MAJOR WARRANTY ENGINE WORK

First of all, a few apologies and disclaimers. This will likely be the longest post I ever make here. I certainly hope so. My reason for posting is just to get this engine "event" on the record so if any of the rest of you have a similar problem you will know of one other Rune out there that has already experienced it and give your Dealer or shop a "heads up". The outcome was good. The Rune was an awesome bike before the warranty work and it still is. It runs better than ever, if that is possible. Ok, here goes:

Last summer, just before leaving for INZANE, after a long hot ride over the North Cascade Highway, I noticed at low speed (wearing a half helmet, so I could hear) a significant grumble from the left side rear of the engine. The noise was more noticable high in the engine case rather than down low. To me it sounded like a couple of stones tumbling in a rock tumbler. To hear it you needed to listen past the engine sounds, cause the engine noise is completely separate and if you are looking for a change from the normal engine sounds you will not find it at all. It is a completely different noise. My riding buddy Ratdog, gave it his "guesstimate diagnosis" as an alternator shaft bearing. There are 2 of them, front and aft. His guess was the front. I took the bike to the Dealer and told them what I knew and left the bike while I rode to INZANE. I called them from Paducah and they said they had replaced the rear alternator shaft bearing and all that went very well but the bad news was it did not solve the problem. You can replace the rear shaft bearing without engine disassembly. They were waiting for a visit from their District Service Manager to get his diagnosis. I took the bike home after INZANE and rode it every day to work. The noise was still there. Finally, the DSM scheduled a visit to Seattle and I dropped the bike off the day before. He knew exactly what the problem was once he listened to it. It becomes more noticable the hotter the bike is running. He said indeed it was the front alternator shaft bearing starting to break up. He recognized the problem cause they had a bunch of these in the first year of the 1800 Wing and repaired all of them under warranty. The problem is not actually a faulty bearing. The real culprit is the left side engine case (part #21100-MEC-000). Evidently there were several of them that were not milled to the exact specs and the first problem to manifest itself is the front alternator shaft bering going away. It was a parts supplier problem and they thought they had it solved. The engine case is not just a "cover". It has several critical features that are milled directly into it. Things like spring holders and toggle valve seats and things like that. Obviously, you have to drop and split the entire engine, remove the left side case and replace certain parts that could have been affected by the shavings of the bearing disintegrating, or from the engine case being forced into a fit at the factory while it was not milled quite to specs. I was "Runeless" for about 3 weeks while this work was done. Fortunately, I was out of the country for 2 weeks of it so it was not such a big deal (and I have my trusty 2000 Tourer {86,000 miles}, as a back up bike). I list here the parts that had to be replaced:

Parts Quantity Description
31111-PO8-J02 1 Bearing, RR
13430-MCA-780 1 Gear Assy. (28T)
13320-MCA-780 1Gear (72T)
96140-60040-00 1 Gear (72T)
21112-MCA-000 1 Gasket, RR, Case
90456-MAS-000 1 Washer (25MM)
13534-MCA-000 1 Spring, Thrust
90206-MZ0-000 1 Nut Hex, (22MM)
90245-MN5-000 1 Nut Lock (40MM)
90241-MB0-000 1 Nut Lock (30MM)
11351-MCA-000 1 Gasket, Clutch Cover
91301-MGB-003 1 O-Ring (51.6X2.3)
18291-MNS-650 6 Gasket, EX PIPE
15410-MCJ-003 1 Filter, Oil
94109-14000 1 Washer DRN Plug 14MM
6140 4 Bardahl Syth 10/40
08C50-C321S01 4 HP Coolant Qt
90428-PD6-003 2 Washer (12MM)