srideaux

OK I am convinced, I will spend time trying to bleed off air another way, thanks for all the advice.

In 2008 I was looking to replace my braided lines on my Bird, at the time I think Spiegler and Galfer offred only partial sets, I also replaced my Clutch line, BIG mistake, clutch became grabby( hard to engage smoothly from stops) until completely warmed up.

You have been getting good advice all along here, did I read that you had already replaced the thermostat, that leaves only two options, the coolant Temp. sensor or the gauge is at fault. or there is a wiring problem, wire rubbed threw causing hi resistance to the gauge. And in a worst case scenario but a resistor at the temp sensor. so that it lies to you all the time.

And yes , They are very sensitive to Fuel quality.

Really,.........MPG, who cares, if it starts and runs as it should and the lo fuel indicator get you safely to the next station. I am retired now but I was in the car business for over 40 years so I road tested a lot of cars with customers, when I got into a Corvette, with a prospective buyer, if one of the questions was " what kind of mileage will it get " its more the ride than the economy I have even told them this may not be the car for you! MPG never sold a Black Bird or a Corvette.........Just my 2 cents worth.

Thermostats can fail, but it is a rare occurrence, without going into a protracted explanation about thermodynamics simply replace it with a new honda Honda Part. If your bike is overheating , Ck the thermostatically fan for proper operation, its relay and coolant sensor. Have you recently replaced the coolant ? Running old coolant can cause problems, long shelf life can cause it to " glop up " become to thick to circulate freely, causing overheating, never use undiluted antifreeze,it to can cause overheating. If it were me I would flush the entire system with distilled water, twice.......this can be a tedious process, when you take the time to burp the system for trapped air . refill with Honda antifreeze properly diluted 50/50 with" water wetter" and distilled water. If you are still overheating at this point, you have other problems than a thermostat.

lets let common sense come into play here, an engine running under no load at idle with a film of oil can survive, but under the loads of hard acceleration, upshifts etc. are you going trust that "snake oil" Oh hell NO!!! Stay away from this !!!

I don't have the part# any longer, but the front sprocket from a VFR750 is a 16 tooth, is a direct fit, and gives the benefit of of a little shorter gearing , you wont be disappointed.

I am 68 and I still ride my 01 Bird. but I am old school, I never trusted the linked braking system, I would rather rely on my own skill to control the brakes, I disabled mine over 15 years ago. no regrets. your rear caliper needs to come off and be disassembled and visually inspected, my guess is there are signs of corrosion accumulation in the lowest part of the caliper ( as it is mounted on the bike) depending on the amount of damage and with the proper tools, and skill this can be cleaned up, and be rebuilt.successfully. the backup plan is to find one in a motorcycle salvage yard that is rebuildable. unfortunately Dot 3 brake fluid draws moisture, which will settle in the lowest points in the system, I have plenty of experience with this because all C3 Corvettes came stock with aluminum calipers, as did Goldwings, and everybody felt obligated to wash there bikes with pressure washer. (bad Idea) There is no cheap fix for this, take your time, ask questions I am the old fat guy

In my 01 Bird I have been running NGK iridium plugs for over 15 years, they are a direct fit with threaded terminals. ( Be advised NGK dose not show a Plug for your 03 ) in there current online catalogue.

call your local dealer, if the part number for the 97 is the same as the 99 there should not be an issue.

I love my bird, I am old and heavy and have a rather aggressive throttle hand, average 3500 Mi. on back tires, ( i am 67 yrs old and weigh 270 ) buddy that chain is shot, I would not go around the block on it, in fact I changed my Primary sprocket to a 15 tooth, just for a little better launch. With my 175lb. brother driving and using Dynojet magic this bike gets 12sec. 1/4 miles runs and seriously, I don't care what the MPG is.

I am certainly no expert, I started out with a box stock 01 bird. The Honda dealer where I had been a customer since the 1960's had recently bought a new Chassis Dyno and had sent there Best Tech to school to learn how to use it. instead of adding one component at a time and marking the results. I chose to use the Shot gun method. I was on a hurry because I had bragged to a friend that I could get around the north end of Lake Lavon on a 32 mile known coarse that started and stopped at a designated Gas station In McKinney Tx . He was on a mildly tuned GXSR 750 remember this is 2002,. I/ we added the current model PC3 , a speedo healer, went down one tooth on the primary sprocket, added a exotic four into one exhaust, put in a new K&N air filter and started tuning for midrange on the DynoJet Chassis dyno. I only had a week to get all this done, so I told the Tech to do his best for me .It was a total mismatch, I could run away on the straits, but he had me in the corners. Guts and riding skill prevailed though. I beat him but just barely. a week later I wnt back on the dyno, was putting 153 HP to the ground. A month later, my younger and lighter brother was able to get consistent lo 12's with it. which but in with the current Busa's of the time.

For many years in my shop we used" Denatured Alcohol" as a flush and cleaner, it will not hurt any seals or gaskets, with the Q tips and compressed air this will get the results you need. Do Not use rubbing alcohol from the drug store it is mostly water, kind of defeats the purpose. Dot 3 brake fluid draws moisture, by it nature, so corrosion and rust settle in the lowest parts of the system, so cleaning everything as you described , with Denatured Alcohol, and replacing the brake fluid with a major name brand "synthetic brake fluid" is the way to go. And by the way, don't forget the Clutch Master Cylinder, it will be nastier than the Brake M/C, think how many times it is used than the brake m/c. Good Luck

Unless you are an extreme rider, use the bike for track days. Etc. The EBC HH compound pad will be the pad for you. front and rear. For quicker brake- in I taped "sand Screen " to a pane of glass to scoff the surface so that they will seat quicker. I switched to synthetic Brake fluid ten years ago to avoid moisture accumulation