ShipFixer

Hyperpro spring kit by itself will get both ends pretty close to "really good" for not much money. I did that before a full rear shock and RaceTech valves up front and it was really good. Especially if you full-service the forks at the same time.

The RBR is one of the most "noticeable" upgrades I've ever done, right up there with getting correct springs the first time. Headers open up the top end with it, but the RBR you will notice all day long at low RPM and midrange. And getting rid of bad closed loop behavior is the best!

Finally installed another thing I got from @SEBSPEED: I also installed a new black plastic ignition ring (covered in Cerakote trim wipes), and wet sanded and polished the ignition switch face while I had it all apart. Twenty years of key scratches gone! Got a new key ring with a soft lanyard so I can hang my fobs and whatnot over the front, and hopefully prevent future damage. But the Cerakote should be waaaaay more resilient, I tried to lightly scratch the underside with metal and its not trivially easy like the original silver paint over aluminum.

Something to look at for future installers. I rode ~100 miles yesterday and the brakes were great. But I noticed brake fluid weeping very slightly out of the left front flare nut, again. This is from the left caliper Secondary Master Cylinder to everything aft, so it is not going to pop tall under lever pressure when you test things, unless you put a clamp on the SMC I suppose. It's also not something you will obviously feel in the brakes, like any level of leak in the front lever to caliper lines. Anyway, you can reach this junction to get a turn on it with a 14mm crows foot on the Galfer nut, and a 10mm flare nut wrench on the flare nut. I loosened the frame clamp, and used the 14mm on my socket wrench to really turn it: Now to ride again and see!

They were backed out no more than 1/8 of an inch and the stator has a perch in the middle, so I don't think there was contact. Didnt see any signs of contact either. Just rattling against the alternator cover as the magnets pulled it around. I should have checked this first as it was the thing I last touched. Same time, glad this is all it was as any other culprit past CCT is an ugly one.. Definitely more torque than I used before (I was concerned about small bolts in aluminum, and torquing with the case in the other hand is kinda awkward) with my small torque wrench, so not likely to happen again.

I think I undertorqued them. I was worried about small bolts, etc. But by "loose" I mean all four bolts were backed out 👀 Which also correlated to "five miles later" and "electrical demand locks it in place." Going to replace the rear one when it arrives, but fwiw the new one and the two existing ones feel exactly the same. Not sticky, not weak, etc. I am considering calculating spring force on a new one when it arrives. Alloy difference in steel springs is almost trivial, so would be a physical difference if they are in fact different to counteract things like creep deformation, etc.

Loose stator is the final answer. Like not a little loose or a bolt torque imbalance either. Re-torque and try again...

Auto stethoscope says likely source is behind the alternator cover. Sigh. Pretty sure everything in there is torqued properly. Something moves and rattles metal to metal at idle and doesn't move when the brights are on. Electric load is more relevant than RPM. Body work coming back off...

No longer think its the CCTs. It's something around the alternator maybe. What...I don't know. Sound goes away when the brights are on so it could be the bolts on the stator came loose (unlikely), the new Oberon clutch slave isn't working out (also unlikely)...dunno. Clutch basket maybe. IMG_0131.MOV

Mixed news - its not the front CCT. Going after the rear with the front one I just pulled since I just had the one new one. Forgot I took video, I'll see if this uploads. Note the change with brights! IMG_0128.MOV

So I think I have the answer "Why now?" after an accidental experiment tonight. When I flip on the brights...the noise completely goes away at idle while RPM stays steady. So when I add those ~100W / 0.13 HP or so of effort to the engine, the cam chain smooths out. With the bigger flywheel and stator, the engine is working less hard at idle to maintain the power out. Putting the brights on makes the crankshaft effort about like it was before with the original smaller alternator. So it's possible mine was this bad for a long while. Will find out tomorrow when I get a replacement CCT!

Finally got to ride mine to and from work a few times. This is about two years after installing a new Honda slave cylinder so it is back to back. Yes...a lot less effort, this upgrade is a win! Clutch engagement zone or sweep is wider too. I didn't have any issues with the OEM cylinder being grabby or difficult to modulate, but this may be a thing for some riders.

Revzilla has the new part number in stock - so I have two coming from one source and an overnight from RevZ.

Well...no new one in hand yet, I was willing to try something 😉 Doesn't take too long to pull the airbox out. Will probably take a week or so. This is probably the cause right? I may try pulling it completely out and doing a "rewind" as the videos show. Not sure if there's any point though.

Okay, the front or right side of my engine still sounds like a cement mixer. Runs great, VTEC works, but noise isn't going away. Should I have been able to turn the CCT counter clockwise a bit and maybe its stuck there? Also did not check the rear one yet, but that's the easier one. Sound kind of seems like what a loose chain might sound like to me: when I roll off the throttle, the rattle picks up like the valve train is figuring out what to do with momentum in the slack. It doesn't correlate to anything with my stethoscope, but I can't reach the front CCT with the airbox on. Can feel it a bit in the pegs, etc. Does not correlate to RPM, like a bad valve or something might. Occurs to me the other thing I did is the flywheel and stator...doesn't sound like an imbalance noise though.