Belly Pan to protect stupid location for coolant tank

[dustytrader]

Which belly pans work best? I was pulling my bike onto a uhaul trailer this week and snagged the coolant tank that is on the very underside of the bike. The trailer has a little bend where previous bikes have scraped and poked a hole right in it causing all the coolant to leak out of the tank. Plastic tank on the very bottom...very good Honda! NOT. Anyhow, got the new tank installed which was quite easy, but not going through this again when the belly pans are pretty inexpensive. I would recommend installing one of these to all, since Honda stated that it is common for these to get punctured....sometime just from the front tire kicking up something.

[2wheelsforme]

I have the Performance from Wingstuff. It was easy to install and has worked well so far. It has taken some scraps both leaning and over speed bumps. I've even jacked against it and it is easy enough to remove the front part for a oil change. Almost invisible from above. http://wingstuff.com/products/37566-performance-black-vented-belly-pan

[edgeman55]

Macgyver pan is the strongest around.I had one of the lighter sheet metal ones and it got bent up after a year on the bike.Macgyver has been on 3+ years and has no dents at all.

[Kokomo Kevin]

+1 on the Macgyver, I even use a floor jack on it when I change oil for a little more clearance, although a few folks say it puts too much pressure on the headers.

[Sorcerer]

On my 13 I had the light one with the tiny Allen screws that the heads stripped out easily. On my 14 I went with the louvred stainless steel with the aircraft screws that I painted flat black. I think Wing St-ff now has an stainless anodized black one. On my 13 at 6,000 miles the aluminum tape Honda covers the tank with was hammered. We do end up on gravel roads a lot.

[MisterB]

Just got in from changing my oil, I've got the black one with the 2 Allen screws. Surprised at the beating it's taken in a couple seasons of riding!
Good investment no matter which one you get. Next time I'll put some never-seize on the screws as it seems like there's some oxidation going on.

[nvmyf6]

Last year I had a coolant leak and it turned out that my coolant tank got a little puncture as well. It is definitely in a bad spot.
So I tried this stuff, and it worked. It's been over a year now. No coolant leak.
5283

[Draxsr]

I bought a Macgyver pan for my 2016 and can't get the thing to mount properly. It's all the way against the bottom and the slots still don't get high enough for the bolts to grab. I tried a slight crease and still no joy. :shrugs:

[Felloverboard]

I have used the Showchrome bellypan for 4 years now. Easy to change oil with. Has taken several bumps and a few scrapes but no real damage to the pan. I did change out the front alan screws for some small stainless ones at Ace hardware that have slightly larger heads and a little larger alan wrench size.

[BigMac]

I just installed the black show chrome belly pan. It was a little bit of a pain but not to bad. Front comes off for oil and filter changes. Little peace of mind.

[dustytrader]

Thanks for all the replies. I will research each one

[Winston]

Showchrome after one year ... trash. Now macgyver dor two years, still ok. Advantage in turns, fixed closer to the enginge

[dustytrader]

I installed the showchrome one, went on very easy. It is a very very thin metal, pretty cheap and overpriced in my opinion but I guess it is better than nothing at all. It cost me $60 to replace my tank so if it saves me a future problem I will be happy. If you are wanting durability, you might want to buy a heavier piece. I'm sure this will work for my riding though.

[MRB68]

I'm glad I did a search, I was going to ask why does my reservoir keep going down. Now I get it, it's in a crappy location and I found a small hole and I just hit 3,000 miles! Time to buy a belly pan. My second question was going to be why are they selling belly pans for the B. My old M109 had one but I took it off, funny how one bike needs it and the other not so much.

[53driver]

My belly pan got gone after some serious curves and the right side dug up and removed one of the four frame welded bolts that the belly pan mounted to. Sh*t.
So, I coated the bottom of my reservoir with a few layers of Gorilla Tape....
Cheers,
Steve

[SeaSteve]

My belly pan got gone after some serious curves and the right side dug up and removed one of the four frame welded bolts that the belly pan mounted to. Sh*t.
So, I coated the bottom of my reservoir with a few layers of Gorilla Tape....
Cheers,
Steve

Going to get Gorilla Tape today!!! Leaving Wednesday on a 1500 mile trip on my new "2016" F6B. Don't have time to get and install the a pan.

Side question: Can posts be given a "like" by other members of this forum? Don't see the option, but it my not be available to mt VERY new member account.

[53driver]

Going to get Gorilla Tape today!!! Leaving Wednesday on a 1500 mile trip on my new "2016" F6B. Don't have time to get and install the a pan.

Side question: Can posts be given a "like" by other members of this forum? Don't see the option, but it my not be available to mt VERY new member account.

Sorry Steve, we ain't as good as FB when it comes to being "social" - lol. :cheers::banana:"KiltSmiley"

[2wheelsforme]

One thing to think about when deciding how strong you want the pan to be: Should it be strong enough to survive a hard hit and the mounting bolts become the weakest link and strip out or break if you hit hard enough. Or a thinner pan that will be destroyed with ease but be sacrificial and maybe save the mount points. Mine thin one has lasted for a few years now and does have some dents and scrapes but so far so good. I like the tape idea and maybe could put a small plate of some sort between the reservoir and the tape. Even hard plastic would be better than what we have stock.

[dustytrader]

I started this post last year and installed a show chrome belly pan. So far it has worked great, has some dings but serves the purpose to protect the tank from normal conditions. Like I said, it is pretty thin but a lot better than nothing. I'd recommend it, and it also isn't hard to remove the section to change the oil. I did replace the cheap bolts with some that were easier to get a wrench on and last.

[SeaSteve]

Sorry Steve, we ain't as good as FB when it comes to being "social" - lol. :cheers::banana:"KiltSmiley"

Thanks for the reply. The VTXOA forum looks like the same software, but has a like feature.

Back on subject, I bought a thick piece of metal from a VTXOA member for the underside of my VTX 1800's overflow reservoir. Maybe adding that WITH the Gorilla Tape will be good.

[coffee_weasle]

I bought a Macgyver pan for my 2016 and can't get the thing to mount properly. It's all the way against the bottom and the slots still don't get high enough for the bolts to grab. I tried a slight crease and still no joy. :shrugs:

i too, bought the macgyver, and had to wiggle and wangle the sh.t out of it to fit right

careful it doesn't cut you, it has some sharp edges on it

[masonmike]

Dare I say, if the F6B was meant to have a belly pan, would Honda not have equipped it with one?

[gregj]

i too, bought the macgyver, and had to wiggle and wangle the sh.t out of it to fit right

careful it doesn't cut you, it has some sharp edges on it

Ditto here. I snugged down one side, then used an old scissor jack to push up the other side to snug it down. Had to do a couple of times to get it right. Still drags before the pegs.

[dustytrader]

Apparently not! Wait until your front tire kicks up debris or a rock from the road and punctures yours. Poor location for the tank...and a Honda fail.

Dare I say, if the F6B was meant to have a belly pan, would Honda not have equipped it with one?