A manufacturing defect could cause the oil filler cap to come loose, possibly leading to oil spillage and even fire.
Honda has issued a voluntary recall for its CB300R sport naked motorcycle. The issue stems from a manufacturing defect of the right crankcase cover (or clutch cover) on the bike. The oil filler cap screws into this cover, and due to this defect, Honda says “there are chances of sealing plug dislodging due to low retention force caused by engine heat.”
The oil filler cap that screws into the right crankcase cover.
In some cases, the filler cap could come off entirely, and oil could splash out. And in an extreme case, this could also lead to a fire, or the oil could make its way onto the rear tyre. Needless to say, this presents a safety concern, and therefore Honda has opted to voluntarily recall the bike and replace the affected parts. Owners of affected bikes will be contacted by Honda, and the recall process will be carried out at Bigwing showrooms across the country from April 15 onwards, irrespective of the warranty status of the vehicle.
The CB300R was previously recalled in 2019 for a transmission issue that could cause the bike to unintentionally jump into gear from neutral or seize the transmission and rear wheel while the bike was in motion. That issue pertained to the earlier version of the little CB. A few months ago, we had a chance to try out the latest version of the bike, which features higher levels of localisation and a few other new bits. You can check out our review here.