This Q&A is now read-only
Official Q&A: VRC 2020-2021: Change Up
705: Legality of "Quick swap" Motors
Yesterday, <R22>-d was updated to
Teams may make the following modifications to the V5 Smart Motor. No other modifications are permitted. i. Changing or replacing the gear cartridge with other official replacement cartridges. ii. Replacing the V5 Smart Motor Cap (276-6780). iii. Replacing the threaded mounting inserts (276-6781).
There is a common technique used by many VRC teams, known as quick swap, where the screws holding the cap onto the motor are removed and instead zip-ties are used to hold the motor together. While this doesn't affect matches, it greatly reduces the time required to troubleshoot a misbehaving motor, allowing students to spend more time on the engineering process. While this has previously been considered legal, Quesiton 673 and the new changes to <R22>-d seem to prohibit any modifications to the motor other than replacing a cap, swapping the gear cartridge, or replacing the threaded inserts. Is quick swapping still permitted, and is it considered to be a modification?
The Q&A post that you linked states the following, with portions bolded for emphasis:
The intent of rule R22 is to state that "any modifications to motors are not permitted". The intent of points "c" and "d" exist to point out that certain parts of VEX motors were designed to be user-serviceable, and servicing those parts is legal.
The Q&A's linked above clarified that V5 Smart Motor Cap, as a part that is intended to be user-serviceable, is also included in this group.
Not installing the mounting screws that hold the V5 Smart Motor Cap in place would not be considered a "modification". It is more along the lines of "not fully replacing a user-serviceable part". Although partial reassembly is rarely advisable, this is not prohibited by the linked response or by R22d.