DSA

Perfect, thanks for clearing that up! Final question - given that my operating temps seem to be ~10-20F (5-10C) shy of where they should be, how urgent is it that I address this? I ask because it seems like a bit of an involved task, and is likely to snowball a bit (seems like a crime not to check the valves while I am in there). I've got a few other bike projects lined up, and wonder whether I should push this to the top of the queue, or whether it can wait for a bit. Will operating the bike based on the temps I mentioned in my first post cause any damage?

Thanks for the replies! I tried this - should I be touching the metal upper part of the radiator, or the meshed part? If the former, then I do feel the radiator slowly heat up with the bike. It certainly isn't stone cold before suddenly getting too hot to touch. @Grum: What does a fully closed thermostat look like? Are the springs fully compressed?

Hi All, I've got a Y2K 5th gen bike with 22,000 miles on it. While riding today in ~56F (13C) weather and holding a constant 70-75 mph on a near-empty highway, coolant temp settled at 156F (70C). It moved very little from this point as long as I kept constant speed, and increased to about 164F (73C) when I briefly exited the highway and was going 30 mph for maybe 1 min or so. From reading around the forum, it seems like my temps are a little on the low side (though not by a lot, depending on the source). My other bike, a Blackbird, does tend to run quite a bit hotter than this, though that data point is probably of very limited value. Is it time to tear the bike apart and replace the thermostat? Thanks!

Thanks so much for the input! - It is rubber. - Agreed, the caliper was only to provide a general size reference; without it, it's impossible to tell if the seal is tiny or massive, so I figured I'd throw it in. I took a more careful measurement, and it comes in at around 11 mm in OD. But this is after it split - I can easily see it being 10 when intact. - I took a more careful look at the fiche in the link I provided. According to that, the clutch rod seal at the back of the piston (#24) should be 18 mm in OD, which this one most definitely isn't. - The chain o-ring suggestion was an excellent one. Both flat faces are grooved, as is the outer curved surface. I took a look at the o-rings of the master link of my brand new chain and they look exactly like this. I then took a look at the old chain - it's missing o-rings everywhere! The bike was massively neglected by the last owner and the old chain looked awful, but still, I'm really surprised to see that. Looks like I've found the answer - thanks to this awesome community here.

Hi, I was doing a chain and sprockets change. To remove the front sprocket cover, I removed two of the clutch slave cylinder bolts, and then the two sprocket cover bolts. The slave cylinder is still attached to the sprocket cover; I've read posts saying that I should ziptie or rubber band the slave cylinder piston to stop it popping out, but I suppose this isn't an issue if you leave it connected to the sprocket cover? In any case, in cleaning out the gunk that had accumulated on the back of the sprocket cover, I came across a sealing washer. I've got no idea where this goes. I can't seem to find any mention of it in the manual, or in the fiche. Any ideas? Please see pic attached. The seal is a broken circle, not sure if it is supposed to be that way or it just broke at some point. The only possibility I can think of is that it is part number 24 in the diagram here: https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/motorcycle/2000/vfr800fi-ac-interceptor/left-crankcase-cover. But seeing as I never removed the clutch slave cylinder from the sprocket...what do I do? Thanks in advance.

Yeah, this definitely sounds very much like what my situation was. This winds up being a process of elimination: Once pads and calipers are ruled out through replacement and rebuild respectively, you're left with the three master cylinders, the PVC, delay valve or the lines themselves. The hydraulic action of the master cylinders can be checked by pressing down on the pedal, lever or SMC and then opening a corresponding bleed screw. You'd expect the pedal/lever/SMC to sink down when that happens. After I'd done all this, I went after the PVC. I checked this by trying to manually actuate the SMC when the LF caliper was off the bike. Mine sunk in with no effort, which implied air in the system. I thought I'd bled it properly, but evidently not. Re-bleeding with a good-quality MityVac and hand-bleeding while a friend actuated the SMC really fixed up the lever for me. The pedal is no longer rock hard, as I mentioned in my previous post, but I still have a couple of things to try there to really get it to where I want, including completing the bleeding process in the correct order, and rotating pads to check for contamination. Good luck - it's just a matter of time and effort before you get to the bottom of is.

Thanks for the response. I took the calipers off and checked the action of the pistons and pins - everything seemed to be in order. But when pushing in the secondary master cylinder with the LF caliper off, I realized that I could push it in with no resistance. This seemed odd, and pointed the finger at either the SMC, or at something in between it and the rear caliper. I went ahead and bled the PVC. Last time I did it, I removed the caliper, angled it and then used a vacuum pump. This time, after first using the vacuum pump, I also did it manually, having a friend actuate the SMC as though it were the lever or the pedal, while I bled the PVC. It worked wonders - the lever now generates all the force I would expect, and slows the bike down in a hurry. The rear is now much improved; the pedal isn't rock hard and actually moves a fair bit, but the braking force still isn't what I'd want. Next: I suspect the rear pads might be contaminated by the grease I apply to the back of them. It's a pain to get those rear pads in, and I dropped them/messed up several times and definitely got grease on them. I am going to switch out one of the front pair with the rears and see what that does. Additionally, I didn't fully bleed the pedal circuit this time, just the PVC. While that was probably the issue, I really should do the entire pedal circuit.

Just did the remembrance trail myself a few months ago when I visited Paris. It was beautiful and solemn, and so much more memorable than all the museums and cathedrals. I rented an MT-07 - not the best bike to cover distance with, but perfect for Paris traffic. Great pictures, and hope you had a fulfilling trip.

Hi Folks, Ever since I got my 2000, I've been struggling with the brakes. - Pulling the lever doesn't seem to generate as much stopping force as I'd expect. - The Pedal was really bad when I got the bike - hard as rock, practically no travel or stopping force. I rebuilt all three calipers, bled the system and swapped to brand new EBC HH pads all around. The pedal is now somewhat better, but still nowhere near where I'd expect to be. It can barely bring the bike to a stop - but it WILL prevent me from turning the rear wheel by hand with the bike on the center stand. The lever still isn't what I'd expect, either. One other potentially strange thing I noted: If I press the pedal, it starts out firm with not much travel. But if I leave the pedal pressed and then pull the lever, the pedal softens and sinks down. Doesn't seem to add any additional braking forces when it sinks down, though. -The back wheel spins freely with just a little drag, as one would expect. I don't think I have binding brakes or stuck pistons. - I THINK I've bled the system properly. The lever actually feels great, nice and firm, but just doesn't generate as much stopping power as I'd expect. The rear...I followed the bleeding procedure as best as I could. I removed and tilted the front left caliper, and also relocated the rear caliper to the top of the disk (with the bleed screws at the highest point) when I bled them. Any insight on what could be going on here? Thanks in advance.