New (to me) bike day - 2000 Honda CBR900RR

[dern]

The odo will be stored in non volatile memory that persists even if you take the battery out.

[KungFooBob]

I like to sticky back velcro the controller to the top yoke, but that yoke doesn't look like it's flat enough.

[Ben17484]

I would have thought there would be two power connections to the dash. One with the key on that lights up all the gauges and one that enables it to keep time, remember mph/kph and so on. The latter one sounds duff in your case.

That makes sense to me. I’ll try and get the gauges off and see what I can find. Unfortunately I’d guess that both connections will come in on the same connector I.e not a simple fix of tightening the wire that comes in for constant power (if you see what I mean)

[Ben17484]

I like to sticky back velcro the controller to the top yoke, but that yoke doesn't look like it's flat enough.

Yeah, I saw a few bikes like that but I couldn’t as there’s no flat spot large enough

[Ben17484]

The Winter salt will take the shine off that one.

It seems cruel subjecting a clean bike,that's what shitty old scooters are for!

Yup, it’s gonna get messy. I couldn’t really justify having a bike and a scooter, so went for an older, slightly ’worn’ bike that I wouldn’t mind getting a bit older and more worn.

[Ben17484]

Thanks All. I’m really happy with it so far. It was great being back out on a bike albeit in sh*ty road conditions.

I did that last year! First time having a bike in a couple of years and I had a course in the valley that started at 9am every day for two weeks! Oops

I'd get up and check the outside temperature (I kinda knew it would be freezing or close!) then head down to the road to see if it was slippy or grippy, then go to the garage to get the bike out

Everyone I met told me I was nuts, but tbf, I didn't have a choice as the course was important and I didn't have a car!! At least I knew the bits of the road down that were likely to be frozen/slippy!! One of the few times I'm glad we didn't have snow early


Have fun - it is a lush bike

Haha, glad there’s someone out there as mad as me

I’m not looking forward to getting to the icy time of year. I’ve ridden through the winter in the past, but it’s definitely not fun!

[Skub]

The Winter salt will take the shine off that one.

It seems cruel subjecting a clean bike,that's what shitty old scooters are for!

Yup, it’s gonna get messy. I couldn’t really justify having a bike and a scooter, so went for an older, slightly ’worn’ bike that I wouldn’t mind getting a bit older and more worn.

Funny,I always bought a Honda for Winter duties,partly because I never minded ruining something I didn't like.

[dern]

I would have thought there would be two power connections to the dash. One with the key on that lights up all the gauges and one that enables it to keep time, remember mph/kph and so on. The latter one sounds duff in your case.

That makes sense to me. I’ll try and get the gauges off and see what I can find. Unfortunately I’d guess that both connections will come in on the same connector I.e not a simple fix of tightening the wire that comes in for constant power (if you see what I mean)

Before you do that try one thing... when you set the clock let it stop flashing before switching the bike off. If you don't do that it will definitely not remember the time.

If it's not that then use the following diagram...

https://www.fireblades.org/cdn-cgi/imag ... jpg.43476/

...to trace the issue with a multimeter. I'd be checking to see that you're getting power to the clocks and also check the common earthing point as they always seem to corrode on hondas.

[Noggin]

Thanks All. I’m really happy with it so far. It was great being back out on a bike albeit in sh*ty road conditions.

I did that last year! First time having a bike in a couple of years and I had a course in the valley that started at 9am every day for two weeks! Oops

I'd get up and check the outside temperature (I kinda knew it would be freezing or close!) then head down to the road to see if it was slippy or grippy, then go to the garage to get the bike out

Everyone I met told me I was nuts, but tbf, I didn't have a choice as the course was important and I didn't have a car!! At least I knew the bits of the road down that were likely to be frozen/slippy!! One of the few times I'm glad we didn't have snow early


Have fun - it is a lush bike

Haha, glad there’s someone out there as mad as me

I’m not looking forward to getting to the icy time of year. I’ve ridden through the winter in the past, but it’s definitely not fun!

First bike (bought in November) first winter of riding, first time riding in snow I know I can (on a bike I can touch the ground on!) but I have no intention of trying it out here!! LOL

TBF, the roads I was riding last time at this time of year I know REALLY well, so I know where it's likely to be icy and can pick the position in the road that has the best surface and since no one else is driving down in the morning I can pick my speed without pissing anyone off!! LOL

Not willing at the mo cos it's someone else's bike!! LOL And snow is due tomorrow, in the valley

Funny,I always bought a Honda for Winter duties,partly because I never minded ruining something I didn't like.

That proper made me laugh

[Ben17484]

Brief update on life with the Fireblade. To recap, I needed a bike to go to and from the train station (6 miles ish) to avoid traffic. There were plenty of more sensible choices, but I wanted something interesting, so chose the Fireblade. Should I have gone for the sensible option with top box and better luggage options for storage at the station? Maybe. I do wish I had a top box as it'd make life a lot easier for storing helmet/cover/gloves/water proofs whilst at the station. I've been making do with a mix of Kriega 20l dry bag and under seat storage, but it's not ideal.

This is also my first sports bike, so learning to ride without putting all of the pressure through my arms and wrists is new for me. I get the idea of using your core and knees to grip with, but it's taking some getting used to compared to my previous life on sports touring and naked bikes.

NIggles with the bike - I try and fold the mirrors when taking the bike through the gate down the side of my house. The mirrors seem to fold and unfold with just the friction of the tightened bolt. After a few times folding/unfolding them, they've loosened the bolts enough to just flap about when driving down the street. Not sure of that's normal on sports bikes? I still need to fix the loss of power to the dash when the ignition is off as I currently don't have a trip meter or clock. Other than that, it's great.

I do enjoy riding the bike and it's really light and nimble. I think I just need some dry weather and time to really get used to the riding position and to see if I can live with it long term. Was it the right choice for my needs - probably not. Do I regret taking a chance to have a more interesting bike, definitely not.

[Supermofo]

You could, although it's far from aesthetically pleasing, get a spare rear seat and bolt a top box to the seat. I've seen that done to a few bikes mainly sports bikes. But they tend to be like my brother's mate's old R1 that was hand painted NATO green with RAF roundels on it complete with handle bar muffs

[A_morti]

The "ride with your core" thing is fine for the race track, but around town like how you are using the bike, it pretty much sucks. You bought the wrong bike - but you've already said that at the top.

The folding mirrors aren't really intended as a feature for everyday use, and yes the friction of the bolt is all that keeps them steady. You can use some loctite on the bolts which will help them stay where you want them, perhaps additionally use a longer bolt and put a jam nut on the back. The trouble with making the mirrors stiffer, is that one day you're going to come back to the bike and find one on the floor where some scooter twat his hit it, it couldn't roll with the punches, and busted the cast bracket. Or worse, your fairing stay will bend.

[Ben17484]

You could, although it's far from aesthetically pleasing, get a spare rear seat and bolt a top box to the seat. I've seen that done to a few bikes mainly sports bikes. But they tend to be like my brother's mate's old R1 that was hand painted NATO green with RAF roundels on it complete with handle bar muffs

I’ve seen this done, but it looks sketchy as hell. Think I’ll stick to a tail bag

[dern]

I had a givi rack and top box on my 2000 929 so they were made. I used mine for commuting for 8 years, worked fine.

[Numnut]

Ventura did a kit for these - when I had my 929 I kept looking at them but never got one - might also be worth a look.

[Dodgy69]

When I commuted on my klx650 I came out of a 2 til 10 shift and found my top box hinges had been set on fire and lost my helmet, scarf and gloves.

So I bought a second car.

[Noggin]

Ventura did a kit for these - when I had my 929 I kept looking at them but never got one - might also be worth a look.

Ventura kits are bloody awesome

[Ben17484]

When I commuted on my klx650 I came out of a 2 til 10 shift and found my top box hinges had been set on fire and lost my helmet, scarf and gloves.

So I bought a second car.

Oh shit, that’s no good!

We do have two cars, but the motorbike is so I can skip through heavy traffic and be home in time to put the kids to bed. Otherwise I’d be in the car at this time of year.

[Ben17484]

Ventura did a kit for these - when I had my 929 I kept looking at them but never got one - might also be worth a look.

I’d not heard of these. They look pretty good and I can find a kit. I’ll see how the tail bag goes and maybe look in to this if it doesn’t work

[Ben17484]

I had a givi rack and top box on my 2000 929 so they were made. I used mine for commuting for 8 years, worked fine.

I’m probably being stupid, but I just can’t find them. Maybe I need to watch eBay for 2nd hand ones that come up.