GL1800 recall...

The recall affects 2018 to 2021 GL1800 both DCT and manual. The UBS bolt on the crankshafts break. Due to material or heat treating issues. This has been known for a couple of years at least. It is not too difficult to replace this bolt if it has not failed - it is a bit time consuming though. If the bolt fails it can do extreme damage to the engine and the engine will have to be removed to do a major repair or engine swap. It is a fairly rare occurrence and many Goldwings have no issues even going into the hundreds of thousands of miles. Honda is sending all owners information on this recall by the first week of January.
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bdalameda said:
It is a fairly rare occurrence and many Goldwings have no issues even going into the hundreds of thousands of miles. Honda is sending all owners information on this recall by the first week of January.
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Exactly, my 2018 has 108K miles with no problems (Yet). ;)
 
As of October 2024 Honda has addressed 51 UBS bolt claims in a pool of 18,196 motorcycles.
 
dduelin said:
As of October 2024 Honda has addressed 51 UBS bolt claims in a pool of 18,196 motorcycles.
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So less than a .003 chance of having this happen. Honda must be concerned about a potential liability issue if the wheel locks up if this breaks. So far have not heard of this happening only engines suddenly stopping. Just curious where you found this information?
 
bdalameda said:
So less than a .003 chance of having this happen. Honda must be concerned about a potential liability issue if the wheel locks up if this breaks. So far have not heard of this happening only engines suddenly stopping. Just curious where you found this information?
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It’s in the NHSTA recall.

As of that date the math works but if more bolts fracture than the number of warranty claims or recall actions goes up.
 
@bdalameda I think this link will open the info.

www.nhtsa.gov

Home | NHTSA

Get resources and info about staying safe on America’s roads. And, find out if there’s a recall on your car or how to report a vehicle safety problem.
www.nhtsa.gov www.nhtsa.gov
 
bdalameda said:
So less than a .003 chance of having this happen. Honda must be concerned about a potential liability issue if the wheel locks up if this breaks.
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Based on the defect description it sounds like their concern is increased use increases the risk of failure due to added stress on and fatigue of the bolt.
 
Sounds more random judging by some of the high mileage bikes out there. So the fix does not require pulling the engine?
 
bdalameda said:
The engine does not have to be pulled unless the bolt has failed and damaged the engine.
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I think those that know if the engine has to be removed or not aren’t talking. Until Honda issues the service bulletin we won’t know exactly what is required.
 
This is getting to be the norm now days. Recall with Honda's V6 car engines Hyundai has recalls on their engines, BMW cams and drive shafts, Yamaha with their transmission swaps. Seems like in the days of superior CAD designs these things should be bullet proof.
 
bdalameda said:
I've know of a couple of Wings that have had the UBS bolts replaced without removing the engine, neither had the bolt fail. Here is a link to a discussion about replacing the bolt. on the GL1800 riders forum.

Dan
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I have read the same thing but Honda issues the service bulletins and it may involve more than a bolt and a gasket. When I went in a dealer to have them run my VIN (this was just days before the NHSTA news) the service writer told me he was on the phone with Honda the day before and was told it's an engine out procedure. We don't have to wait much longer to hear the real deal.
 
red one said:
This is getting to be the norm now days. Recall with Honda's V6 car engines Hyundai has recalls on their engines, BMW cams and drive shafts, Yamaha with their transmission swaps. Seems like in the days of superior CAD designs these things should be bullet proof.
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At best CAD is a digital representation of the desired "perfect" part. There are hundreds of steps in the process of that part being manufactured by a supplier all of which can result in deviation from perfect. NO OEM (Honda, Hyundai, BMW) will pay for a perfect part but they set limits on how and how much acceptable parts can deviate from perfect in order to get parts that meet a price point set by the OEM and provide the desired performance. Sometimes the OEM gets the price/performance mix wrong. Sometimes (on a continuum ranging from by honest accident to deviously to improve profits) suppliers sell parts that don't even meet the OEM targets and the OEM installs them on their product. It would be incredibly unlikely for CAD to be the root cause of a recall.
 
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In my experience most design engineers sway towards overbuilding something while the finance people sway towards under-building. Somewhere in between is the people who are responsible for managing the project and these two groups and their opposing expectations. When these people sway to far to either side is when problems creep in. Sway to far towards appeasing the designers and you can end up with an excessively heavy, bulky, over-complicated product to accomplish a simple task. Sway to far towards appeasing the finance people and you end up with a product that can barely meet the task that it is designed for and will fail with the slightest amount of abuse or force that exceeds what is considered normal use. Somewhere between the two is the sweet spot that gives us good quality and reliable products that we can actually afford to purchase. Designing a bullet-proof part is not the hard part for a large corporation, neither is finding the means to finance it. Finding that sweet spot where the consumers quality and reliability expectations intersect with that consumers ability and willingness to pay to have that expectation fulfilled is the hard part.
 
Andrew Shadow said:
Finding that sweet spot where the consumers quality and reliability expectations intersect with that consumers ability and willingness to pay to have that expectation fulfilled is the hard part.
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You Sr have found the sweet spot of communication. Bravo.
 
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