OZXX1100

+1 for also always putting back troublesome fasteners with Copaslip-will never seize again. I also always put back sparkplugs with some Copaslip as well. My tip about the valve grinding paste-it allows the screwdriver, spanner or allen key to "grip" the fastener before the head gets rounded. But first also use some WD 40 and also if you do not have an impact tool, just tap the fastener first a few times using a hammer and the relevant screwdriver, allen key etc. This will often break the seal of corrosion or whatever and allow the WD40 to get in. The impact tool is good but usually damages the fastener if you just use it without trying above methods. brianmacza-hows things in the rainbow nation for riding bikes now? I left 10 years ago (emigrated to Oz). Back then, the rock throwing on the roads did not appeal too much to me on a bike :shock: . Had a huge rock thrown at my car and shat myself enough over that. Presumably, things have settled down now? A new 'Bird must be about R130 000?! Can't be too many of them around?

Whenever u have a tight fastener, put a bit of valve grinding diamond paste on tip of screwdriver or head of bolt. Almost always works for me

Ask your dealer to get you an AFAM 46T alloy (AFAM will supply other sizes as well-each sprocket is a custom order). They do the best quality alloy sprocket. I have had mine on for nearly 20K miles now and hardly any wear and my mate is having likewise a good experience with one. Don't worry about the stories you hear about (inferior) ally sprockets. And when you feel the weight diff u will know you have done the right thing............. I got mine in the tarty gold finish :oops: Looks good with a gold finish sideplate chain as well

Its a "guess" I suppose as there are no clicks even when you turn the screw with the CCT removed in your hands. All you don't wanna do is put excessive pressure on the screw as I understand that the cam chain guide plate is teflon pad lined on the cam chain side and if pushed too hard against the cam chain (via the CCT plunger), then it could wear excessively. All you wanna do is just add a bit of pressure to the cam chain guide plate and then test it out. You might even feel that less than 1/ 32 of a turn is necessary. Depends how much play you have I have had to do this twice to my new CCT and each time my rattles have gone away for the next couple of thousand miles.

Having replaced mine and the noise coming back after a few thousand miles, my fix is as follows: I simply loosen the little screw under the centre bolt right off (reverse thread), let it go (you hear a little thunk as the ratcheted rod shoots back), then my "secret" is to tighten the screw about 1/16th to 1/32 of a turn (reverse thread remember), to be sure that the next part of the ratchet is engaged. My theory is that the one way ratchet part of the CCT should have finer teeth, as when the cam chain starts to stretch a bit, a tiny gap develops between the CCT ratchet rod foot and the metal backing of the cam chain guide plate, causing the rattle. Until the cam chain stretches enough for the ratchet to move another notch (probably take many thousands of miles for this to happen) and put full pressure back on the guide plate, there will be a rattle. Also, brand new CCT's have a nice firm foot to ratchet rod fitting, but after a while, develop play where the foot is pinned to the rod, compounding an insufficient pressure on the plate problem.

I once had pre-ignition problems that produced symptoms that sound similar to yours. That was caused by seriously neglecting the oil change interval and resulted in heavily carboned up combustion chambers. My fix was as follows: Changed oil and filter (put a budget oil in first). Put a bottle of Motul engine cleaner in oil and ran for ten minutes. Changed oil and filter again (used the good stuff this time). Put fuel system/ injector cleaner into full tank. Ran that tank of petrol empty over the next week. Changed oil and filter again. Changed plugs. Put fuel system cleaner in again. Waited for about another tank of petrol or two to run through bike (takes me about a week to use a tank), using fuel cleaner in each tank. By about the end of the first tank, noise was almost gone. Voila All my noises disappeared never to return. I now run fuel cleaner every fourth tank fill. My problem was so bad that I had carbon flakes randomly jamming under valve seats. Compression tests would show one time a certain cylinder down and then another at the next test. A leak down test was done and valve seals proved to be fine. Once I got the shit out, all was good again. Motul was the only "motorcycle" engine cleaner I could find so with respect to the wet clutch, I went with it. When I saw the oil come out the first AND the SECOND time :cry: Will never neglect my baby that way again.

Got this today (R/R on the left) -it is a Honda part and called a superceded or upgraded part-prob what is standard on the newer 'Birds'.

Thanks for the feedback all. I am checking out alternatives-have heard of the R1 alternative and an upgraded unit from Pete in the UK. I also think it has also been mentioned on this board that Honda upgraded the replacement unit from '03 onwards ???

Bike would not start when I finished work-got a push and then about ten minutes down the road before everything died. I noticed little molten balls of silver metal sparayed on the footpeg hanger below the R/R so I took a closer look at it and found this: Here is a close up of the slit in the silicon block housing the electronic bits and pieces and you can see where what looks like solder resin has dribbled out and two little balls of molten metal: I unfortunately have grounds for suspicion what might have happened but before I jump to conclusions, has anyone ever seen something like this before?

OK-Here is summary: 97-98 'Birds have OEM gearing of 17T front/ 44T back 99 'Birds onwards have OEM gearing of 17T front/ 45T back (I suspect Honda realised that pulling top speed with a 44T back was gonna be an academic exercise or need a lightweight jockey onboard and no headwind at all.) Going down a tooth to 16T on front has same effect on gearing as going up 3 teeth on back. A change of one tooth down on front and one tooth up on back keeps the wheelbase the same-chain alignment and wear markers stay in same place. So doing a 16T on front and a 45T back for 97-98 'Birds or a 46T back for 99 onwards 'Birds will effectively add 4 teeth to the gearing and keep the wheelbase constant. On my 98 'Bird, I have a 17T front (hopefully soon to be replaced with the VTEC VFR 16T) and a 46T rear, so I have currently increased by 2 teeth over stock. I find this setup a huge improvement and would like, as mentioned, to go further and get the 16T front so that I have an increase of 5 teeth. I do like the shorter wheelbase I currently have for quicker steering, so I would stick with the 46T rear for me. If someone with a 99 onwards 'Bird wanted to also shorten their wheelbase, they would need to get a 47T rear sprocket, and thus have a 5 tooth increase. Beware that going more than 2 teeth bigger on the rear would make it very difficult to fit a new chain without adding another link. You may get away with 3 extra teeth on the rear if you went down one tooth on the front, but do not quote me on that point. In short, second gear power wheelies are now a no brainer and the need to downchange around town or with a pillion are much reduced.

PS- According to the JT sprockets website, the 16T front sprockets for 'Blades would also be 16.8mm, so one would be tightening the sprocket bolt down onto the sprocket, instead of onto the shaft (eliminating the float on the OEM design and possibly causing misalignment and gearbox shaft bearing damage).

Friend of mine was determined to get the right thing and first ordered an OEM RC51 (16T) which proved to be 16.8mm spline and also had a thinner rubber damper. We then looked at the JT Sprockets website http://www.jtsprockets.com/ (they have the specs and drawings of all the sprockets) and found that the '02 VTEC VFR800 seemed to be perfect and he ordered one. The pics are his. He also got an AFAM 46T rear alloy sprocket so that the wheelbase will remain constant (one tooth down in front and one up at back), but his gearing will be up by 4 teeth equivalent at back. Before anyone flames ally sprocks, I have had the same AFAM rear for nearly 15K miles now and hardly any wear. YES-beware of SOME ally sprocks but AFAM is the dogs. :wink:

The VTEC VFR 800 ('02 model) front sprocket is a perfect match for the bird with 14.5mm spline and 16 teeth with rubber damper (I think older VFR 800 are 17T and the RC51 is 16.8mm at spline-too thick for 'Bird which is 14.5mm)- Here is used 'Bird 17T sprocket- Here is the part number for VTEC VFR800 front sprocket- Hope this helps anyone wanting to do the upgrade to easier wheelies

Yeah, I tried a non damper after market one and the noise and clunky shifts drove me mad after 2 days-went back to a new 17T OEM.

What I thought Motor Psycho........ So do we have a source of an OEM 16T sprocket with damper that is the right spline width or not :? The suspense is killing me