Honda 954 Heart Transplant

My workhorse Honda CBR954 finally reached the front of the waiting list and got a heart transplant. A donor motor had been procured back on November 2003, originally destined to replace my 929 motor. Initially I was after spare wheels to cope with the volume of tyre changes but the wheels came attached to a 6000 km old crashed bike. The price was right and I figured I would eventually use everything. As it turned out, I swapped the 929 (with a genuine 194,046 km on the odometer) with a mate’s 954 with a relatively low 47,848 km indicated, and some financial compensation. That was back in August 2006. Come October 2009 and the 954’s racked up 172,000 km, clunks and rattles and is now burning oil at a rate approaching a brand new CBR1000.

A work trip to Adelaide followed by a few days with daughter Fiona saw a whole week with no commuting requirements, a perfect opportunity to get serious. The bike was booked in with C&C Motorcycle Engineering and I just sat back and waited for the call to say come and get it.

I delivered the stripped down bike – no fairings or headlight binnacle – and spare motor via trailer Saturday morning (10^th October), a feat in itself as the motor is a heavy lunk. The stator had gone to god on the previous ride and I was commuting on total loss, charging the battery every night, waiting for a new stator from Japan, with an estimated delivery time of 2-3 weeks. Only a few weeks before I had replaced it with a cheaper alternative, purchased over the net from America, delivered directly from China. At $160 landed, it was worth the gamble compared to a standard one at $500. Two thousand kilometres later it was absolutely crispy fried, the external lead physically melting and breaking.

The bike was now at C&C Engineering (Clyde and son Craig Wolfenden, Clyde the brother of Rex Wolfenden, the original Redwing owner (then known as K&W motorcycles) but now builder of T-Rex period racers.) To prove the original motor was still running fine, I tried to start the bike but it would only crank over but not catch. It turns out the headlight binnacle also contains the cut-out switch, activated when the bike leans over more than ninety degrees ie to protect the motor after a crash. A good idea. A trip back home to get the front fairing and electrics saw the bike start and run as it was supposed to.

I noticed Pina’s R6 also on the floor, the stator fault diagnosed, just waiting for the weather to clear for Clyde to give it a test ride. He also mentioned Craig Morley’s VTR SP1 had been through the workshop. Craig says the bike goes like a rocket after the work done on it. Not surprising as they used to fettle the Honda racing team’s SPs. There isn’t much they don’t know about Hondas. Bill Wee is pretty wrapped with the work done on his VTR1000 as well.

Now in Adelaide, I received the call a few days later to ask if I had done anything to the motor to explain why it was huffing and chuffing and running like a dog. I remembered loaning the cams to a racer on the provision he restore the cam timing. Out by a tooth on the exhaust cam; no damage done. The labour price just doubled as the bike effectively had to be dismantled again. I figured Craig may as well do the shims with the rocker cover off.

The plan was always to swap over as many parts as possible. This included replacing the throttle bodies and fuel injectors, coils, and regulator/rectifier unit. An issue was discovered with the fuel pressure regulator which had a pin hole, so the original was retained. Throw in new plugs, clean and lubricated air filter, a front sprocket, lubricated swing arm bushes, new coolant, Shell VSX engine oil, and exhaust gaskets and the motor just purred.

I put the fairings back on Friday night, fitted the new stator (arrived after only 10 days, not 2-3 weeks originally quoted), swapped out a bit of headlight loom – connector starting to turn green - fitted a new front tyre and rode the bike on the Sunday Club ride and ever since.

Eighteen days and 4,100 km later the bike is running well and strong, having just completed the Melbourne Cup Weekend without issue. The immediate impression was how smooth the new motor was and how much more powerful it has. The bottom end response is beautiful. The next thing I noticed was the dramatic improvement in fuel economy. With an instantaneous km/l digital readout, I noticed a 20% improvement in the numbers equating to another 40 km per tank. Not as good as the modern thousands – Cliff still put in 3 litres less on his ZX10 after riding exactly the same distance from Jindabyne to Adaminaby, nose to tail – but far more tolerable.

Front pads Friday night, a new rear tyre fitted Melbourne Cup day evening after the big ride and a new chain on order will see the bike ship-shape for a period, though the fork oil needs changing and the radiator is just about dead, chock full of tar and stones, the motor running pretty hot. Cosmetically a wash will do wonders. Fit Rob Jone’s original exhaust muffler and it will be like new.

Overall I am very pleased with the outcome. I just have to chase the dud stator under warranty and clean the bugs off! And it might be time to look at a bulk tyre purchase. Dave?