JohanC

Recently my 2004 Blackbird developed a rattling noise at approx. 3 000rpm.Having done some research on the topic, the conclusion was evident that the CCT is saying good-bye and needs to be replaced. To my surprise not only does Honda South Africa (where i live) have't stock of these CCT's, but the cost thereof is close to R 1 000.00. (close to 150 dollars). Their response was that i should deposit the required funds after which they will import the CCT from Japan, at a time phase not sure of. Obviuosly i needed the CCT like in immediately therefore i started to shop around for the permanent one of which i mange to locate but again at a cost of R 850.00 (130 dollars). Looking at the pictures of a permanent CCT it struck me that this in fact an straigtforward design which can be coppied using the "old" CCT as body. I did proceed with the idea and did the following: Remove the old CCT from the bike Remove the circlip keeping the whole contraption together Once removed, let all the parts loose and remove it from the body of the CCT. These should be a hair spring, helix, tube, plunger and the circlip. Also remove the dust skrew on the rear of the CCT 6mm treat. I then took a 6mm treaded high tesion steel rod, approximately 30cm (12 inches) in lenght and slowly fed it through the rear of the CCT body by actually turning it in on the tread of the dust skrew which was removed. Once the steel rod is fed through to a lenght more or less the total lengs of the plunger when unwind, fit the plunger over the steel rod and dispose of the spring, helix and tube. Put the plunger back in the original position and re-use the same cirlip to hold it in place. When trying to re-fit the "manual" CCT in the bike, it was obviuos that the plunger part is extended to far, thus making the fitment impossible. By turning the steel rod anti clock wise, the plunger retracted and could the CCT now be fitted as originally. I did manage to saw a vertical slot in the back ob the steel rod, thus it can now be turned in or out with a flat skrewdriver which make the actual setting thereof so much easier. Once in place, i did turn the metal rod clockwise until i could feel the plunger has made contact with the camchain guide. Upon starting the bike, it still sounded loose and by adjusting it to a point where the tension is enough to keep it in contact with camchain guide with presure, the noise dissapeared and the motor is running quietely and definately less noisy. I finished off the CCT by fitting a skrew and locknut on the rear of the CCT, after i trimmed the rod to an acceptable lengh at the rear, which now keep the plunger at a spesific presure on the camchain guide. The whole project did take up about an hour of my time, but definately the time and cost worth. The metal rod (6mm) cost me R 12 (less than 2 dollars) and now i've got a permanent fix. Hope this info means something for somebody out there, Greeting from South Africa, Johan

Guys, Some advise please. Some time ago, approx 4 months back, the F1 light started to come on on my 2002 Black Bird. Knowing the possible cause of this malfunction i did open up the "conector block" on the left side, the one which is only used to test electrics when bike is built. Found some nasty deposits in this block and after cleaning it out completely, the bike ran well again. However, the day before yesterday the same started to happen again, meaning the F1 light and ocassional dying on me. Did manage to get home and again i got to this conector. To my surprise the one side was completely melted away and obviuosly there was no alternative but to do the soldering thing, meaning i had to cut all the wires and connected these by means of soldering and heat skrink. Again afterwards the bike started fine and actually got me to work this morning. The interesting part is that although i did find various posts on the permanent fix, these posts all talk about 10 green wires on the one side of the conector and 3 on the other. The conector block on my Bird however only have 7 green wires on the one side and 3 green on the other side. I seperated these wires, refering to the posts on the topic, and soldered them seperately together, meaning i've got now two sets of wires of which one is the 7 soldered together, and the second is the 3 also soldered together. What is interesting is that it appears that the male part of the conector, the piece that fits in the conector, makes all 10 wires conect to each other, the 3 on the one side and the 10 on the other. Once done the bike fired up immediately and ran fine, no more F1 light etc. On my way to work this morning all of a sudden the Bird started to miss and i had to keep it going with the trottle. Got to work and after stopping saw that all the lights are very dim. Switched off and afterwards cannot get it to start again. The is absoletely not enough power to swing the motor and if the startor swich is activated, it just take the last current from the sytem and all lights go dead. My question is if with seperating the wires from the conector block (remember there seems to be 3 and 7 connected together) could i have caused the charging system to malfunction?. If not, what else could have gone wrong since i am worried sick at the moment. The battery seems fine and in fact were fully charged lately. I did check it on a tricle charger which indicate fully charged. I am at a lost here and any advise to eiter trace the fault or fix it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance, Johan

Did open her up yesterday and did find alot of corrosion in the "test plug" which my 2002 has. Cleaned it out, cleaned the ground cable fitting and frame, and wala, all is working well again. Thanks guys,

Guys, Hello from a lovely summer Spouth Africa, perfect biking weather. However, since yesterday i did experience strange issues with my 2002 Bird. All of a sudden the F1 Light came on whilst riding and dissapeared within 3 seconds not to come on again. This happened at speed and honestly i felt no change whatsoever in the bike's performance. This morning, it started fine as always but about 5 minutes into the ride, the light came on again and stayed on. The next moment it cut out and died at a stop street. Switched it off, in neutral, sidestand out and it started up immediately. Not wanting to take any change i rode it home and the F1 came on again. Had to keep the revs up for it not to stall. Left it at home and took the car to work. Any ideas as to what could be the cause. I will try to check for any fault codes tonight, although i think there are none since the light did not blink at any stage. Will reset the ecu as per manual and see what happens. Perhaps a ground issue? Please advise, Johan

Am running a semi sintetic make from Castrol 20W/40.

Lately i've been hearing this strange winning noice when the Bird is cold, (2004 F1). Typical noice is that of a overworked differential in a motor car. The noice goes away when clutch is engaded, but re-appears once the clutch is released. Seems that the noice is louder, or more noticable, when bike is not up to running temperature. I am planning a long trip within the near future and would like to know if the is anything i have to worry about. The bike has got 25 000km's on the clock and both the sprockets and chain were replaced less than 5 000km's ago. Tyres are in good condition and nothing else seems to be a issue. Bike is running normal. Please advise. Thanks,

Guys, I am from South Africa, Cape Town to be exact and here we have to give up a arm and leg for prices on parts. The local Honda Stealership wanna charge me R 750.00 for a CCT of which they don't even have stock. My Bird, 2004 with 25000km's on the clock is starting to make those funny noices which i presume has to do with the CCT. Any posibility i can import from either the States or Europe for a better price?. Thanks.

Can anybody please tell me how to remove the screen on my 2004 Bird. I can see the two top bolts have nuts which can be loosen, but the remainder is hidden away behind the plastics that forms the side panels to the instrument cluster. Is it necessary to remove these panels in order to loosen the remainder of the bolts holding the screen in place. Please advise, Thanks.