is this bad?

I noticed this little crack under what I think is the cranksaft case today. (The right side of the engine) Am I totaly and completely screwed?

I can't offer any comment of real value I am afraid.If it appears to be just a hairline surface like crack then possibly nothing to worry about. Looks clean and no oil leaking so maybe don't worry too much.
There are ways of welding ally and there could be someone local to you that could put a "run" of weld over it to ensure it seals? How old is the bike? If under warranty perhaps pop back to your dealer and get them to look at it.Maybe to cover yourself get them to put their comments in writing.

[embee]

It's a good phot but always difficult to diagnose accurately without seeing it in real life.

It's possible it's a casting defect ("cold shut") though the surrounding area looks pretty smooth which sometimes isn't the case. Having said that, the lower end of the crack in the photo looks slightly "open" as though the edges are radiused slightly down into the crack, which would suggest a casting defect. It's when the molten metal in the mould flows in from 2 directions and something causes the front to begin to solidfy before the metal mixes.

It does indeed look more like a stress crack but it's in a slightly odd place to be from anything other than the fastener, it's not a load bearing point as far as I can see. It could be the hole had some debris in when the fastener was inserted causing the boss to try to expand.

I'd mark the end of the visible crack and see if it continues to grow. If there's no oil leak at all it could be in the outer side of the boss only, and while not desirable it may not be terminal. There are various crack detection liquids/powders (dye penetrant) around which could be useful if absolutely necessary, but what you see there is clear enough.

It depends on the age of the bike, as Peter says. If there's any sort of warranty on it, I'd definitely put something in writing to the dealer.

There are various tricks you can do to stop cracks spreading, but first you need to identify exactly how far it goes. You can carefully "peen" the area at the end of the crack which puts a slight compressive stress into the area to stop it spreading, or in appropriate cases a small hole drilled at the end of the crack stops the "stress raiser" effect, but obviously not where it keeps oil inside!

I've seen worse, but that's little comfort.

[Richie]

Originally Posted by embee

It does indeed look more like a stress crack but it's in a slightly odd place to be from anything other than the fastener, it's not a load bearing point as far as I can see. It could be the hole had some debris in when the fastener was inserted causing the boss to try to expand.

I'd mark the end of the visible crack and see if it continues to grow. If there's no oil leak at all it could be in the outer side of the boss only, and while not desirable it may not be terminal. There are various crack detection liquids/powders (dye penetrant) around which could be useful if absolutely necessary, but what you see there is clear enough.

It depends on the age of the bike, as Peter says. If there's any sort of warranty on it, I'd definitely put something in writing to the dealer.

There are various tricks you can do to stop cracks spreading, but first you need to identify exactly how far it goes. You can carefully "peen" the area at the end of the crack which puts a slight compressive stress into the area to stop it spreading, or in appropriate cases a small hole drilled at the end of the crack stops the "stress raiser" effect, but obviously not where it keeps oil inside!

I've seen worse, but that's little comfort.

As above...
Just mark the end of the crack and observe for any sign of it growing or oil seepage,
If non then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about.