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CBR600F Resurrection (very old thread with new updates)

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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 17:25 - 10 Aug 2011    Post subject: CBR600F Resurrection (very old thread with new updates) Reply with quote

A tale of bad luck and mechanical ineptitude, spread over a number of years. This isn’t a project to return the bike to cosmetic perfection, but rather to just get it back on the road in a relatively reliable state.

I originally bought this 1994 CBR600FR in 1997 with 16k on the clock. I kept it standard and just commuted the hell out of it, adding another 60k over the next six years. Then it didn’t get used much from 2003-2006 due to working from home, probably less than 1000 miles a year, until I pressed it back into service as a commuter in Sept 2006.

https://i.imgur.com/NZLdxL1h.jpg

In November 2006 I noticed a small puddle of oil under the bike. Not good as the bike had always been 100% leak free. I took off the plastics and degreased the engine hoping to see where the leak was coming from. I warmed the engine and checked. Nothing. Went for a little ride to get some proper heat into it, then checked. Nothing. However, as soon as I turned off the engine there was a drip, drip, drip from one of the breather pipes. I followed it back to the coolant expansion tank to find it full to the brim with oil\water porridge. I wheeled the bike into my garage with about 80k on the clock and so began the slowest collection of repairs ever.

The Oil Leak

I had a poorly CBR6 in the garage in desperate need of attention so I did what any sensible person would have done… …and bought a FireBlade.

Unfortunately this meant that it was a whole year before I even looked at the CBR6. In November 2007 I decided, with the assistance of the learned members of BCF Workshop section, that the seals in the oil cooler had failed. The oil cooler on the CBR sits at the front of the engine inside a water jacket. If the O-rings fail then oil can be injected into the coolant. It seems that the oil pressure is higher than the coolant so water never flows back into the oil or the damage could have been a lot worse. With the additional liquid in the cooling system the bike did what it was designed to do and dumped the extra into the expansion tank. The tank must have filled up slowly over a few weeks until it finally reached the breather and the drips gave the game away.

I purchased a new set of genuine O-rings and gaskets and set about tidying up the mess. When I drained the oil it all came out uncontaminated, supporting the theory that the leak was oil to coolant and not the other way around. I drained the coolant, which came out splendidly porridgey, and removed the radiator. To get the expansion tank out for cleaning I had to remove the rear wheel, hugger and shock. To get to the oil cooler I had to remove the exhaust system and, inevitably, one of the studs snapped. More on that later.

https://i.imgur.com/dm9H2pdh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BBaUKnvh.jpg

I removed the oil cooler and opened it up. The seals were a bit squashed, but not that bad. However there was some fairly bad pitting around the O-ring seats, possibly caused by galvanic corrosion, which was the most likely cause of the leak. I filled in the pitting with epoxy resin and gave it a few days to fully cure, before reassembling the cooler and taking a “little” break.

https://i.imgur.com/wVGJmGQh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/XoZE8j9h.jpg

Probably sometime in early 2009 I felt I’d had a long enough break and finally got around to putting the bike back together, fitting the exhaust, radiator, rear shock and back wheel. I fitted a new oil filter and filled the bike with oil (yes, it had been standing for over a year with no oil). I flushed the cooling system through with tap water, running it up to temperature and draining several times to get rid of all the oily deposits. There were no apparent leaks and the water and oil stayed separate, however the exhaust headers weren’t sealing properly (due to that busted stud and old gaskets) and the battery was utterly shagged. I drained the water out of the cooling system to avoid frost-shattering nightmares and dumped the bike back in the garage to live with the spiders again…

The Exhaust Stud

After sorting the oil cooler it was nearly another two years before I got back to tackling the unpleasant problem of the snapped exhaust stud. In those two years I had completed a few other jobs like removing a knackered old tank pad and stripping and greasing the rear suspension linkages. Funnily enough the tank pad took the most time and involved razors, paraffin, a 3kW heater and a lot of elbow grease.

As for the actual broken stud, well with hindsight my best bet would have been to get a proper stud extractor. The stud had snapped off with about 1cm still protruding so one of the socket type removers would have fitted over and possibly turned it out. My attempts however involved, in approximately the order I tried them, lots of penetrating fluid, mole grips, heat, small pipe wrench, more heat, wax, cursing, even more heat, exposed knuckle bones, small hammer, large hammer, screw extractor (don’t ask), rage, drill with HSS bits, stud extractor and finally drill with cobalt bits.

https://i.imgur.com/vyYAssmh.jpg

Now don’t make the mistake of thinking that all that happened in the space of an hour or two, more like four years. I would have a quick go at the stud every few weeks when I found some enthusiasm, then abandon it again for ages. In the end it was very slow drilling with cobalt bits and lots of lube that got it out. Once I had reached the stage where you can usually pick the last bits of the stud out of the threads I found that the metals were so strongly corroded together that I resorted to drilling out the whole lot and fitting a helicoil.

https://i.imgur.com/kgDZXmPh.jpg

I’d managed to crack a little bit of the raised area of the engine block around the stud while trying to use one of those left handed stud extractors. As they go in and grip they cause the stud to expand with nasty consequences. Not much broke off and the helicoil is fitted deeper inside the engine block. Hopefully it will all prove strong enough. Lesson learnt. That type of stud extractor is not appropriate for this sort of job.

https://i.imgur.com/mOtjVqAh.jpg


Fork Overhaul

Once the exhaust stud was dealt with I had a look over the rest of the machine to see what else needed attention. I’d been meaning to sort out the poor cosmetic appearance of the fork lowers for years, but never got around to it. I’ve changed the fork oil a couple of times in the past, but the seals never leaked so I never replaced them. It’s unlikely that the previous owner changed the seals on a three year old bike so the seals were probably the original 17 year old factory fitted parts.

I lifted the dust seals to take a look at the oil seals underneath and found them in a pretty poor state. They had rusty bulges growing out of them and obviously needed renewing. Dropping the forks out and draining the oil all went to plan. The first fork I tried to split took a lot of effort, but eventually, with a bit of heat, the seal and top bush popped out so I could separate the tube and lower. The second fork was not so easy and despite using fairly destructive levels of force refused to come apart. In the end I paid my local bike mechanic to get the seal out, which he did, but managed to mark the top of the fork lower where he levered the seal out. Ho hum… Sad

https://i.imgur.com/pVSlHMzh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8GiHfq2h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1Gbb9Zoh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/qXvsw4zh.jpg


I paid a local coating company to blast and powder coat the lowers then set about reassembling everything. I cleaned all the fork components in paraffin followed by isopropanol and put it all back together. I purchased new top and bottom bushes and used new genuine Honda oil and dust seals. Driving in the new seals was a bit of an arse ache, but I got it done without wrecking them. I filled the forks with new oil and used a syringe with an appropriate length of vinyl tube to suck out oil to the correct level. I slapped the forks back into the triple clamps for safe keeping and called it a night.

https://i.imgur.com/g7Yl5tDh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/opdaHYRh.jpg

The next morning I returned to find a small puddle of oil under the right tube. Too lazy to find a new copper washer for the damper rod bolt I’d annealed the old one and used it. That probably would have been ok, but it seems that the one place I neglected to clean properly on the fork was the seat for the damper rod bolt. The seat was all covered with shite from the road and sand from the blasting. The copper washer had tried its best to make a seal, but without success. Also, when I stripped the fork down again the new oil came out looking remarkably dirty despite my cleaning of the parts before reassembly so I decided to change the oil, clean the damper rod bolt area and fit new copper washers to BOTH forks. Another lesson learnt.

Next hurdle to cross was when I tried to fit the front wheel I found there was some overspill of powder coat in the spindle holes on the fork lowers preventing the axle going back in. That took an hour or so of Dremel and wet n dry action to sort out.


Brake Hoses


While I had the forks out I thought it would be worth stripping and cleaning the brake callipers. They were a little seized up from being put away in salty weather without a clean then being neglected for over four years. Also since the original rubber hoses were now 17 years old I ordered some new HEL stainless lines.

I used the system’s own hydraulic pressure to push the pistons out as far as I dared before pulling them out the rest of the way by hand. After cleaning and examining the fluid and dust seals from the callipers I decided to reuse them. They were in amazing condition and the piston seizure had been down to corrosion behind the seals rather than problems with the seals themselves. I know it’s not best practice to reuse the seals, but if there was any sign of damage I would have fitted new ones.

I cleaned out all the corrosion from the seal seats and reassembled the callipers using red rubber grease on the seals. I’d never used that before and I hope it helps keep the corrosion at bay. I fitted the callipers back on the bike and added the new hoses to front and rear. My personal brake bleeding technique is to use a syringe with a length of vinyl tube to pump brake fluid into the system from the calliper bleed nipple. Once both sides of the front are done and I see fluid trickling into the reservoir on the master cylinder I give the lever a dozen or so pumps to get the air bubbles out and give a little pressure. Then I pump fluid back through the system, keeping the reservoir topped up while opening one bleed nipple at a time and allowing the excess fluid to flow back into the syringe. That gets 99% of the air out of the system without making a mess, at least it would if I hadn’t decided to violently turn the handlebars with the reservoir cap off, D’oh!!! Spill city…

…a quick clean up and wash down kept any fluid off the paintwork and I continued bleeding the fluid through until I got a nice solid feel at the lever. These old sliding two pot callipers aren’t as good as the newer four piston Nissins, but if kept in good shape they’re still very effective.


The Next Steps


So, last Saturday, once I had a rolling chassis again I filled the cooling system with water and took the bike outside to see if it all held together. I’d fitted a new battery after the last time I’d started the bike, but that was nearly two years ago. I have a trickle charger that I connect to the bike every now and again to keep the battery fit and it seemed to have worked because it let me turn over the starter 15 or 20 times without sounding tired until the motor finally burst into life.

I had a little bimble around the cul-de-sac to test the brakes and suspension and the bike feels amazingly smooth and powerful compared to my lumpy old CB500. The riding position also feels really extreme compared to the CB, which is a little ironic because I remember when I got the FireBlade how that felt extreme compared to the CBR600.

https://i.imgur.com/CSOMLash.jpg


The bike has stood unused for nearly five years with at least two years in between attempts to run the engine, yet it still fired up successfully on half a tank of stale petrol. I’ve heard bad things about cast iron cylinder liners corroding in old CBR6 motors that are left for a long time, so I may still hit problems, but touch wood, ok so far.

This week I flushed the cooling system through again and refilled with proper antifreeze. I had a couple of green drips from coolant hoses, but a gentle tightening of the jubilee clips seems to have sorted that out.

I’ll dig out all the lights and plastics from dark corners of the garage and see if I can get it all back to one piece, then it’s off for an MOT.

I did have grand plans for repainting the subframe, maybe getting the wheels recoated and sending the shock back to Hagon for a rebuild, but for the moment I just plan to get it on the road and enjoy it again, for a while, until something else breaks.

Shiny pictures of the thing all back in one piece still to come. If you have managed to read through all this without nodding off, thanks for looking. Thumbs Up Smile

Edited to fix pics. Thanks for the years of free pic hosting Photobucket. Enjoy the death of your business!
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2007 CBF1000-ABS - Commuter heaven | 1994 CBR600FR - Awaiting defibrillation


Last edited by Serendipity on 18:02 - 22 Jul 2018; edited 4 times in total
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Biker100
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PostPosted: 18:53 - 10 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Top work fella, im looking at getting a cbr600f myself for commuting, looking more promising now i see there good for 60k plus!
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geordiecbrblo...
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PostPosted: 21:18 - 10 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rob Fzs wrote:
good write up

keep going! haha


+ 1 Mr. Green
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m0l0t0v
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PostPosted: 00:53 - 11 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Which is the local place you use for the sandblasting and powdercoating and do you mind me asking how much? My Hornet forks need a bit of loving soon... As well as other things! Laughing
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 07:49 - 11 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

No problem. The place I used was Sprayblast Fabrications right near the bike shop on the West Wycombe Road. Not an easy place to spot from the road. It’s the bunch of workshop sheds you can see in the distance behind the car wash here:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=+HP11+2LR&hl=en&ll=51.634261,-0.762327&spn=0.001901,0.005284&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=14.723988,43.286133&vpsrc=6&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=51.634222,-0.762195&panoid=CV2gso6-rCPBaU1SPtoNbA&cbp=12,212.97,,0,10.76

They were ok, but I wouldn’t call them artists. I don’t think much love went into the coating of my forks. I used them because they were quick and local. I looked at another place up near Hemel that looked a whole lot more slick, but I’m a lazy bugger so went with the local one. The Hemel bunch were https://www.blast-clean.co.uk/motor-bike-part-painting.php.

Sprayblast charged me £30 total to blast and coat both forks. Dunno if that’s a good rate or not, but compared to the cost of etch primer and rattle cans, not to mention the time it would take to rub them down by hand, seems like a bargain to me. Plus the finish is much better than I could have achieved at home.
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Wafer_Thin_Ham
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PostPosted: 09:03 - 11 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

m0l0t0v wrote:
Which is the local place you use for the sandblasting and powdercoating and do you mind me asking how much? My Hornet forks need a bit of loving soon... As well as other things! Laughing


You've got competition Molly. Will your Hornet rebuild take as long as this? Laughing
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m0l0t0v
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PostPosted: 23:35 - 12 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

5 years? I don't think I can cope Laughing
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**\Tarmacsurfer/** said: It's that immaculately manly coiffure of yours isn't it. One glimpse of your virile locks and the punters can't wait to buy whatever it is you suggest, as it might let them be just a little bit like the Adonis that is our very own Molly Very Happy Doovydoo said: Its not my fault I can't get it up properly, I just wasn't blessed Wink
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 23:08 - 14 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Earlier this week I managed to grab time over a couple of evenings to get a bit more done. I adjusted the chain properly and went around the bike with a torque wrench tightening up all the various bits I’d messed with over the years.

This is a picture from the other day. This is my bike having a nice hot piss in the gutter before I refilled it with proper coolant.

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/IMGP7549.jpg~original

You can see quite clearly why I thought it would be a good idea to slap some Hammerite on the subframe. I’ll get around to doing it one of these days.

I fitted the top fairing, screen and mirrors during the week, but stopped with the rest of the bodywork because I was still wondering about the state of the shock. It feels like all the damping made a break for the hills during the bike’s extended rest. I spoke to Hagon and they reckon they can probably do a rebuild, but it depends on how old the shock is. I can’t remember exactly when I bought it, but I bet it was the best part of ten years ago.

In the end I decided I’ll put it through the MOT anyway and see what transpires. Regardless of whether it passes or fails I’ll send the shock off as soon as I can.

So I delved behind a huge pile of RXS bits, paddling pools, bits of wood and bicycles to retrieve the bodywork. It was caked in a splendid mixture of mud, salt, spider corpses, dust, cobwebs and oil. After half an hour with some paraffin, Muc-Off and hose action it looked like this:

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/IMGP7550.jpg~original

Then it only took another half an hour or so (including repairing a cross threaded fairing bolt) to transform this (not quite, because as mentioned I had already fitted the top fairing):

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/IMGP7546.jpg~original

To this:

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/IMGP7551.jpg~original

Next week a new MOT will be mine…





…maybe. Wink
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Last edited by Serendipity on 12:24 - 11 Nov 2017; edited 2 times in total
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Howling Terror
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PostPosted: 23:13 - 14 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scrubbed up well.
Job Done. (ish) Thumbs Up

Thanks for the write-up.
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Robby
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PostPosted: 08:14 - 15 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

One tip I picked up from car mechanics magazine for cleaning out the cooling system after a failed oil cooler. Daz washing powder. No idea why, but they always seem to use Daz. In fact, I emailed Daz to tell them a few months ago and they sent me a voucher.

If there is still some oily scum in the system, mix up some detergent and water in a bucket (not loads, make sure it has all dissolved), fill up the coolant, and let it run on tickover for 10-20 minutes. Drain, rinse, job done.

This may play havoc with water pump seals, but they've been doing it for ages on cars with no ill effects. That mayonnaise can block narrow passages and take a very long time to clear, so I would say that the risk over using laundry detergent is worth it.
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 10:22 - 15 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I flushed the system a couple of years ago I only used water because I was concerned about the potential effect of detergent on aluminium internals. However when I washed it through again last week I added a squirt of Fairy to the first batch of water then ran the engine for 15 minutes. Then I removed the drain plugs from the water pump and the oil cooler and inserted my hose (fnar fnar) into the radiator filler and ran water through for some time at fairly high pressure.

After that I filled with fresh water and ran the bike until the fan kicked in then drained it, repeating the process not once, not twice, but four times in total. Yes I am a sad man with nothing better to do.

I’ve still got the other half of the 5 litre bottle of coolant that I bought from Wemoto. After I’ve run the bike on the road for a bit and put it through some normal working conditions I’ll drain, flush and refill it again.
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 17:11 - 17 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK, small backward step, but not unexpected.

Took the CBR for an MOT yesterday and, as predicted, it failed on the complete lack of damping from the rear shock. Everything else was fine apparently.

So today I pulled out the shock and put it in the post to Hagon so the guys there can have a look and let me know if they can rebuild it. Hopefully the answer will be positive and I’ll get it back quickly and avoid paying for a retest. They reckon they’re running on a four day turnaround at the moment so I may get lucky.

While the bike is in pieces again I’m going to check over a few other service jobs like lubing cables etc. The throttle feels really stiff compared to my other bikes so I’ll investigate the cause of that. Hopefully it’s the cable or twist grip needing attention rather than the carbs.

While I was removing the shock I found that the bolts holding the tank down were only finger tight, so there’s more of that sort of thing to check. Then maybe a quick peek at the camchain tensioner. It’s always been a bit noisy, particularly if you turn the engine over when hot and it doesn’t start the first time…
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 11:28 - 25 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

A nice man in a van brought this to my door today:

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/Photo25-08-2011105506.jpg~original


A quick unwrap revealed a freshly rebuilt shock all the way from Essex. Same spring and slightly corroded old body, but all new internals and a few new shiny bits like a new preload adjuster ring and new copper bushes.


https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/Photo25-08-2011110049.jpg~original

To the garage!! Very Happy
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Last edited by Serendipity on 12:26 - 11 Nov 2017; edited 1 time in total
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Slacker24seve...
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PostPosted: 19:58 - 25 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

How much did that cost, out of interest?
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Nick 50
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PostPosted: 20:08 - 25 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Superb job so far Serendipity.

Looks like they did a decent job of the shock.


Over at the 6'ers forum a lot rave about MCTsuspension who will set up your CBR suspension to your specific use and weight.

What they offer:

https://www.mctsuspension.com/setup.htm
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philoldsmobil...
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PostPosted: 20:58 - 25 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good to see people still put care and attention into these bikes, CBR 6's are just fantastic, especially the steel framed ones, very tough bikes.

Nice work Thumbs Up
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 22:21 - 25 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

All back together now and booked for an MOT retest at 9am tomorrow. A nice smooth bounce has been restored to my rear end. Wink

I sorted out the stiff throttle by lubricating the cables and re-greasing the twist grip. I lubed a few other pivot points here and there and topped up the oil.

The shock I just had rebuilt was already a Hagon model. I ditched the original Honda shock about 10 years ago when it reached about 60k. The Honda shock probably still had some life in it, but it was a bit tired and the bike was already in pieces because I was replacing a holed radiator so a change seemed sensible.

Hagon rebuild their shocks for a standard fee of just over £100 including VAT and shipping.

I’ve always been a bit crap and lazy about my suspension. On all my bikes I tend to set it to standard then only adjust preload if I’m carrying passengers or touring with stacks of luggage. The idea of getting someone to set it up just for me is appealing, but probably unnecessary.
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0l0dom0l0
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PostPosted: 23:23 - 25 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Firstly, great to meet you at the BBQ Thumbs Up.

Just want to say what a great job you've done and what a tidy bike for the mileage. Looks like you've looked after it.

Makes me want to get mine back on the road.. just awaiting some forks from ebay!

Hope to meet you again some time and compare bikes lol. Smile
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Bikes: 2007 Derbi GPR 50, 1998 Yamaha Fazer 600 (written off), 2002 Yamaha Fazer 600, 1994 CBR 600F, 2003 Triumph Daytona 600, Kawasaki ZX6R J1.....Current: 2006 Yamaha FZ6, 1998 Suzuki TL1000R and a Honda VFR 400 NC30.
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Michael47
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PostPosted: 07:00 - 26 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

How'd the mot go? Fingers x'd over here - nice write up Thumbs Up
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 11:33 - 26 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got a green one! Cool

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/IMGP7584a.jpg~original


However, not everything is peachy. It may have passed the test, but there’s something not quite right with the transmission. It’s only noticeable when moving away slowly, but just as you feed in a little bit of power there’s a gentle CLUNK from the rear. You can’t really hear it, but you can feel it through the footrests.

The wheel bearings seemed alright yesterday so my suspicion falls on the very old chain. The chain had already been on for a few thousand miles before I fitted a Scottoiler. I can’t remember specific dates and mileage, but I guess it was around the time I fitted the Hagon shock making it 10 years and about 25k miles old. I’d been used to changing chains every year and constantly lubing and adjusting them so the Scottoiler was a revelation. The chain just stopped wearing and never seemed to need adjusting. The only time the chain dried out was when I was too lazy to pop the side panel off to fill the oiler reservoir.

Equally it could be the front sprocket. The rear sprocket doesn’t look too worn, but in my experience the fronts tend to wear into hooks quicker than the rears. I can’t remember the last time I looked under the front sprocket cover so it could be knackered. Fingers crossed there’s no problem with the gearbox or output shaft bearing.

So maybe a new chain and sprocket kit is needed. It’s another £120 or so, but probably worth it just in case the O-rings on the old chain have hardened or perished.

At least now, once I add some tax, I can get out on the road for some proper test runs rather than pootling up and down my cul-de-sac.
____________________
2007 CBF1000-ABS - Commuter heaven | 1994 CBR600FR - Awaiting defibrillation


Last edited by Serendipity on 12:28 - 11 Nov 2017; edited 1 time in total
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0l0dom0l0
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PostPosted: 13:13 - 26 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Do you know what pitch chain it is?

I've got one here that I took of mine as it was suffering quite bad from tight spots and the links were a bit iffy.

Its been in oil over the past 3 months and so it should be good now. You're more than welcome to it for the cost of postage if you want to give it a go.

It's a 530 though and I'm pretty sure the CBR isn't quite as meaty as that.
____________________
CBT Passed: 30/08/2009, Theory Passed: 31/08/2010, Mod 1 Passed: 6/9/2010, Mod 2 Passed: 13/09/2010. Restriction ended 13/09/2012.

Bikes: 2007 Derbi GPR 50, 1998 Yamaha Fazer 600 (written off), 2002 Yamaha Fazer 600, 1994 CBR 600F, 2003 Triumph Daytona 600, Kawasaki ZX6R J1.....Current: 2006 Yamaha FZ6, 1998 Suzuki TL1000R and a Honda VFR 400 NC30.
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Serendipity
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PostPosted: 13:07 - 27 Aug 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheers for the offer, really appreciated, but I’d already ordered a new chain and sprockets to fit together.

The CBR is actually a 530 chain. My CB500 uses a 525 and the CBR6 puts out an additional 42BHP (on paper at least) so I’d expect a slightly meatier item on the sporty bike.

I went for a longer ride yesterday afternoon after I taxed the bike. Everything seems to work quite well and the brakes are far better than I remember them, probably something to do with the new hoses and calliper service.. The rejuvenated suspension is a pleasure too, although I think I need to play with the setting on the rear. Fortunately the dreadful state of our country’s roads gives me plenty of uneven surfaces for testing.

So have a last picture of the CBR all together before I pull all the panels off again. It's a teeny bit grubbier than before after riding it through all the wet weather yesterday.

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/IMGP7585.jpg~original

I could smell coolant after my run yesterday so I need to check for leaks again. I think there’s a very slow drip from the hose union at the base of the oil cooler onto the downpipes. I plan to drain the coolant and pull off the hose to make sure there’s no grit or cracks causing the drip.

I’m also considering renewing the camchain tensioner. It’s also debatable whether I should consider renewing the cam chain itself, but I’ll get a better idea of wear when I pull the tensioner and see how far the plunger has extended. It may be fine and I can reuse the tensioner after a clean and re-prime with oil. I’ve never played with that so it will be a fun learning experience.
____________________
2007 CBF1000-ABS - Commuter heaven | 1994 CBR600FR - Awaiting defibrillation


Last edited by Serendipity on 12:28 - 11 Nov 2017; edited 1 time in total
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Serendipity
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Joined: 07 Jun 2006
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PostPosted: 15:57 - 02 Sep 2011    Post subject: Reply with quote

A few bits turned up in the post so I thought I’d get back out there to do the work. I took a few pictures as I pulled the plastics off the bike again and used the first and last ones to make a full dress to naked morph animation. The freebie program I used only takes two photos unfortunately otherwise I’d have the whole lot coming off in stages.

https://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd227/serendipity_uk/CBR600FR/cbr600fr.gif~original

My old airbox was missing a chunk at the front from where I had to cut out a seized screw several years ago. Managed to find a new airbox cover on Fleabay for a tenner so I took the opportunity to fit that with a new air filter element from David Silver Spares.

Next I need to fit new chain and sprockets and make sure the coolant isn’t still leaking from the bottom hose union. This probably means a coolant change while I mess about with the hoses. I’ll also change the oil as I honestly can’t remember what I poured in there a couple of years ago.

I was going to make a start on all that today, but it’s currently nice and sunny and too hot to be sweating in the garage. I’ll save that for a dull day and get out there to enjoy the weather today. Very Happy
____________________
2007 CBF1000-ABS - Commuter heaven | 1994 CBR600FR - Awaiting defibrillation


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