BIg Red Engine Mounts

[N5HNY]

I had a time getting my engine back in my 85 Big Red.

Well, I though it was an 85', turns out it's an 86. I bought some 85' mounts off E-bay and it looks like they are just a little different.

Is there a big difference in the way the 85' and 86' engines bolt up ?

[jeswinehart]

My manual don't have any 86 differences from the 85.
It has the 87 suppliment but nothing said about 86 differences.
I looked at bikebandit.com and compared the 85 and 86 engine mount numbers and they are the same for those years.

john

[N5HNY]

Thanks John,

I am looking at my manual and it shows some differences between the 85' and 86'. Nothing about the engine mounts though.

That little hanger bracket on the back, what is it for ? I cant seem to find what the other two bolt holes are for.

Vance

[jeswinehart]

Vance ,,, Those 2 empty holes should line up with 2 empty holes in the frame.
If you got to the right side of your trike (kicker side) and look at the area just in front of the airbox there is a round tube the runs to the other side. On that tube is the bracket that is welded to it. You should be able to see the welded on nuts that the 2 bolts will thread into.

john

[N5HNY]

John,

You are not going to believe this. There is no bracket !

I look along the tube you discribed and there is no bracket with the welded on nuts. There is also no area where a bracket torn off , grinded off, or cut with a torch.

This made no sense to me. I can figure out things and this is really a no brainer.
There is just no place for this bracket.

I guess the question now is, did this 86' have a mid-year change to an 87' type frame ? Does the 87' have this bracket ?

Weird.

Vance

[jeswinehart]

I always thought honda used to many engine mounts on the bigreds,,, that would have been the one I would have eliminated

john

[atctim]

N5HNY: Can you possibly post a picture? You have got to be overlooking it.

[N5HNY]

Here is an image of the frame. Here you can see the end of the bolt and the nut.

There is NO flange that has the two welded nuts.

I had to use the two spacers that came with the bike. You can see one here. It is the same size as the other one.

The mounts and bolts I bought came from an 85' and the spacers were of different length. I thought they would be the same. Thats what I get for thinking huh ?

[jeswinehart]

Something don't look quite right there n5hny ,,, I can't put my finger on what it is but anyways here are pics of the rear mount I think we all are talking about.
Since I don't have the program that allows me to draw arrows and circles and the like I just took 3 pics each a little closier look at that rear mount bracket.

john

[N5HNY]

John,

Thanks for posting the pictures.

I see what has happend now. As I stated earlier, my 86' probably shares the same frame as the last of the 87's.

I'm sure you noticed that the bracket is totally different. My frame has a welded on "strut" of stand off. It is really thick too.

The only way for sure is to see a pic from an 87', but that is gonna be tough. Ain't seen many of those.

Thanks for helping me out with this mystery. I think together we discovered a little known fact about the Big Red.


Vance
(N5HNY is a ham radio call sign)

[thefox]

I always thought honda used to many engine mounts on the bigreds,,, that would have been the one I would have eliminated

john

lol, that would have been my answer too!