The need for a belly pan

[ssncob]

I know some of y'all figure ya don't need a belly pan - that you've driven 500 million miles and nuttin's happened to you (yet).

And it is like ATGATT - ya really don't need it -- till ya need's it.

Here's a couple of pics a friend of mine sent. He hit a piece of road debris (don't know what, don't know if he could have avoided it, not the point here). Hit it on his way home. Says his "alternate tire" saved him from sliding out whilst going around a corner. Oil pressure light came on about a block from his house. (better than being stuck in the boonies). So now he's looking at maybe a weld job, probably an engine and case pull.

So those without a belly pan - it's like ATGATT - never know when you might need it. I know mine's protected my bike a time or two - especially when I didn't know there was a curb drop-off...

So I'm not trying to sell ya a belly pan - just saying there are benefits to them.

[530ktm]

That looks bad and yes that is a good reason for some of us to have the pans. Easy and inexpensive insurance. I wonder if some good old JB Weld could fix that up?

[crabbywinger]

Jerry that doesn't belong to ol' gramps does it? Whatever, I agree that the other piece of metal serves it's purpose and is cheap insurance indeed. Take care.

Crabby Bob

[jmohme]

Ouch!
No doubt that a belly pan does a decent job of protecting the lower end. I have considered getting one, but just never got around to it.

[OkieDoc]

That looks like a hard impact in a small area... I think a Belly Pan might have helped spread the force of impact out and maybe lessen the damage.
Much like NASCAR's safer barriers.

[ssncob]

Jerry that doesn't belong to ol' gramps does it? Whatever, I agree that the other piece of metal serves it's purpose and is cheap insurance indeed. Take care.

Crabby Bob

No sir, not Gramps. He has one as I recall. Friend of mine in South Carolina. He'll be missing some riding this year - and some non-affordable money from his wallet. (ouch).

[crabbywinger]

Sorry for your friends troubles, just glad it wasn't one of our mob. Take care and the best to you and yours from MI.

Crabby

[zzcop8]

If he has comprehensive coverage on his insurance he might want to check that. Probably covered with a lower deductible than collision. Would be no different than hitting a deer or similar. Doesn't usually raise rates either.

[zzcop8]

I also strongly believe in Belly Pans

[Lone Ranger]

I have one of the first Belly Pans that came out because I ran over something and got a chip of metal knocked off the lower casting of the engine; doesn't affect the bike or the engine thank goodness. Since then the pan has taken a beating. Shortly after getting the pan I drilled 1/8 holes in the front of the pan for air flow and drainage and posted this on another board. Thereafter pans started to appear with all sorts of holes and slots in the front of the pan.

The pan protects the oil filter, the engine and the coolant tank, cheap insurance when far from home. If anyone does not have a pan I urge you to get one!

[Kit Carson]

I would go get some PC-7 epoxy and using a small grinder bevel the top edge of the hole back so it slopes and is bigger at the top, then drill a few shallow small holes around the edge and fix it with epoxy. Clean it all good with acetone, while the bike is lying on its side, soak a rag with acetone several times and drench the area and clean the metal well.

I would have no problem with that, of course some will but it will hold fine.

Then buy one of McGyvers heavy duty belly pans.

There may be a better epoxy available now, one would just have to do a bit of research and decide upon the best one.

[Kiwi]

After having a look at the underside of the engine area and coolant tank I decided it was a cheep bit of insurance. While I have not seen any large gouges on the pan there are a few marks.
I'm not sure it would take a big hit but it could go someway towards deflecting whatever came into contact with it.

[Riverdawg]

Devcon has been making some excellent industrial repair epoxies for many years. This link show their aluminum putty version, it sells for about $60 retail. You not likely to find it at a big box store.

http://www.chembar.com/devcon-aluminum-putty-f/

[cirbtap]

A belly pan has saved my bacon more than once. Buy one and install it.

Ride safe

Pat

[Cruiseman]

It is the first thing I install on any new Goldwing.

[SlowMotion]

The aforementioned pictures are of my bike and the aftermath of an encounter with what I have seemed to locate, picked up, from the road where I traveled when leaving work the other day.
I was crossing some R/R tracks looking for the hgh side of the hill where it is smoother to cross ( I've been riding this route for five years) when I heard the thunk. Now I'm thinking motor, oil filter,
overflow tank. Yeah the tank, I hope. All is well as I travel. Taking a left hander onto the on ramp the rear slides out. Now I got it, a flat tire I thought, I can fix this...Well a couple blocks from home the oil light tells me I guessed wrong. Can I use a "Life-Line" or Door number 2 please.....

I later went back to the scene of disaster to look for anything that might be the object that was "Picked" up by the front tire and the only logical items found were three short pieces of half inch bolts lying nearby. Any of them could have been the object in question. Something concerns me is what appears to be a nasty stress fracture to the right of the hole. How stable is the area around the puncture now and what more is there that I cannot "see"?And what if any debris is inside the motor now?

I will have to eat crow for what I had previously posted to KIT about hanging an IV drip bottle of oil from the bike to keep the oil fresh....:o...note to self, dont pick on kit.....bad juju.....just kidding sir....just kidding...

Jerry, ever pull a motor? Come on down it's shrimp season and they are big and fresh this year.

[MMR]

I agree with Cruiseman....it is one of the first things I install on any GL1800. I have used them emphatically on my '04, '06, and my '13 bikes....since trying one for the first time on my '03 Wing. I used to have them on my '94 Wing and my 2000 Wing, all made by Tulsa Products. Then on my first GL1800...I installed one 30 minutes before leaving Everett Powersports (Everett, WA. ), in May, 2003, to do a record breaking 30 day ride....30,681 miles. During that ride, I noticed that a hole had been punched into my Tulsa belly pan...a hole about the size of a quarter. I checked...it did not do any damage to the engine case itself...but I could only imagine that if I did not have that Tulsa belly pan, I would probably have poked a hole in my engine case.

Now...I won't leave home without it.

[JGDJR]

When I bought my bike the dealer was over 500 miles from my house...I forgot to put the belly pan in
the car...before I left the dealer for my ride home,My bike had a belly pan on it.

For the cost of a belly pan why would anyone not want one to save you a headache on the road, maybe a hole in a oil filter,or coolant
tank...I'm not saying it would have prevented the damage to the engine case,BUT it might have... just my two cents

John

[Fatwing]

The general consensus on that other forum is that there is absolutely no need for a belly pan ever...........Sounds like they'd sooner take the chance and then take a chance on their insur covering the repair.Pretty sure the rise in premiums for the next couple of years after making a claim would be more than enough to pay for bellypan.

[TravelinLite]

Sounds like a job for that macgyver feller. Not sure if I have the name right but I think he makes belly pans.

[ssncob]

Richard - while the shrimp may be great - I have ZERO interest in pulling a motor. Would rather go to shrimp fest at Red Lobster. I don't know what your insurance deductible is, or what it would do to your premiums. But as I indicated offline - Aluminum JBWeld and similar products do a great job. We've even used that type of stuff to do BMR (base metal repair) on nuclear components like feed pump shafts and whatnot. I would drill a tiny hole at each end of the stress crack to prevent further migration, and engage the services of a good mig welder. But if it no workee - then insurance time.

But don't discount the magic putty mixture.