[Pilot Road3 2CT...... Thoughts?]

Stopped in to get some much needed rubber mounted for an upcoming road trip and the place I go to was out of the tire I prefer so I thought I would mount my second choice (PR2 2CT) until I saw the PR3 2CT so I thought what the hell, I'll try them. I have not put one mile on them so my only impression is …… "Damn they are expensive" $400.42 mounted. My second impression is, they are ugly to look at.

Anybody try them yet. Hope they are worth the coin.

I like em... Look like a high speed rated snow tire!

[Regulator output]

15 volts sounds good. This LINK is great for troubleshooting charging problems.

01 and later birds have a upgraded R/R. I have seen post where a volt meter shows changing voltages, and others saying the instruments lights start acting strange.

The connector plug between the stator and the R/R have been known to overheat, turn brown, and open connection.

My bike has 48K miles, is on the second battery since new, and still works great.

This look familiar?

[Low Compression #4 Cylinder]

In all and without knowing the whole story I can only go on general information. Based on the original scenario and readings I would have run the individual pistons to TDC or BDC and then attached an air hose to them one at a time to determine where the loss was. Rings, out the pan; intake valve out the throttle body; exhaust out the tailpipes and if the head gasket is blown you will generally see bubbles in the radiator fill port. Either way you know where the leak is. The XX engines are known for long life so I would be really surprized if you found a problem in the short block but I would check the deck and head to be sure the overtemp didn't warp either.

Thanks for all your feedback. Heres the photos of the pistons and heads...

The #4 piston can slightly rotate by hand in the cylinder which makes me think piston pin and rings? Im thinking this is why I heard air through the oil filler hole (oil pan). I am trying to get my hands on a micrometer set to check clearances. The gasket seems almost new in person. Tomorrow im gonna make the custom socket to remove the adjuster nut to remove the engine all the way out so i can start inspecting rings etc and will take photos... Any other comments welcome, this is my first complete teardown so thanks for the help.

The alt cover is original btw, I just stripped the paint and polished it a while back after i scraped it.

[Low Compression #4 Cylinder]

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking a broken ring & scored cylinder wall... pretty unlikely your electrical problem caused it. But I'm sure you're gonna find out. Good Luck!

That's what i was thinking but thought i'd ask anyway, thanks for the input...

Now i just have to get hold of the special tool to drop the engine out the frame, Anyone know if this tool(s) is only avail from Honda?

Don't know how many miles are on the bike but after overheating, a blown headgasket could cause the low readings on the one hole. The electrical issues won't have anything to do with it.

It's a 99 with 20k and I've owned it since new. Meticulous about repairs, oil changes, fluids etc... First overheat was at about 500mi on a hot day in traffic with a tail wind. I would have put more miles on her if it hadn't run so rough but I would loose the itch...

Anything I should look for or know of during the rebuild aside of what the Honda repair manual says?

[Low Compression #4 Cylinder]

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking a broken ring & scored cylinder wall... pretty unlikely your electrical problem caused it. But I'm sure you're gonna find out. Good Luck!

That's what i was thinking but thought i'd ask anyway, thanks for the input...

Now i just have to get hold of the special tool to drop the engine out the frame, Anyone know if this tool(s) is only avail from Honda?

[Low Compression #4 Cylinder]

I have had a rough idle for a few years and after throwing parts and money at her i finally did a compression test which resulted in the following:

#1 Cylinder 130psi low!

#2 Cylinder 135psi low!

#3 Cylinder 130psi low!

#4 Cylinder 80psi VERY LOW!!!

After getting these results I hooked up a compressor to the compession tester adapter, put the #4 cylinder at TDC and let in about 80psi and got a decent flow of air thru the oil filler hole... Tested the cylinders that had the higher reading and heard nothing but a tiny bit of liquidy his thru the intake valves. I have already started the tear down and am planning on valves and rings, maybe pistons. Question for any experienced mechanics/motorheads is what would overheating a few time cause only one cylinder to be lower than all the others? I also came across a fried cable from the stator to R/R which i must have bean riding with for years and never knew, could this have anything to do with the compression? Any help appreciated.

[Bye Bye High Temps]

I'm thinkin of adding a second fan now... She's boiled over on me about 5 times since new and I haver been able to fix it. Engine has run rougher after each boilover too. Guess I got the rare lemon

You might want to check your radiator cap, thermostat and the lines to the recovery tank.

I also installed a larger aluminun radiator before adding the second cooling fan

I have checked/replaced these items...

What radiator did you use? Is it from a Honda?

[Boil over in ther rain]

So how does it happen that post #1 is from 2003 and post #2 is from today?

Poster number two stumbled across this thread somehow and decided to respond to it, his motivations for doing so are his own.

Nobody responded for 9 years? But it still was in the list of "New Posts"??

It's a new post if you haven't read it. Age is irrelevant. For anyone registering today, every single post on this entire forum is a "new" post.

I thought it would be decent to respond to fellow xx rider that had a similar issue, be it 9 years later, since noone else did. I remembered how infuriated I was when my two week old shiny new bird puked in traffic and I distinctly remember hearing the change in combustion sound, sometimes called pinging or knock, when it happened. I remembered researching the knock sensor and how it didn't do it's job and adjust timing, or whatever it does, and felt like ranting, sort of. Didn't intend to stir the pot with anti honda blaspheme but it's my actual yet unfortunate situation. I'd like to thank everyone on the site that has offered advise and/or responses to my questions on this issue through the years, especially Northman, he knows his shit.

[Boil over in ther rain]

Hey all,

I've had my 02 bird for 10 days and I put 100 miles a day on for the first six days, in 40 degree weather, for break in. It took A LOT of restraint not to get on it.

Anyway, after changing the oil at 600 miles, I got caught in the rain. It ran fine until I got home and it was at 180 degrees and it boiled over in my driveway.

I took the panels off, cleaned it up, reseated the radiator cap, let it dry out and it did not boil over again at idle

Was it the rain? or the cap?

Thanks

Same thing happened to me a few times, no rain relation though. Dealer was no help an I feel my engine has never ran right since(hard starts, rough idle, clanky not cct done that) time to buy a new bike and not sure if I will go with Honda again since I was stonewalled on this and was never happy with the outcome.

[Boil over in ther rain]

Hey all,

I've had my 02 bird for 10 days and I put 100 miles a day on for the first six days, in 40 degree weather, for break in. It took A LOT of restraint not to get on it.

Anyway, after changing the oil at 600 miles, I got caught in the rain. It ran fine until I got home and it was at 180 degrees and it boiled over in my driveway.

I took the panels off, cleaned it up, reseated the radiator cap, let it dry out and it did not boil over again at idle

Was it the rain? or the cap?

Thanks

[Bye Bye High Temps]

I'm thinkin of adding a second fan now... She's boiled over on me about 5 times since new and I haver been able to fix it. Engine has run rougher after each boilover too. Guess I got the rare lemon

[Bye Bye High Temps]

In FLA I've had many problems with high temps on my BB.....But now I've solved my problem. I shifted the radiator 1.5 in forward to get some clearance from the header pipe.(had to do a little welding) Moved the OEM fan to the left side of the radiator. Installed a secondary fan(smaller fan) on the right ride using the bracket from another OEM fan.Made a littte mod the fairing behind the wheel. Installed switch and wire it directly to key switch.....presto. Tonite it's 82 degrees with no breeze and I let the temp climb to 220 and it pulled in down to 208 in 3 min. Have to give an update when I give her a field test...I'll update some pics when I get my camera from the wifey.

I took your advice and also installed a second cooling fan on my 2002 XX and it works fine.

I've never experienced boiling over but the temps would get to 225+ and even though there didn't seem to be any damage to the engine I didn't like looking at the gage reading that high.

Thanks for the info and pic's you sent.