First Honda NC700X recall?

[670cc]

My Honda dealer received the recall notice this morning, September 19. My bike meets the effectivity clause. The dealer ordered a chain, which Honda has in stock. The time allotted for recall service is 0.7 hours. It is a staked master link chain. No swing arm removal is needed.

The recall states that the dealer should not sell an affected unit, but does NOT say to cease riding an already purchased affected unit.

The defect explanation is that the side plates of certain chains may not have received proper metal hardening and may be subject to breakage. Based on that explanation, in my opinion, this recall would have nothing to do with the 6th gear vibration/pulsing issue noted in other threads.

Greg

 

[Rocker66]

There has been one case in the UK of the chain breaking and damageing the bike. Luckily the rider was not hurt. Honda UK have paid for the repairs to his bike

 

[N97972]

Just talked to my dealer I have one of the 'RK' chains, scheduled for replacement tues .... didn't say anything about not riding it. Are talking about the vibration in the 48 to 55 mph area ?

 

[richarddacat]

Hmmm. This is one reason why I hold off on first year bikes. No offense intended and the fix is just a small screw up, still a sweet bike and I may purchase one some day.

Lately I've been riding my Dad's K75c, which hadn't be ridden in about 2yrs. Very nice bike and super smooth but it gets nowhere close to the mpg this NCX gets. Matter of fact it's not a whole lot better than the FJR

Good luck with the fix.

 

[tromba]

I got the call from my dealer today. The chain has been ordered (1 per bike sold there). I have the DID chain. I'm going to take it by the dealer tomorrow to see if I am affected.

 

[Crilly]

Mine has the Rk chain not made in Japan. New one on order.

 

[Heavy-H]

Had mine checked today and I have a DID, so I'm good to go....

 

[Seabee Bob]

Differing information from differing people. All so confusing. I couldn't find an actual recall notice at nhtsa.gov yet and when I logged into Honda Ownerlink it just says there is a 2012 NC700 DRIVE CHAIN RECALL but doesn't give the details. I have Friday off. If I don't hear from my dealer by then, I will stop by Friday afternoon.

The outer plates on the links of the drive chain may not have received proper heat treatment. As a result, the drive chain may break during use. Should this happen while the motorcycle is in motion, the motorcycle would suddenly lose drive force, potentially leading to a crash.

 

[tweak89]

Checked my chain....RK RK

Called the dealer where I bought it (from which I have purchased 4 bikes) and at first they told me they would try to squeeze me in to INSPECT the chain (i.e. look at the stamping) sometime NEXT WEEK, then IF it was one of the affected chains it would take about a week to get the chain in. Even though I already identified the chain, since I am not a certified technician, they have to check. If I brought it in to have it looked at I would have to leave it there or I would have to sign a waiver saying I knowingly left the dealer with a suspect chain and they are not responsible.

Called a a Honda dealer near where I work. It went something like this:

"Do you know about the safety bulletin on the chain?"
"Yes"
"I have an RK/RK chain and need to have it replaced."
"Ok, if you don't mind we'll start a work order right now so we can order a chain and we'll schedule you in as soon as it comes in."
"Really? Thanks!"

To top that off, I asked about first 600 mile service cost. My dealer: $280. Them: $124. When I told them I just needed the inspection part since I have already changed my oil they offered to do it for free when installing my chain. If I could combine my regular dealers sales/parts staff with this dealers service dept. I would be set!

I wish my dealers service dept. was as accommodating as their sales department is when I am spending money there.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Checked my chain it is DID Japan, I don't have the vibration.

Tweak I would dump the dealer you bought from, let him know about the quality service from the new dealer.

 

[tweak89]

I did, at least as far as service is concerned. They offered to match what they were doing, but I turned them down. They are part of a huge dealer network and are the smallest of them (and the only one that deals in Honda's). The other stores in the network have been great.

It's too bad the dealer that will be doing the service is horrible when it comes to competitive pricing on bikes (they deal exclusively with Honda). I bought a Shadow Aero from them years ago at a great price, they moved to a new fancy showroom and their pricing went bonkers!!

 

[Rocker66]

Thats often the way with big chains. sell the bikes cheap then charge an arm & leg for everything afterwards. In recent years we have had two such chains go under in the UK

 

[Cyclerosis]

I have the RK chain and haven't discerned a vibration. However, I don't ride at 3000 rpm in 6th gear. The lowest rpm I'll cruise at in 6th gear is 4000. In this range, the bike is doing about 75 to 77 mph.

 

[Crilly]

Got my chain replaced yesterday.

 

[Beemerphile]

Hmmm. This is one reason why I hold off on first year bikes. No offense intended and the fix is just a small screw up, still a sweet bike and I may purchase one some day.

I don't think a chain supplier problem is in any way indicative of first year problems. Throwing out a wild guess (dangerous, I know), I would say it is possible that this was one of the myriad of issues with Japanese suppliers after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. I read somewhere that Honda had 113 suppliers in the earthquake zone. I don't know that RK was one of them, but guessing here that maybe RK Japan could not supply orders and they diverted supply to RK China, which had the heat-treating foul-up. The vast majority of chain drive bikes use the 520 chain. Nothing new or different there.

 

[Cyclerosis]

Has anyone received an official recall notice yet?

 

[FlaNC700X]

Do you seriously think Japan would build something in China? I don't think so!

 

[draco_1967]

No, Japan prefers to use Taiwan and Indonesia.

 

[tromba]

Has anyone received an official recall notice yet?

It is on Honda Owner Link and I received an email & call from my salesman.

They have ordered the chain and I'm waiting. I don't think the recall applies to me as I have the DID/Japan Chain...we'll see.

 

[TechiePilot]

Has anyone received an official recall notice yet?

I did not receive an official notice. But then again the bike wasn't registered at AHM until after the recall. The cars are up there, and they're up to date. Got a date with the dealer this weekend ;P