Bruckner

I noticed these past few seasons that the bike's exhaust fumes smell rich, a novelty as far as I can remember, I have owned this bike for 12 years.

As part of my bike's midlife maintenance, I'd like to refresh its o2 sensors. Is it recommended to simply remove and clean, or replace altogether? If so, are there alternatives to costly OE units?

I ended up postponing the installation of my new fast idle device, as the winter nears with ever colder mornings what I noticed is that the wax unit works as it should... when it is near freezing outside! I mean, it'll fire up and go straight to fast idle, where as mild fall season temps will produce a lazy start with fast idle creeping up over a 10-15 seconds. My theory is that a tired wax unit will not retract fully when cooling down in mild temps... bike is now in storage, will deal with this in the spring which won't come soon enough!

Could a faulty air temp sensor or water temp sensor cause my lazy start issue in cold weather? I can get the motor to reach fast idle with a few cracks of the throttle, but something's definitely up... aside from that the engine idles nice and steady when hot and throttle modulation on/off is great, it really is a problem when cold. I know it's a minor annoyance, I just like my toys to work well...

The spark plugs are new from last year, they were in bad shape and replacing them literally transformed the bike. Is there any benefit in first changing the coolant? It is on my to-do-list as I haven't changed it in years, perhaps it's worth doing that before messing with the wax unit. With regards to the core itself, is it a separate part from the whole assembly part number 16044-MCW-003? Thanks guys,

The cooler temps are upon us and my bike now struggles to reach fast idle, it can take up to a minute to settle. Is that the telltale of a failing wax unit? Last year I removed the airbox to inspect my vacuum lines and found the rubber seal that's around the wax unit rod to be torn, though it operates its full range of motion. Provided a new unit is on the way, what's the procedure to adjust the nut on the rod? I see that this part was adjusted at the factory when assembling the bike and shouldn't be messed with, but what about a new part? Thanks,

After a solid dose of mental self-persuasion, I accept the inevitable, TBs are coming off. New fast idle wax unit, injector clean, vacuum hoses replacement, and starter valve clean. May as well replace thermostat while in there. Anything else worth doing? Thanks all for help.

All useful info guys, I'm usually an OEM ayatolla but my bike is a work horse not a garage queen so I'll start with a complete replacement of vacuum hoses using automotive grade hoses. A few questions. Can starter valves be removed without taking the TB off? I will try to clean the best I can in-situ, including the idle adjustment plate which seems partially stuck, the adjustment screw binds much more than it used to when turning one way or another. Taking the airbox off is a piece of cake, but the TB looks much more involved especially putting back in place. I see that there is a solenoid at the front right side of the airbox, seems to operate the flapper valve. Any downside to removing the whole thing out and plugging the hose coming from cylinder 2 to the air-shot valve? This would include the vacuum chamber at the front of airbox. I should be able to get some work done on the bike tomorrow... thanks for all input!

I meant to say, mix and matching hoses could create differences in air flow restriction which could theoretically result in idle issues...

Interesting. Did you replace all hoses? Perhaps the flow isn't matched from OEM Honda to automotive standard hoses? The replacement hose I got from NAPA sure fits the vacuum connections...

Just to be sure, you are advising against replacing vacuum hoses by the right size common automotive hoses? Why is that, if I may?

Yes I actually did that yesterday, though only disconnected it, didn't yet block off the small pipe running to the left rear side of the airbox, will do that. I did notice that there was a bit of oil residue around the 2 rear velocity stacks. What does the other pipe going to the right rear side of airbox come from?

I had to give up the bike to attend family duties, next time around I will inspect every single vacuum line. I have about 6' of replacement hose, I could be tempted to replace every single one. I suppose I should synch starter valves also. I never pulled the throttle body, only the airbox. Still not sure what caused my plugs to go so bad...

Here are the codes: 1: MAP (electrical) 2: MAP (vacuum) 9: air temperature sensor These 3 would be due to my removing the airbox to inspect and fix the visible vacuum leak I had. I just removed the box again to check electrical and vacuum connections to MAP sensor and IAT sensor. I can see no problem unless I routed the vacuum lines incorrectly but I doubt it. I cleared the codes. If i l start it with some throttle to keep it from dying, code 2 flashes. I doubled checked connector and it looks fine. Problem must be the sensor itself or worse the wiring...

Bad news, I took the bike out for a short ride, put some fresh gas into it, gave it the beans on the highway, then came the first red light and the motor died. Sometimes it'll hold an idle, most of the time it won't. The on/off throttle is now abrupt and exhaust smells terrible. All I did was fix a punctured vacuum line and replace spark plugs. The bike is now unridable. I'll try to adjust the idle but I'm pretty sure problems are more serious. Any thoughts (including sympathy) before I take it to Honda to fix?