Cogswell

That lower photo looks like forum cover page photo material. Sexy!

Awesome. When you caught up with me and we rode over Lolo pass, I was then running their stator work. No reason it should not work out as well for you.

If you get the owner on the phone - can't recall his name now, Gary? - he has multiple sclerosis. It makes him sound like he's drunk, but he's not. Good guy. He has others working there. They do good work.

Not Rick's specifically. I sent my G6 stator to Custom Rewind in Birmingham, AL. Fine work - cost me $105 plus shipping. Very happy with it. The good thing about them is they will give you any length lead you want or any connector if you want to change R/R or its location.

Grum, I'm like you - I use my rear brake a lot, so my rear pads wear out more or less at the same time as the fronts.

Maybe riders such as that guy will have a new category in the Darwin Awards - "killed themselves in the most stupid way possible . . . "

These filters have been such a problem for so long - so many documented failures, that it amazes me that they continue making them.

Mite have a look at this video on VTEC starter valves - you may be able to observe its operation in place and see what's going on. Oh to have the manual starter valves that my 99 has. I'd retrofit my VTEC and get rid of the wax unit if I could! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhSuYbhN_N4

A pleasure, sir! If you decide you would like the Dimple magnets, they have kind of a quirky website. It appears they only take Paypal, but by clicking that and then on "Pay without a Paypal account" you can then enter a CC # and choose international shipping. That's not mentioned on the website - only by going to checkout can it be found. Cheers.

At your service! I got mine from Dimple in the U.S. (below). They have a different shoulder than OEM - I was skeptical at first, but they work fine, no leaks or backing out. The one compatible with the 8th gen, presuming it's the same as for G6 is pre-drilled for a safety wire, which I decided to begin using after getting the appropriate pliers last year. You'll need a new crush washer at each service (they'll be roached and not reusable) so order plenty, or go on Amazon or ebay if you don't have a local supplier. I've used both aluminum and copper washers, either work fine. I got my copper ones on Amazon in a bag of 50. These things are crazy strong. They really hold on to things. Worth considering are the oil filter magnets, shaped like hockey pucks. The VFR gets 3 staggered from bottom to top - all my other vehicles 2. They're not terribly expensive. I had a magnetic plug in the CRV, Camry and 4Runner, but there was never anything on them, so after I ran out of crush washers I went back to the OEM plug and just use the filter magnets on the cars. It's the bikes that produce the swarf that these things catch. All the ones I've seen them in do it. I suspect it's from the gear box - that's the major difference I can think of between the bike and car engines. IDK why manufacturers don't put them in bikes - car gearboxes, either auto or manual and differentials seem to typically have them. https://drainplugmagnets.com

This article, posted in another thread a few weeks ago, besides just being an interesting read, on the 3rd page has some real world empirical data points on how this courier (dispatch) rider got his 3rd gen to ultimately reach 852,000 miles on the chassis before it finally had had it. The first engine lasted 440,000 miles and the 2nd was at 412,000 when he retired the bike. He also touches on what he did for chain maintenance and tires. None of his practices may fit your situation and he was unusual, doing long stretches at a time so the number of cold starts over miles ridden were likely way lower than the average rider who does maybe 3,000 to 5,000 miles per year. But as pointed out, oils now (as well as other ancillaries such as tires and even chains) are so much better than they were 20+ years ago that you can't go too far wrong at all with your choices. Regardless, it seems likely that we will wear out before our engines do! Something that I started doing 3 years ago was to install a magnetic drain plug in the sump. I encouraged a couple of friends that I assist with maintenance to do the same - one a KTM and the other a Kawi. I'm somewhat amazed at how much sticks to the plug during an annual service, which can be in the 4,000 mile range down to just 1,500 in a lockdown shortened year such as 2020. There is always a black ball on the end of it. If I use a heavy paper towel to wipe it off and keep it centralized, I can turn the towel over and use the magnet to pick it up, so there's no question it's magnetic and not just the usual buildup of oil contamination over the miles. Regardless of the oil you use, a magnet can keep that out of your rotating assembly. I also have two magnets I apply to the outside of the filter. Upon cutting one open, I found the same - two black dots on the inside of the can where the magnets had been. I got mine from Dimple but there are likely many sources. Rare Earth magnets will be the strongest and may catch more of that than Chinese knock offs - hard telling. Britains highest mileage rider.pdf

What happened to the RB - it just died? They seem very well made - but that doesn't mean much - it's what's inside that counts. If it did, sorry to hear that - they're not cheap.

Great minds think alike - I did a very similar trip to many / most of these places in 2013 the same way - by trailering south and then riding a multi-day loop back to the truck and trailer. No sense in grinding away on the interstate for four days to get to and from. It is truly spectacular scenery like no other place on Earth.

Seems in very good condition for 553,xxx km - 343,xxx or so miles. Maybe they slipped a decimal point in the ad. If accurate, that's the highest mileage 6th gen I've seen.

I wonder if Honda improved them when re-introducing the VTEC engine on the 8th gen and Crossrunner but kept the same part #. Sixth gen owners may be upgrading and not knowing it when replacing their CCT's (wouldn't that be something!). If that's the case it's going to take a long time for that to become apparent. It would sure beat "rewinding" the old CCT's 6th gens originally came with.

Ah yes - the joy of working on Hondas. I've wrenched on some Suzuki's and a few other brands, but IMHO Honda seems to have mastered the intricacies of either 1. Attaching each and every part of the bike to every other part or 2. Hiding pieces behind a byzantine array of brackets or major pieces that can make it an exercise in frustration to get just the smallest bit removed. On a 6th gen ABS, just to remove the rear shock is an all day project - non ABS? maybe 20 mins. Honda must hire design engineers who formerly worked on those wooden puzzles that start out as a cube and you have to figure out how all the intertwined pieces come apart. Don't get me wrong - I my Honda's. However . . . when working on them (like right now), I'm often reminded of the Joan Jett song "I hate myself for loving you" . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNw7jYkbVc Stick with it - you'll get it. The benefit of it you can't see at this moment is that once done, you'll know the bike way better and will be the subject matter expert for others that follow.

I agree with Grum - that does look great. Looks like you painted the clutch cover as well . . . ? Just curious - how did you have the rim repaired? Around here shops that do that will not touch a motorcycle wheel.

I bought a RB this summer and installed it with the stock dual O2 sensors on my 6th gen. I would have added the My Tuning Bike and the single wide band sensor, but Yaman was out of stock on the MTB"s. Instalation is plug and play, very easy, the same as a PC. Anyway, unlike PC, RB tunes itself to a target AFR on the fly. It's been flawless - exceeded my expectations. It runs flawlessly at any RPM or load, and I seem to have picked up a few MPG's over the PC tune I had. RB really has its tune dialed in, at least for Gen 6's. It's more expensive than a PC V but way more capable - I've been very pleased.

I would have loved to see how they filled the braking system at the factory. It's hard to envision the workers screwing around with all this plumbing and getting these things out the door. If they had some special equipment for it, I wish I knew what it was . . .