madrazcbr

The bike is now in the shop. Will check all the suggestion given : 1) to check fuel pressure regulator although I do not know how, hope that the mechanic know how to do it. Update - the mechanic will change the fuel filter, he says that it should not be the problem with the fuel pressure regulator. 2) check voltage when rpm is around 3000 and below Update - check the voltage during idling voltage at 12.4, rpm 2000 to 3000 voltage at 13.5, above 3000 rpm voltage at 14.2. I think this reading should be ok. 3) check valve clearance, checking the shims spacing between each other Update - the bike is being prepared for this. Most probably on Monday the task will start. 4) check timing chain condition whether it is loose Update - will be check together with valve clearance.

Hi All, Thank you for your input. The "tak tak tak ... tak tak tak" noise only happened during idling and the engine is really hot such as when after going thru a bad traffic jam. The bike has new sets of sprockets and chain and so the noise should not be because of it. Will check all the suggestion given : 1) to check fuel pressure regulator although I do not know how, hope that the mechanic know how to do it. 2) check voltage when rpm is around 3000 and below 3) check valve clearance, checking the shims spacing between each other 4) check timing chain condition whether it is loose Thanks again for your input. I hope I did not miss anything.

Hi EVLXX, Thanks for the info. For item 1, my mechanics mentioned that it could be the fuel filter and ask me to change. He also mentioned that the valve clearance need to be check. At the same time I will ask him to check the fuel pressure regulator. By the way how do I diagnostic whether the fuel pressure regulator is working fine ? For item 2, the mechanic is more incline on the timing chain has worn out and it is hitting against the wall. However when he open to adjust the valve clearance, he should be able to see whether the timing chain has become longer than normal. Will send the bike to the mechanic on Saturday, if you have anything that I need to check to solve this problem, please let me know.

Hi All, Need your advice on 2 problems that I am facing. A 2002 Euro Bird, done 69000 km. Valve clearance not checked yet. New spark plugs and fuel injector recently service. Air filter clean. No modification. 1) When the Bird reach 66500 km, the battery when dead on me, after a push start the bike travel for around 5 km before it when dead again. During this 5 km journey the RPM shows erratic behavior and the FI lights was on. I have changed the battery to YTZ14BS similar to the ST13 as the shop only has this model. After the change of battery I continued my journey and feel that the Bird has more power. Not sure whether the battery has affect on the power or just my feeling playing with me. After plus minus 300 km, the Bird when in low RPM, less than 4k or 3k, the Bird seems to lost power. It is not smooth like not enough petrol or something. It feels jerky and not smooth. However if I open the throttle wider I do not have problem, like when I am speeding the pick-up is good and the bike is smooth. No problem with the power delivery here only except when the rpm is low. My mechanics(no Honda distributor in my country) advice me to change spark plugs and service the injector. But the problem did not go away. Anyone can help me on this before the mechanic ask me to change a lot of other things that might not help to solve the problem but only put a big hole in my pocket. 2) In Feb 2007, I have this problem that occurs once in a while. When idling there is a rhythmic sound like metal to metal knocking each other. sounds like "tak..tak..tak" stop and then again repeatedly. First I thought it was the CCT which I changed but the sound is still there. The noise go off when the bike start moving. However recently the noise become louder and more often especially after a hard ride or I could say when the bike is very hot after a ride or go through a jam. Holding the clutch does not help either. Have tried to use thicker oil 15-50w but it does not help. Anybody can help to give idea on how to solve the two problem that I am facing, please.

Hi JBowen4, Have you change the CCT ? Does the knocking sound still exists ? Hi Forumners, What does thicker oil helps ? Was being told the thicker the oil the cooler the engine runs, is it true ? However the engine will "felt heavy" and at the same time smoother. I am using 10-40 from new until now (35000 miles), when should I change to 15-50. Or should I stick with 10-40.

Hi Hobicus, I have been following your article closely. How is your friend 02XX ? Is it still the same with the temperature ? I am very interested on things that can be done cause mine also a 02XX Euro model Red colour(could it be red). I am in Malaysia and the temp here is around 86F. I am always try to be fair so thats why I am using Motul Semi Synthetic 10-40, not mineral not fully synthetic. Fair right. Your friend symptom are the same as mine. When I bought mine new in 02 and with the factory 50/50 coolant, the temp can sometime shoot up to 250 - 260F region. After reading article in this forum(thank you guys) I have change the coolant to ICE COOL cause I am unable to get Water Wetter. I still have problem after that which is due to the mechanic does not burp the system. After it was burp correctly the temp improve compare to using the original factory coolant. The improvement is that it is now having the same symptom as your friend 02XX which includes taking a longer time to cool down to 190 on an open road, it will go up to 220 it is left idle and it definitely climbing, etc. yes exactly the same. I still called it improvement as it is now take a longer time to reach 250. It still reach there if the bike is in idle or in start stop traffic. It cool faster as previously it took around 1.5 to 2 hours and now around 30 minutes. It goes down to 190 in open road as oppose before it only go down to 205. I try to live with it but cannot. I wrote in to this forum. After Joe advice that there it is nothing to worry about, I just enjoy the bike. Although sometime I do feel scared when I see a traffic jam. I cannot join a group ride as a certain time the group will need to go down to 50MPH for a period of time especially when approaching town. These will help the temp to shoot up to 250F. Whatever it is I still love my XX and enjoying it more day by day. I cant sell it as it is very expensive now to buy another bike with 120% sales tax. So if you do find a way to improve the temp of your friend 02XX, hope you can share it with me. I was being told cooler bike go faster.

Thanks for the info Silverbird. Mine are still stock. No mods. I hope I will not experience as what you did. :razz:

Hi Silverbird, I have just change to a YTX12-BS a month ago. Will it give problems ? Will there be disturbance with the electrical system eg; headlight not bright enough, difficult to start, fuel injection going crazy, etc... Please let me know if this battery will ruined my electrical system or not.... Should I change it now or should I wait until the battery dies....

I have found out that the temp problem is due to not enough coolant in the radiator. After adding the coolant in the radiator, my temp problem has gone. The temp reading is almost the same as Pacman reading. Anybody knows how the coolant in the radiator can reduce by itself. I have checked that there is no leakage whatsoever.

Hi All, Will the tarmac temp can effect the thermostat reading ? What happened is that I went for a 125 mile ride yesterday. The Bird temp range from 208 F(98 C) to 233 F(112 C) with speed ranging from 70 mph to 90 mph and sometime reached 120 mph. The temp still the same and the fan is working non stop. It was a very hot day. Suddenlly it started to rain and the atmosphere is much cooler so does the tarmac. During the rain the Bird temp range from 185 F(85 C) to 194 F(90 C) at the same speed. My questions are ? 1) Do I still have a problem, if it is true tarmac temp effect the Bird temp 2) Will it effect the battery and the fan motor as it was working non stop.

Thanks Joe. Will try to get the radiator cap from Honda Singapore.

It happened only last week. I was using 6th gear. The overall system is fine and the fin is not clogged. I do not suffer the overheating symptoms, only annoying hot. By the way, will it be a good idea to change to OEM Honda coolant and a bit of Water Wetter. On the radiator cap, is there any different between the Euro Spec and the US spec or even the Japan Spec especially at what temp it should open, etc.

BTW. The radiator is clean. Nothing block the air circulation. The fins is not bent.

The air temp is around 75(24 C) - 91 (33C). That means I have a problem. How do I solve it..... Now I am really worried........ WHAT SHOULD I DO ???

Mine is a '02 bought in '02 brand new Euro Spec. I'm from Malaysia and very near to the Equator. Even from new, my XX always run hot. I could not get Water Wetter so I replaced the OEM coolant with Engine Ice. The only thing good about the Engine Ice is that it will cool much faster compare to the OEM coolant when the engine is switch off. It tooks around 20 minutes to cool down to 185(85C) compare to the OEM 60 minutes. When I am moving at 70 mph the temperature will still be around 205(96C) - 212(100C). When it reached 212(100C) the radiator fan starts. Only when it reach back to 205(96C) the fans stops. There is one time, I were moving at 70 mph for almost 2 hours, the fan never stop. Will this cause problem with the battery and the motor fan ? Speed above 100 mph will see the temp at 201(94C). The only thing is that not always I manage to reach this speed as the road condition does not allow me to do so. By the way my country speed limit is 70 mph. In traffic jam, in 10 minutes it will shoot up to 239 (115 C). When I start moving again the temp will go down to 212(100C) and stays there. It will shoot up again the minute I stop or slow down. With this info, do I have overheating problem ? Any suggestion to improve the situation. Should I change the radiator cap as it could be only suitable for Euro whether. Do you think it will make a difference if I use Water Wetter and the Honda OEM coolant ? Can I mix it with Engine Ice ? Previously I manage to ignore this however when reading this thread it makes me worry again as 201(94C) is consider high. HELP HELP