Rode up to see Kg4fku (Chuck) today. About 165mile ride. The Bird ran flawlessly on the way up. After meeting up we went out to do some .......shall we say spirited riding. After a couple of near top speed runs we came to a stop. I immediately noticed a horrible ticking sound coming from my bike. When at idle it sounds like it really needs a valve adjustment. But when under load the noise really increases. To make a long story short, I limped the bird home 165mi, keeping it at or under 3,000rpm( my ears couldnt take any more than that). After the trip home the noise is still there but doesnt sound any worse. I am dropping the bike off at the dealership tom. I know its difficult to tell w/out hearing it, but any thoughts on what it could be? It's an 03 that has about 20,000 miles on it. Up to this point it was as quite and smooth as a sewing machine. I was going to have the valves done at 16,000 but was told that this was probably a waste of $$. Now I'm thinking maybe I should have. Will this affect the warranty. This should be covered under warrany , right? I would like to be a little knowledgeable on the subject before I hear what the dealer has to say. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Probably should have posted this in the Garage
but I figured it more vies here in the PUB

Thanks

Mike

Sorry to hear your bike is making (not so) funny noises.....
Have you ruled out the CCT?

First thing I would have checked would be the cam chain tentioner.Good luck,and keep us posted.It's an '03 with HOW MANY MILES ALREADY???!!!!

Changed the CCT over to the x-11 @ about 17,000. Only thing thats been done recently was a new chain. Sprockets are good. Definetly sounds like its coming from the valves or possibly the cam chain. Yes it does increase as the RPM's do. I aint lookin for sympathy just a lil advice. I'll keep ya'll informed as to what the dealer finds. Thanks

This does belong in the garage, luckily I decided to go to the Pub tonight. :roll:

From your description it does sound like a loose clearance on a valve although this doesn't usually happen all of the sudden.

at 40k miles I've personally looked at my valves 3 times and logged the clearances. Intakes no change. Exausts change up or down 1 thou. still in spec.

If normal wear it won't be covered under warantee. sorry.

Please let us know what it is as this is very rare.

[size=9][/size]
A former XX rider, Dutch, had similar noises from his birdie after a day at the track. It wound up being the CCT. I hope that it is that simple.

My XX, with 75k miles, never a CCT noise or problem.

An '03 with 20k miles. I love it!

:grin:

It didn't sound like a CCT. More like a valve. When the bike cooled down in the garage the noise was not as noticeable, but was still there. Hopefully it is nothing to bad. Glad you made it back man.

My vote is for the CCT.

You can diagnose it easy enough yourself. Just remove the right side panel, then the 8mm head bolt in the back of the CCT.

Leave the bike running at idle, and using a small screwdriver, lightly turn the adjuster screw inwards (clockwise) and see if the noise disappears. You will probably also be able to "feel" the clicking through the CCT when the bike's running.

Dealer called this morning w/ horrible news. Apparently the bike threw a rod and now needs a new crank. G.D....... M.F'n.......S.O.B :evil: !!!!!!!!!!! Said it will be a week or two before it will be done. Most of the time will be waiting for parts, 7-10 days at the least. In the mean time I picked up a new battery for my Aprilia 650. I guess that will have to hold me over for a while.

Keep ya'll posted

The service guy asked me if I do a lot of wheelies. Which I dont, just the occasional powerwheelie. Kg4fku said that he thought somebody on the board had a similar problem w/ an 03. Does anybody remember this?

Well fuck, Mike, that sucks. A rod eh? Who would have thought.

Make sure the mechanic is aware of the circumstances regarding the onset of the noise (sustained high speed runs judging from your first post). Oil starvation may have contributed, and you need to be sure that all oil passages are free and clear, and the oil pump is up to snuff, or you may be settin yourself up for another failure down the road.

[size=9][/size]
Wow! That is the first engine failure on an XX that I can remember! Silly question...is this covered under warranty? I hope so. At least you have another bike to ride.

:grin:

Just keeps gettin better and better. Now the dealership is saying that because I put slip ons on w/out remapping the engine ran so lean and hot it was collapsing the piston. Said I need a new piston and crank, bearings , seals and other shiat.. WTF? I need some advice.

UPDATE: Dealer says a rough estimate is about $3-$4000 for parts and labor. WWWWOOOOOWWWWW!!!! Can you say ROYALLY FUCKED? He's gonna call the HONDA rep in to see if it can be covered under warranty. But, service manager says he's 99.9% sure that the rep will say no warranty. I told him that if it's not covered under warranty to stop working on it cause I sure the fuck aint got that kinda money. Kinda up shit creek...... bird was my primary transportation (and the love of my life)!

Are they going to cover any of the damage?
If not let me know I have some perfectly good stock piston rods I might be persuaded to let go of. I also know where a person might find a crank.

Advice: Don't bother with the 1200cc bigbore kit I have seen what the block looks like after boring and there isn't much metal left between the cylinders. I did mine 1/2 millimeter over and it left quite a bit of steel.
If you have to get new pistons go with some custom ones from JE they'll make whatever compression ratio you want for about $650.00.
Forrest

What the dealer says sounds highly suspicious to me. I'd try another dealer.

If the rep says no warranty then I'm gonna gather all of the pieces and take it somewhere else. They have the motor apart. He said it's really obvious that its been running hot. Said the exhaust ports on #4 cyl look like somebody spray painted them white. He said that initially they thought that nitrous was used, but after checking the airbox they found that that was not the case. He wanted me to come and look at it but I wasnt able to make it today. Just found out that the regional rep is on vacation till after Thanksgiving. So it will be at least a week or two before he can look at it.

it's alway a huge bummer when shit like this goes down... heart out to ya.

if no warranty, DEFINITELY take it to another dealer for a 2nd opinion!

that's a lot of money! you could almost buy another bike and keep the old one for parts!

I don't know if it is even an option, but the engine from Brett's totalled bike might work for you. I know it had a little damage, but I can't remember much other than the oil pan. You might PM Richard Cranium and "explore the possibilities". :grin:

I'm gonna fight this thing toothand nail. Hopefully I wont need it, but I'll PM him just in case. Thanks to XX4me also for the extra ammo to fight this thing w/.

So just one port has 'ash" and they try to blame your slip-ons for it? What a B.S.
Looks like you have very special engine where slipons affect only one cylinder.Slipons would not cause this kind of catastrophe.
Loose intake manifold,throttle body,etc could cause that.
I think you should find a lawyer

It's bad timing for sure, happening right before the holidays, but you might have to be patient to hook up with a Honda rep. And I'm not so sure I'd trust the particular shop's assessment of the damages and repairs. It might be prudent to settle with them, and get an estimate from another shop. It sounds like they're going to try and take you for a ride.

Hopefully you can find a shop with the knowledge and skills to help you AND put some pressure on a Honda rep to make it right. Individuals here have phone numbers and contacts that might help. Use all your resources. Keep us up to date.

G2

This whole deal smells very bad to me.

Why would the dealer rip the engine completely down before gaining approval to repair, either from you, or Honda?

Why would they "suspect nitrous", and hadn't ruled that out when disassembling the intake system initially?

I would phone Honda customer service, and lose it over this dealer. File a complaint, and demand that someone come to inspect the bike right away as you feel you are being scammed.

Keep fighting, and keep us updated.

If it is Seminole Powersports, this is no surprise to me at all. They are by far the worst dealer on the face of the earth. Their sales people suck, their parts guys are unknowledgeable, and the mechanics are clueless, but other than that they are fine. Mike, I think what Chris has just said is key, you must complain vigorously to Honda to get this resolved.

I second what Chris said. This whole thing smells very fishy to me all around. I can't say there's one specific thing wrong, but all of it seems wrong. My gut instinct is rarely wrong.

Acting on advice given by XX4me I downloaded the powercommander program and the specific map for an 03 w/ Erion slip ons and a stock air filter. The map showed that an overall leaning of the bike was need. In virtually all fields there was a need to reduce the amount of fuel. This means that putting the slip on's on alone w/out re-mapping would cause the bike to run quite a bit richer. This is contrary to the dealerships claim of the pipes being the cause of the bike running lean. I called to discuss this matter w/ the dealership. This time I actually talked to THE manager. He was singing a little different tune than the other guy I was dealing with. He was not specifically blaming the pipes as the cause. He said that they were unable to find an exact cause and that the regional rep was going to come and look at it to make the determination in regards to it being warranty. He stated that the pipes might make a difference in the decision. The manager did seem more optimistic that this would be covered. He also said that it was running lean all the way across all cylinders and that the # 4 was the one w/ detonation. I am going to take a copy of the map to the dealer to give to the rep when he comes. Hopefully he will have enough sense to realize that the pipes couldnt possibly be the cause. I am going to wait to see what the rep says. If he decides that this is not going to be covered then I will commence to kickin some ass and makin some waves. If need be I will go MOAB :twisted: on somebodies ass!!!!! Like I said, I intend on fighting this. Thanks for all of the advice. You guys have been alot of help.

HMMM one cylinder.... could be lots of stuff, not exghaust!

Total bullshit flying from down there..... Any bodyelse no a honest mechanic that will help a brother find the truth?

Bad injector?????

I have heard of 900RR's starveing the oil pump in a wheelie and spining the rod bearings but not one XX.

This sounds fishy to me also, hold out for the regional rep. to see the bike and see what he says.

FYI, the Magnuson Fair Act provides coverage to consumers. Specifically, a portion of it prohibits manufacturers from rejecting claims under warrantee when a third party product has been used, EXCEPT WHEN the manufacturer can directly PROVE that the 3rd party product itself caused the exact defect/failure. This is the reason that you can use third party (name a part) in your car and the dealer can't cease your warranty to force you to use genuine parts, among other things.

In other words, Honda must PROVE BEYOND A DOUBT that the pipes caused the problem. Otherwise, use of the pipes is incidental to a different issue. The manager knows this, the rep knows this. So should you. Just a thought to brighten your Thanksgiving... :wink:

WOW! :grin: If that is true then its GREAT news. I have held off on getting upset until the rep has a chance to look at it. Thanks for the Thanksgiving pickme up. Everybody have a great day!

One of the MAIN reasons I decided to buy the XX over the ZX11 was the fact that the Kaw had more than one of them gernade themselves.Specifically the #3 rod.Heard this more than once.Had never heard any similar problems concerning the XX (till now).As do all the members(I'm sure),I am anxious to see how this whole problem is resolved.Just my 2 cents worth......if this were my problem,and out of pocket $ was a major issue,I'd consider finding an entire pre owned,low mileage engine.It would be a good bit of work to do all the R&R,but cheaper than rebuilding your original one or option 2,buying a replacement bike.Good luck! ......Smitty

I did alittle searching for anybody that wants to know....

... here is a link to the FTC, Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (1975)

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspub...bs/warranty.htm

.. Happy reading and I hope this helps K-tool, keep us posted.... please.

ASK FOR THE PARTS after the work is done .
-Suf Daddy
Wouldn't be the first time some dealer F'd the customer over a simple fix or the like.............................................then again it could be true.................
-Suf Daddy

K-Tool,

Any news??? Been a while - hope the rep returned after Thanksgiving...

O-Rich Wrote:

If it is Seminole Powersports, this is no surprise to me at all. They are by far the worst dealer on the face of the earth.




that is the Damn truth...





Yea,Any news Mike?