brianmacza

try it with the fuel filler open - if you have a blocked breather it could be creating a vacuum in the fuel tank which might present like this.

Which is why the R1 rectifier/regulator is a winner... It was designed for a heavier load and compared to the stock RR on a '97 it rocks

I had a rad custom built for my '97 that is about 30% more fin area because the core is thicker. The side tanks were hand made and it works a treat.

Grassy Arse My spanish isn't that hot but you'll get the message ;o)

OEM stator here in paradise is around $240 and my '97 has had 2 so far. The charging system on my XX has been the only significant flaw on the bike (other than my occasional lapses of visible riding talent) but parts prices here are soooo high.

Hi guys... has anyone rewound a stator? What gauge wire and type epoxy would be appropriate? I'm considering doing this myself as my stator is giving full output on 2 lines but the 3rd is low. Honda parts in darkest Africa are stupid expensive....

I tend to do car and bike parts without dishes in the same wash. When I redid the brakes on my old 1275 mini the brake drums came out looking like new, as did the flywheel. My wife was moderately pissed though.

I have run my K&N thru the dishwasher (after a hand wash) and the dry cycle finished it off just fine. Oil lightly and reinstall.

Ummm.... I never gave this much thought. My '97 runs at 5700ft and is still on stock jets (DNA filter and aftermarket slipons) and feels stronger than my sons 2000 model XX altho' he has a dirty airfilter that needs replacing - the fact that I have a 16 tooth front sprocket maaaay be a factor here. Does your XX feel more sluggish? Has your fuel consumption suffered?? At your altitude you have about 16% less oxygen than at mean sea level so that would explain some of it.

Hi Lyle, I live in Lonehill, Sandton. Both my son and I have Blackbirds (mine is a '97 with 190k+ km on it now, and my son's is a 2000 model) so if you need that lamp reconnected for a roadworthy inspection or whatever, give me a shout.

There are plenty of digital dashboards for the kit car market that cater for revs, speedo, water temp, oil pressure, shift lights, indicators etc...

My '97 is on ~190,000km now and at the last valve check (at 160,000km) everything was still within tolerances. Sounds a bit like the infamous 5500RPM flat spot to me... I cured it by installing a K&N air filter and a set of slipons but kept the stock jetting. The 16 tooth front sprocket also makes a huge impact, and my '97 romps away from my son's '02 XX quite happily - he has stock airfilter and a Yoshi 4into1 but no power commander yet. Have you tried running a fuel system cleaner thru the tank yet? I do that pretty much monthly, and it makes a noticeable difference if I skip it for a couple months. Clean jets seem to work better for some crazy reason....

I have a 16 sprocket and it makes a great mod for almost no cost. I did a 13.1% amendment to the speedo sender with a speedohealer, and that makes my speedo almost 100% accurate. At 1800m above sea level I still get power wheelies on a good launch, and can get the front up on a slip change to 2nd with no problems. On my one trip to the coast it was quite scary in that the front lifted TOO easily for my taste in 1st, but wheelies in 2nd were a breeze. 17% more power at sea level was a buzz of note :-)

When I dropped my '97 XX 4 years ago, the radiator took a direct hit and was almost torn in two. The local Honda stealerships wanted about US$1200 for an OEM item and I wasn't prepared to pay that. I took the bits to a local fab guy who makes race radiators for the trackday market, and he fabbed it from scratch, tanks and all for around US$400. The radiator matrix he used looks about 1 1/2 times thicker than OEM, and the fan has never come on even standing in traffic in mid summer. A fab guy may be an option if you can find one.

How much does the tach fluctuate? Noticeable drop on the dial vs the revs you experience? My '97 hasn't ever surged - when the carbs were dirty it ran like crap, and then the RR and stator crapped out the most niticeable sign was my HIDs and clocks stopped working when the voltage dropped under 9V - it ran fine but was a concern Is the vent on your tank clear? It could be a fuel starvation symptom if its consistent (unless you can run hard at high revs ok) Doubt it would be plugs...

I lost the majority of my toolkit on the road riding on a rough surface. Only noticed the next time I lifted the seat to clean the bike that the toolbag looked like a used condom. I have a 27mm and 22mm ring spanner, and a reasonable plug socket on a universal, so the loss wasn't more than an annoyance. I haven't used the bike tools on a trip on any of my Hondas - the tools on my Suzuki GT125/185/250 and 550 were almost worn out by the time I dumped the bikes.

97' with stock jets, slipons, raised generic screen with a flip-lip at 1600 meters altitude. I do an 80km round trip with mixed freeway and city every day and average 17.3km per liter at my usual pace (140kph+ on freeway, about 60 to 80 on city roads - our popo are usually lookin' for easier targets than bikers). I have gone -1 on the front sprocket and installed a speedohealer so the speedo reads pretty close to dead on. My fuel light comes on generally with around 290km on the odo tank after tank. Oh... and lane splitting is allowed so no stop-start bullshit

The VTR also used the same cushioned sprocket in a 16 tooth. The only difference I have noticed is that the cushioned sprocket is *perhaps* a tad quieter. And you'd probably only notice that with a new chain anyway.

My '97 has stock jets and the flat spot is much less pronounced with my aftermarket slipons than with stock cans. Oh... and I have a K&N filter too. This is at ~1700m above sea level though, so you're probably lower than me.

I pulled my carbs last weekend to replace the jubilee clips on the thermostat housing. Get energetic - they hold on pretty well. Brute force is all I used, with some WD40 to get them back on.

Looking good Graham. I'll be using this cheap Chinese thing to begin with . Welds etc. are OK but the design is probably catastrophic flow wise. I'll see if it will make 200 whp :icon_think: Where did you find that? I'm keen on collecting the bits and bobs to add some perk to my '97 - altho I haven'tyet asked for pricing on Graham's kit yet. Maybe I should ask that question first....

Yup... using my multimeter i found that all 3 of the connectiond to the temp gauge had connectivity to the nuetal lamp somehow. That line on the backplane of the cluster is linked thru the speedo somehow I think tho... which is why i called for the collective wisdom of .ORGdom

My '97 has been pretty bulletproof in the 6 years I've had it. A new funny is the temp gauge will go to max when in gear even if the engine is off and stone cold. Put it in nuetral and the temp gauge goes to zero - even when at normal operating temperature. I doubt its the temp sender as there is a direct connection between the nuetral bulb points and the screws holding the temp gauge to the cluster... I'm debating if its the gauge or the circuit backplane at fault. Anyone seen this before?

Just make sure that the battery isn't on the floor or a metal bench - if so put a board or layer of plastic down. I stored a battery on the floor in my gayrage on a battery tender and over 2 months it was rendered unable to hold charge. Was almost new and i have no issues with its 'before' condition at all.

The tool strap breaks without warning as well... Honda's reliability has truly gone downhill. My '97 is on 110k miles and the only things that have gone wrong with it relate to my lack of talent and the earth's unfortunate gravity habit.