Ern’s Triumph reports have
inspired me to put pen to paper. He seems to be getting fantastic service from
his dealer and is enjoying the bike despite it having a series of niggly
problems. What I like about his articles is that they are not bogged down with
numbers and statistics which can be dull, and which I have tried to avoid in
this article, but being a fanatical record keeper, this has proved difficult.
My
English teachers always talked about planning your essays but I seem to use the
‘Ready, Fire, Aim” method of planning, that is, throw down all the ideas, see
where they lead, and then put some structure around them. I have been thinking about this article for a
while - since I wrote one at the 100,000 km mark reached back in January 2004 –
and like Ern, discuss the major, unscheduled mechanical failures and the
processes involved in resolving/fixing. Well, only four things have broken –
the stator, twice, the Exup servo motor went on the
blink, part of the exhaust system, and the battery. The next topics of discussion
are suspension, cosmetic improvements followed by the really boring stuff
associated with regular maintenance. To finish off I have tried to look at the
bike and see what is showing signs of age.
The Honda
has now done 180,000 km, the most I have ever done on a single bike, passing
the old mark set by my 1988 ZX10 of 177,300 km before it went to that great
racetrack in the sky, care of a big crash on a club ride. The previous high was 147,500 on a GPz900
which I eventually cannibalised for another GPz900 and then traded it on the
ZX10. Some people may still remember my
last bike, the Kawasaki ZXR750L1 which I managed 140,000 km on, buying it
second hand with 6,000 km on the odometer.
A fatigue crack through the centre spar opposite the knee brought on an
early retirement. Selling it and trading my Honda Dominator (21,000 km) became
the deposit for the CBR, purchased 22nd December 2000, a 2001 model.
One of
the first things I noticed about the bike (apart from the glorious handling,
light weight, and fantastic brakes) was its appetite for tyres and fuel. The
fuel consumption may have been a function of the motor being tight and of
course, making tons of power (relatively) everywhere, though Honda’s seem to
run at the rich end of the correct fuel/air ratio when compared to Kawasakis.
Fuel consumption has improved with age as the motor has loosened up, and it’s
pretty loose now! Typically
around 16 km/l, dropping to around 14.5 – 15.0 on Towong style weekends where
average speeds are consistently higher. Drag goes up as the square of
the speed, as my physics teacher would say; the higher the speed, the greater
the drag, the higher the fuel consumption.
As noted
earlier, there have only been four mechanical/electrical failures: the stator
(the copper windings which produce three phase voltage which is fed to the
battery via the regulator/rectifier unit) has failed a couple of times. On this
bike the stator is bolted inside the left engine cover, closely coupled to the
permanent magnet spinning around on the end of the crank. Hence, it is easily
accessible. The failure occurred at
78,360 km and again at 113,263 km. The first failure was right before a Tassy trip and I scrounged up a stator from a race bike,
effectively brand new, while the original stator was rewound. When it failed after only 30,000 km I ended up
buying the race one and it’s been fine ever since.
Before I
go any further I had better mention that the odometer stopped working at 99,999
km, a “feature” of this model. I picked up a crash damaged one with 6,000 km on
it at the 101,000 km mark and fitted it.
So in this article, odometer readings below 100,000 are correct and
those above are 5,000 km higher than true. I figured in my maintenance log that
it was easier to go with the indicated reading rather than having to subtract
5,000 km (actually 4,890 km) off every indicated reading. This paragraph applies to everything except
the 180,000 km. The bike really has done this many kilometres, the odometer
actually reading 185,000 km (as at March 28th, 2006).
The three
other failures have been the battery
at 118,263 km (a fair innings and could be considered a routine maintenance
item), the middle exhaust section
between the muffler and Exup valve. (The Exup valve was Yamaha’s idea so I use the Yamaha name for it. It was only after Yamaha’s patent expired
that all the other manufacturers jumped on board with their versions.) Soon after
the 150K service (155,856km) where the mechanic identified a hole in the
exhaust (I just thought the standard muffler was starting to rust out/fall
apart) a red light appeared on the dash indicating a fault with the Exup servo motor.
Luckily, I had one from the 954 which I bolted in along with cables and Exup valve, the “known” problem immediately rectified. I had to buy a replacement second hand
section of exhaust pipe.
A
954? I purchased a crashed Honda CBR954 in Nov 2003.
I was really after a spare rear wheel to facilitate tyre changes. But the wheel
came with a motor and frame attached, the bike having only done 6,000 km before
being jammed under armco at low speed. Everything was
straight except for the front end - no forks, fairings, headlight or
instruments. The other attractive thing was that the motor will bolt straight
in to the 929 providing a substantial increase in bottom and mid-range power. Maybe an option.
Suspension and cosmetic
improvements. At 19,500 km I replaced the rear shock absorber
with a new Ohlins unit,
trading in the one off the ZXR. Once you have an Ohlins,
you have it for life. They are completely rebuildable
and you can swap all the bits. Despite
the Ohlins off the ZXR having over 100,000 km on it,
after testing, they gave me plenty as deposit on a new unit. Spring, ride height
and clickers were all pre-set for my weight and I have only increased the
rebound by one click as the oil fades. It gets rebuilt ie
oil change and re-gas every 30,000 km as per manufacturer’s instructions.
C&C Engineering (see Stoimen’s article) does the
work, usually providing same day service.
The
static ride height was always marginal at the front end and a new set of fork
springs at 0.95kg/mm picked the front end up, improving handling and steering dramatically.
Hondas typically have mushy front ends. I was a bit tardy and didn’t change the
springs until the 88K mark.
I have played
around with dropping the forks through the triple clamps and they now protrude
by about 11 mm after 4 or 5 iterations. Thirteen millimetres is too far, the
steering too quick, bump steering an issue. The Ohlins
also jacks up the rear a bit, also quickening the steering. The combination of
stiffer front springs and Ohlins shock raises the
bike providing more ground clearance than standard, allowing greater lean
angles, which suits my riding style. I
rarely feel inclined to hang off, though I have read recently that it provides
significant improvements to suspension action.
I wanted
a rear hugger like the 954 – the 929s don’t have them – and the stone ships to
the Ohlins shock was only going to end in tears in
the long run. I had the 954 hugger but it is designed for the 954 swing-arm. I knew the 954 wheel fitted, so how hard
could it be to fit the sexy, curvy 954 swing-arm?
Half a
day later the job was done. It turned out the rear callipers are different and
only mate to their respective swing-arms. No problems. I had the 954 calliper.
But the calliper needs the brake lines and master cylinder – different again
from the 929. Yes, transplant them as well. But! The master cylinder mounts to the foot peg
bracket differently, and yes, the foot peg is different too, despite looking
identical. And! The shock absorber mounting points are different – you need the
954 triangulated brackets as well. So, the whole right hand side brake
arrangement, swing-arm, shock mounting brackets, wheel, and hugger are now all
954 sourced.
While I
had the swing arm out, I swapped the 954 low km standard chain over as well,
not having to cut it. Part of the whole process was building a tool to remove
the swing arm pivot nut requiring a monster Allen key. I found a 22mm nut which
fitted and had it welded onto a bit of water pipe. It worked perfectly. Only recently have I
discovered that it also fits the front axle!
All this
happened around the 97K mark, at about the same time that the left hand fork
seal blew for the first time, a sensational improvement over earlier bikes I
have owned, the protective mudguard design no doubt dramatically improving
service life. We seem to be sliding
inexorably to the maintenance side of things. But to finish off the cosmetic
changes, the discussion is more about what isn’t changed. For instance, all
fairings are original. It doesn’t have a tinted or bubble screen. The exhaust
system is stock standard including the muffler. The levers, handlebars, front
disks and callipers, fuel tank and fuel pump, all electrics, footpegs, blinkers, left hand mirror – all original. It
doesn’t have a headlight protector, and yes the bike is stone chipped and sand
blasted horrendously, if you look closely. C’est la
vie.
The bike
has had three major services, at 44K (3 shims), 106K (5 shims) and 156K (10
shims). It usually gets an air filter
and plugs at the same time, though I did reuse the 954 plugs. I threw in a cam chain at 156K as a
precautionary measure, though it was only slightly rattly when cold. The last
service showed some wear on two cam lobes and some wear on the cam wheels. No
action taken. If you’d seen the pitted cam lobes on my GPz900 after 50,000 km,
let alone 150,000 km with no loss of performance, you wouldn’t even consider
the CBR cams as unsightly!
Fluids
(brake, oil, radiator) I change as required. I run car
oil, always have, changing every 6-10,000 km, filter every second change. The
motor is not using any oil or blowing any smoke.
Regular maintenance
items. The bike has had 9 oil filters, 8 chains, 8
front sprockets, 3 rear sprockets, 5 sets of front pads, and 8 sets of rear
pads, and in the early days ate rear tail lights (about 4). It is onto the
second set of steering head bearings, 4th set of plugs and 4th
air filter. I have replaced one
headlight globe, scavenged from Rhys’s crashed ZX9. I
reused all the consumables from the 954. Most impressive are the original front
disks which are still barely worn. I now only ever use stock pads as they do
not damage the disks and were even used by Team Honda for racing. They are
brilliant, wet or dry. If it was a
The rear
disk is pretty chopped out and I share the load between the two rear wheels,
each with its own disk. The bike is due for steering head bearings and an oil
filter. The radiator is functioning though it is very choked with tar and
stones. No guard is fitted. If you get through the first 25,000 km without a
hole, then it is pretty much a solid mass anyway, and impervious to stone
strikes. The bike used to run around 78 degrees water temperature; now it sits
on 80 deg., and gets there a lot quicker. In traffic, the thermostatic fan
kicks in at 103 degrees but I normally turn the motor
off before then rather then being broiled alive. On the Jones BBQ ride the ambient temperature
was 39 degrees (hottest March day for 8 years) and I saw 100 deg when the
strong hot north wind was behind us and we were travelling at less than 100
km/h.
Things I have broken and fixed. A slow leak deflated the rear tyre and the
bike toppled over on its right side overnight in the garage, hitting all three
panels of the car parked next to it. A fine sight to greet
you as you open the garage door heading for work. The right hand side
mirror snapped off and remaining stub did a sterling job digging into the car
duco, halting the fall. The Hall Mark rack bent, also dinting and scratching
the car. I replace the mirror with a second hand one, straightened the rack, and
plugged the tyre. The bike escaped relatively unscathed. Don’t mention the car.
I dropped
the bike very early on at 0 km/h (foot in hole), and again at 42,500 km doing a
U-turn two up and running out of steering lock, of all things. Minor scratches to rhs blinkers, pipe and lower fairings. Ignored.
I had the
rear rim rolled after riding over a rock two-up at night around Marysville on a
night ride. The tyre didn’t deflate and I rode home. This happened around the
87 K mark. The repairer had to apply heat and some of the paint is burnt
off. I should paint it.
A black
wallaby cannoned into me on the
I have
had countless bird strikes (for instance, 6 on the last day of the 2005 Melb Cup Towong weekend: galahs, magpies, parrots) the most
damaging being a lyrebird wack on the Black Spur on a Club ride, taking out the
right hand mirror (again) and, more worrying, the kill switch. The mirror was
replaced with a CBR600 one out of the junk bin and sits slightly lower. It,
like the original, still vibrates like crazy above 100 km/h and comes good
momentarily at 133 km/h before turning the one Harley behind me into a gang of
them. The kill switch could not be swapped with the 954 rhs switch block. It is
different. And it is all one expensive item. I super glued it and now it
appears to have a hairline crack, but works perfectly.
At 94,400
km the front brake switch stopped working. I noted that the switch plunger had
worn down a smidge and was always going to be a problem. I Araldyted
a washer onto the brake lever taking up the slack and haven’t thought about it
since. While we are on brakes, I
replaced the standard 929 lines with the ones from the 954, about 1 cm shorter
of course, but just fitting. The originals were getting spongy, and these 954
ones now are as well. I am not overly keen on braided braked lines which work
superbly on the track, but are either on or off, not offering as much feel as
rubber ones that expand slightly. I note the latest CBR600s have a combination
of rubber and braided and something similar would be just the ticket.
Tyres. Totally out of control.
I will just say this quickly: 58 rears, 38 fronts. I have only bought 8 new rear tyres and zero
front tyres, surviving on second hand race tyres, hand me downs, and general
scavenging. It works out to a tyre change every 20 days! (I checked.) Suffice
to say, the rims don’t look that flash. Enough said.
Age shall not weary them. The fairing is showing a lot of fatigue
cracks around the main mounting points on both rides. The top screen is opaque
rather than clear. The front brake master cylinder is crazed, probably UV
damaged. The headlight, front fairing, lower forks and upper forks are severely
stone chipped, as is the lower fairing behind the front wheel. The gap between
the pillion seat and duct tail is bigger than it should be – either the seat is
contracting or the sub-frame is bending. The paint on the tank is crazing
around the filler cap. The rubber front brake line has tried to saw its way through
the rhs fork leg – duct taped fork leg.
The
muffler is looking decidedly second hand with various scratches and pock marks
from stones. The swingarm is pretty pock marked when
you look closely. The handlebar grips are showing wear but are fine. The
pillion foot pegs regularly seize as does the front brake lever hand span
adjuster. The front mudguard has fatigued at the mounting points and is now
down to three (of 4) mounting points. It is stone chipped and on it’s last
legs.
The fork
bushes are worn and will be changed at next oil change. The rear hugger is
cracked and is probably one of the things that resonates
at various speeds. The chain whines and the gearbox clunks horrendously into
first gear, as always, particularly when cold, but is otherwise faultless –
light and fast, with no false neutrals. The fuelling gets a bit fluffy around
2700 rpm when the Exup valve starts to open, which is
only a problem when dribbling through the traffic, lane splitting, on very
small throttle openings.
On the
plus side the bike still goes, stops and handles, and is phenomenally reliable.
It doesn’t use much fuel when ridden sensibly, and is easy on chains, sprockets
and tyres. It can be ridden away from cold two-up on the automatic choke. It “carburates” very cleanly from idle,
pulling strongly. The forks are not losing their hardening and the front disks
are barely worn. The fat clutch cable is still original and will never break,
unlike the old days where we were instructed to tape spare throttle and clutch
cables to the originals, ready for them to snap.
The build
quality is sensational. It has only lost about two fairing bolts in its life,
though the little black push-in plugs are starting to become brittle and fall
apart. But I have a swag of 954 nuts and bolts to remedy
such problems. I have a great relationship with Redwing Honda and any problem
usually has multiple solutions.
Would I
buy a Honda again? Certainly.
Ben Warden