FAO Lord Stig

[YEN_POWELL]

Stiggy old bean, got my folder here, can't find the original post, what were the mileages you reckon you'll go from and to again?

[Lord Stig]

Yen, thanks! The mileage it's at now is 75,000 and I expect to go to around 87,000 by the end of May. To be honest I realise anything could go wrong, so anything you've encountered up to whatever you're currently at (130,000 or more??) would be great. Thanks for your help on this - if I under budget for the loan it could mean something expensive going pop and not being able to afford to fix it.

Stig

[YEN_POWELL]

Yen, thanks! The mileage it's at now is 75,000 and I expect to go to around 87,000 by the end of May. To be honest I realise anything could go wrong, so anything you've encountered up to whatever you're currently at (130,000 or more??) would be great. Thanks for your help on this - if I under budget for the loan it could mean something expensive going pop and not being able to afford to fix it.

Stig

right, headbearings done at 79,000 for first (and last) time. changed the fork oil also at the same time. 83,000 fitted new clutch plates but really it was the basket that needed filing to stop the juddery pull away. this is starting to get bad again.

89,000 snapped one of the choke bodies, plastic was really brittle, hardly touched it with my fingers and it went. other one still okay though. connectrs into flasher relay eaten by salt and bypassed with home made connectors

93,000 2nd fuel pump failed, fitted vacuum pump.

98,000 trip meter power wire eaten by salt, plug bypassed for just this wire. just went again on monday and repaired again.

101,000 ignition switch stopped ignitioning, replaced with pattern type for cbr600. coil low voltage connectors scraped and vaselined.

107,000 rear brake rebuilt and rear brake lever pivot greased.

125,000 replaced fuel filter for 1st time

125,750 replaced vacuum fuel pump for honda electric type

edited note
sometime in this time the original silencer stopped silencing but i forgot to write down when i changed it, think it was at about 95,000 miles, replaced with a laser produro road legal type. down pipes and collector still sound if not actually pretty.

[robelst]

Tsk, all these problems after only a mere 130.000 miles



Silly question of the month : What are "headbearings"?

[YEN_POWELL]

Tsk, all these problems after only a mere 130.000 miles



Silly question of the month : What are "headbearings"?

The bearings that the headstock turns on.

[Lord Stig]

Ah, brilliant! Thanks - this is appreciated a great deal! So, it looks a lot better than I would have thought. Mostly the ravages of salt rather than any major component failures (fuel pump excepted). It looks like a lot of the things that affected you got to me a little earlier - as you know head bearings and been something of a head-ache, but so far still on the original fuel pump. That said, I really need to budget for one of those too. You must have changed your front disks earlier than 75,000 I take it (mine are getting a bit thin; maybe the strange rubbing/grinding noise I get coming to slow speed halts is a slight warp in one). Those are something I need to take into account. Choke bodies sound like they'll be a problem. Had the flasher relay problem (fixed with a car one) and the ignition barrel problem (as you know). I might clean and swap the front coil with the rear to give it a rest as you suggested a while back. I'll check the condition of the tripmeter wiring - I noticed it's pretty vulnerable, but so far no problems.

I gather you haven't changed your rear shock or front springs then. I have in mind to change the bushes in the front when I do the seals, but I'm thinking in terms of a replacement Hagon for the back. Any idea if the early RD07 shock fits? Wemoto have OE Honda ones for £175 that would be cheaper than a Hagon for £250 or so. I'm expecting to do the clutch plates and springs, though I don't have the groove problem yet (had it on a TA though.

All in all, some good info there - thanks again!

Stig

[YEN_POWELL]

Trip meter wiring cops all the weather, as does the headlight and flasher relays. I spray them with stuff to try and slow the ravaging down a little.

Still on original shock, have a 30,000 shock, bought from Kiroh a while back for when it goes.

Fork springs still original. I measured them (there are 4 in all, two in each fork) as they have to come out to measure the fork oil level after changing and they were well within Hondas tolerance. Seals are original in front fork as are bushes.

Front discs replaced at 67,000. The old ones were warped and made stopping exactly where I wanted a problem, always a foot further or closer than expected. I would get Honda originals now they are cheaper, EBC are rubbish.

Also regulator was replaced at a lowly 65,000. Checked it's replacement yesterday with a multimeter and it's still working as it should.

[Man up North]

Hi L.Stig, been on e-bay and they have **** loads of parts that your looking for. Air filters -fork seals etc .Hope this is of some help

[Lord Stig]

Yep, lots of new and used parts on eBay. Oddly enough I was outbid on a rear shock yesterday - maybe by someone here. Not too worried that I didn't get it, though, because it didn't look like it had only covered the 7,000 miles the seller claimed it had. If whoever got it reads this I'd be interested to hear what kind of condition it's in when it turns up. For £41 inclusive of the p&p it would have been not a bad start for a professional rebuild, although with the amount I've just paid out on the chain and sprockets I really couldn't have gone any higher.

A propos shocks and forks, I take it you don't notice too much of a degraded performance from yours Yen? I laugh when I read bike journos emphasising the importance of changing the shocks because 'the suspension must have gone off after 20,000'! I don't doubt I'd notice an improvement if I fitted a new shock, but to be honest the old beast is still stable enough taking fairly tight curves at 90 - 100 mph. It just takes a bit more concentration and commitment to do. Probably sports bikes are a lot more sensitive to this sort of thing, especially being better for the job in the first place. I wouldn't know because I've never had one and don't want either.

Nevertheless I figured it makes sense to rebush the forks when I have them apart to do the seals. I'd be surprised if, after 75,000 miles, there is no wear. Especially as I only got around to changing the oil at 68,000 miles. I've heard good things about the increased stiffness of aftermarket fork springs, even on new-ish ATs. I might go that route although I didn't actually check the length on the springs when they were out. I did figure that they must have sagged at least a little because the end caps were not under any real tension when screwing them in; on both Transalps I had to use a socket with a T-bar in one hand, while making sure the cap went in straight with the other. And before you ask, yes I did make sure both springs where in each fork....

Stig