have any advice? I have taken this bike to only that dealership for all service although I have done plenty of oil change and chain maintenance on my own.

 

[kiwi rider]

Sounds unfortunately like one of those 'he said, she said' scenarios. I wont offer any legal advice as I'm not familiar with your legal system but know it's quite different to ours.
What is the mileage on your bike? If its not crazy high and you've serviced the bike regularly then there's no reason why this should have happened so it points to the recall not being done. Was your VIN # in the batch that needed the recall done and can you find this out for yourself rather than take your dealers word for it. Try another Honda dealer as they may be able to punch your VIN into their system and tell you.
Was the bike bought brand new from the dealer you mention? I'm assuming you are the second owner yes? They should know exactly what's happened to it if they sold it new. The onus would have been on them to contact the original owner and get the recall work done IF that bike was affected.

This from a previous thread: The punch mark identifying that the crankshaft recall has been done, would have been made next to the Color Code label, which is located on a frame tube under the passenger seat.
Check your bike out for this marking.

 

[9to]

Sounds unfortunately like one of those 'he said, she said' scenarios. I wont offer any legal advice as I'm not familiar with your legal system but know it's quite different to ours.
What is the mileage on your bike? If its not crazy high and you've serviced the bike regularly then there's no reason why this should have happened so it points to the recall not being done. Was your VIN # in the batch that needed the recall done and can you find this out for yourself rather than take your dealers word for it. Try another Honda dealer as they may be able to punch your VIN into their system and tell you.
Was the bike bought brand new from the dealer you mention? I'm assuming you are the second owner yes? They should know exactly what's happened to it if they sold it new. The onus would have been on them to contact the original owner and get the recall work done IF that bike was affected.

This from a previous thread: The punch mark identifying that the crankshaft recall has been done, would have been made next to the Color Code label, which is located on a frame tube under the passenger seat.
Check your bike out for this marking.

kiwi rider, Thank you.

Yes - in my research I happened upon this frame tube marking. There is another similar post and funnily enough the dealer I'm at has at least one service advisor/staff that doesn't (to me) come off as trustworthy. So, even better now is the advice to check the marking.

This is the previous thread from 2017.

JNO responded with the actual Honda information (at least for Australia but there is pertinent information here for other countries)

If the work has been done, the dealer should have punched a mark on the bike's colour code label, under the passenger seat. Also, at least in Australia, you can check here:

Recall Information - Honda Powersports

I'm pretty sure that Honda provides this service in most other countries.

Shisoshin had this to say as well.

on mine the crank slot had a sticker
over it with a number sequence;
NC51E-9902412 with bar code,
which i stuck in back of warranty
and service booklet, with a note..

also when i checked under the seat
for a punch mark the young bloke
who set it up pointed me to
the number sequence on the
steering stem, for the punch mark..
apparently, according to honda aust,
this [5/16]bike was done at the factory..

on checking with honda; it was honda aust
who contacted me with advice as to my
first cbr300r and its warranty work
by email.. so they have your info
and are willing to correspond etc..
[honda aust at least]

 

[lightningfrog27]

For reference, here's what the punch mark looks like on my bike:

Also, here's a link to the honda powersports website, where you can put in your VIN number to confirm whether honda has done the recall:

Honda Recalls - Honda Powersports

View our recall information here:

powersports.honda.com

(Same link as the one JNO shared...just confirming that it works for me in the USA)

A common cause of failure is people will put the oil filter in backwards, which then doesnt seal properly, which causes a lack of oil, which causes severe engine damage in the form of metal shavings. Based on your description, it sounds like that might have been the problem. In this case, there's a LOT more that needs replacing than just the crankshaft....so the recall work-scope wouldnt necessarily solve the whole problem, and the recall work scope would be much more difficult to complete. That being the case, i can see how the dealership and/or honda corporate may do their best to deny the request.

My recommendation:
1) confirm absolutely whether you have had the recall - the frame punch and the recall website should match.
2) assuming you have NOT had the recall, see if they'll perform the recall work scope and then have you pay for the additional work scope required to bring the bike back.
3) if you HAVE had the recall, you have a few options:
a. pay $2k (or more) to have them fix it
b. take it home and fix it yourself (either by an engine swap, or DIY engine overhaul)
c. part it out

In my case, i went with 3b. Link to the 20+ videos of my process is in my signature. Honestly not nearly as difficult as you'd guess.

 

[9to]

Thanks for the info. As an update, here's the summary:

Motorcycle failed on highway, was brought to dealer.
Dealer investigated and said it looked like the engine broke the same way for a published recall on the bike.
Dealer said the work wasn't done.
Dealer claimed Honda would pay for it.
Dealer found out Honda would not pay for it because the recall work was already done.
Dealer told me to call Honda and ask them to pay for it because 'Honda treats their customers better than they treat the dealers.'
I call Honda American and converse with several people. All of them are polite and professional with the same aim: tell me there is nothing Honda will do.

Common theme that I get from them: 17k is a lot of miles. I should not be surprised that there is an engine problem. Also, I was told that in their opinion, the single-cylinder motorcycles are not rated for highway use (that is, the engine is at its max to operate at highway speeds) and that anyone who plans on highway use should avoid even their single-cylinder 600 because it just doesn't last.

So, the end result is that:
The dealer (and the service manager there) did a poor job of communicating to me. They said things they should not have said.
Honda American believes that a CB300F having engine failure at 17k miles after performing all recommended maintenance, is not only normal but to be expected.

I was even told that even if I had the extended warranty, I'd have to prove there was a manufacturing defect and the crankshaft problem was unlikely to be a manufacturing defect and the warranty probably wouldn't have paid anyways. All this paraphrased but still quoted from someone at Honda American assigned to my case.

I really enjoyed riding my CB300F and I'm very glad it was my first bike. I would like to end the memory there although the reality is that I still owe $$ for a broken bike, so, cheers all. I guess these bikes are considered entry-level for a reason. Funny thing, the manual for the bike has a service schedule all the way up to 24k miles. In my case, I wish they stopped at 17k. It would have made bearing this news so much easier.

After I pay off this bike, maybe I can think about a new bike. One that will last longer and cost less than $0.40/mile! (~$7,000/17,000)

 

[kiwi rider]

That's a shame you got given the run around mate. IMO what they are saying about a single cylinder engine not lasting and not being fit for highway use is a cop out and straight out BS.
I remember on the CBR250R forum there were members with huge mileages like 50K miles + with little or no bother.
I only kept my CBR300 till around 25 - 30,000 kilometer mark (cant remember exactly) and it was all fast open road running at 70 - 80MPH.
You just got unlucky this time round.

 

[motorboy]

Of all the forums I have been on in over 25 years I have never seem so many engine problems(300's 250's not so much) and they all have one thing in common high speed riding(near red line) so maybe increasing this engine to 286cc was not a good idea- Honda maybe right when they say the bike was never designed for that kind of use-shame you can take a Honda Grom and ride it WFO forever and as long as there is oil in it no problem-but that engine is detuned from the original design-maybe Honda should drop the rev limiter to 8k might help no reason to rev it any higher anyway that's max HP