No 56k: 919

Since my stock header is slightly bent and the hanger is cracking, I've been looking for another one. Came across one cheap that was intact and straight but that needed cleaning and polishing. Instead, I'm going to send it out for JetHot or ceramic coating. Also got a Y/midpipe cheap to send in with it.





The original Nighthawks like my 700S had black chromed (not the darker but still bright-ish chrome, but an actual deep black satin chrome) headers and exhausts back in the 80s.

2009%5C10%5C08%5Cbikepics-1799736-full.jpg


I've always liked the look, so the headers will be getting a similar looking black coating:

IMG_2517.jpg
 
Those pipes are currently off at the coater's along with Der Stig's right heel heat shield from his VFR. Should be back sometime in early January.

Recently I started having the speedometer start being sporadic; it would sometimes just drop off to zero. This turned out to be the speedometer sensor, which after 13 years was in need of replacement. However, on the 919, it's in very tight quarters on top of the transmission but under the airbox. Normally you have to take the entire back end of the bike apart to get to the airbox, remove the airbox and then you can remove the sensor. However, someone on another forum found that there was a unique MAC Tools branded 10mm wrench that was actually perfect to get into that confined space and unscrew the bolts. I bought one, of course.



A few days before Christmas, the weather turned nice and I got a chance to put the sensor in. The MAC Tools wrench (part M10CL440) really *is* the only way to get the sensor out without dismantling half the bike. I didn't distrust the forum inhabitant that found it, but I had an array of box-end wrenches, borrowed and bought, to see if anything else would work. Nope, that particular wrench's box end is uniquely shaped and it's jot *just* enough depth and the correct angle to fit in there while not having too much material on the 'ring' to preclude it from fitting.

It's a bit tight down there.


The sensor does not come with a new O-ring, so I had ordered one and replaced it while I was there.


Here's my old sensor, with evidence of some metal shavings. Not unusual for a 71,000 mile old magnetic sensor; no big BMW-like S1000RR chunks, though - just glitter.




The new sensor:


Installed, all the wiring and tubing put back and ready to head back out after putting the sidecover back on.
[/URL
 
Last edited:
Welp, got it installed.

Yup, 35W 4300K H4 bi-xenon flex-type upgrade.

Welp, we now have an answer to how long this kit will last on the 919 - it just flickered and died this evening. Fortunately I was close to home. The kit lasted a bit over four years. Not bad for something exposed to the elements and hung on the vibration machine that is a motorcycle.
 
Maybe use it as an opportunity to try LED next?

I'd like to, but the bulb replacement LEDs are more than a bit weedy. I'm going to get a replacement ballast for now and wait for the prices to come down on a full lens/reflector setup.
 
Ballast comes in tomorrow, but I've been looking at some maintenance issues in the meantime. Some of the rubber isolators on one of the plastic side covers has vanished, one of my bar ends needs to be torqued back down and the clutch cable upper adjuster was looking a little off. I'm working on the rest, but I thought I'd compare the adjusters to each other. New one on left, old one on right, click for high resolution version.





Yeah, I think that screw adjuster was a bit munged.
 
Turns out it wasn't the ballast but the 'bulb' - a problem quickly fixed.

The headers and Y-pipe are back from ceramic coating.
 
Now that's pretty. Looking good man.
 
I got a Formotion clock and liquid-filled thermometer a year or so ago, had the clock serviced (thanks, Nabster!) and *fiiiiiinally* got around to installing them tonight. Not convinced about the thermometer, think I might remove it and go with only the clock.









Edit: I decided I didn't like the look of the thermometer so I removed it; so the final install is just the clock.



 
Last edited:
As others have observed, threads about daily drivers don't get updated unless something goes badly wrong. Well, a mysterious and odd fuel leak qualifies. Cross posting from a thread elsewhere to save myself a lot of typing.

In the last week, my 919 has developed a rather alarming habit. The bike has a faint to strong smell of fuel about it and if left overnight will develop a puddle of fuel on the concrete below it. The tank doesn't seem to have any rust inside that I can see, but the fuel seems to be exiting either through the overflow or vent tubes at the bottom of the bike. If ridden, the bike will leave about a quarter sized puddle on the pavement then not leak for a while. If left alone with the cap open for about an hour, it doesn't leak during that time. If I open the tank after a ride, there's a big whoosh as the cap opens. There doesn't seem to be any leaks at the fuel rail or fuel pressure regulator or any other external fuel leaks. I have opened the gas cap a couple times to see some film of liquid fuel in the overflow area, which does make me wonder if there's something wrong with the cap.

{I cleared} the vent lines with some aluminum wire and replacing the cap with a spare I had in stock... I found that the leak was quite a lot more serious than previously thought - the leakage wasn't just from the vent hoses but from some point under the tank. Constant but very slow dripping, too.







It even seems to be leaking from the bottom of the airbox.





It's wet all under the back part of the tank:


Found the leak - turns out it's a dent or stress crack in the bottom of the tank. I also found my fuel feed and return hoses were starting to disintegrate.

{It's} actually in the bottom of the tank and I'm not really sure how it got there. It looks to have been recent, but I haven't had my tank up in over a year.

Here's what I found once I got my tank off. (All pictures clickable for larger versions.)


You can see some signs of fuel leakage in the sound insulation foam. More around the vent and drain tubes than the other side, but still on both.





I started swirling the tank around slowly when I couldn't initially find the leak. I noticed fuel dripping out of the vent tube when I hadn't rotated the tank enough to have the cup or so of fuel remaining in the tank (after pumping as much as I could out) get to the top and bypass the cap. I cleaned off the leaked fuel, put a big light on the ground and swirled the tank around in its normal orientation to see where it was leaking. Noticed this dent and a possible pinhole at the end of it.





I corked up the vent and drain tubes and swirled the tank around some more - and this time confirmed there was indeed a pinhole. There was no rust in the floor of the tank and I haven't dropped the bike recently so I'm not sure where this dent and hole/crack came from. It seems to be recent given the lack of rust and sudden leak appearance; there's some signs that it's been rubbing on the frame pad unevenly for a while.



My tank mount rubbers are all recent and not appreciably degraded. I don't know if the dent immediately caused the pinhole leak or if the dent came first and the pinhole leak developed as a result of vibration of the stressed area and its subsequent cracking.

Additionally, I found my fuel hoses in pretty poor shape - the pump-to-rail hose was pretty stiff and was showing a little weather-checking. The return hose was worse, showing actual splitting in the outer sheath in a couple places. The return hose and new spring clamps were cheap; I replaced them and the pump to rail hose since I was already there.

Fortunately, I did have a spare tank that I picked up cheap some time ago for another purpose (very ugly paint job). Since I had ordered (and received) all the rubber parts for the fuel system in the tank, I was able to swap the in-tank pump assembly and everything over to the spare tank. If there's no leaks in the morning, I think it will have been a successful repair.
 
Last edited:
Shortly after that last post, I managed to crash the 919 so I'm having to replace parts on it. I'll post some post-crash pics later (damage was relatively minor). My factory windscreen was destroyed, so I needed to find another. Honda hasn't imported them for years, so I looked for some in Europe and found a used one on eBay.de being sold by a German motorcycle salvage yard. With some help from thomas, I managed to get the windshield sent over.



I discovered that the salvage yard had decided they couldn't be bothered to remove the original rear bolts and had cut the rear part of the bracket a bit to get the thing off.




I further discovered that my original windscreen brackets had actually not survived intact as I had initially thought and were warped. I therefore had the cut brackets welded and reinforced.






Had them powdercoated satin black.




Putting the assembly back on shortly. :D
 
A few months back, LCG did me a favor and shipped me a tank I'd found in his local area that the seller wouldn't ship. This was a bright red tank but was in excellent condition; now I have two tanks and one could be sent to get painted while the bike remained rideable. After the original tank died (see post above) I had resorted to a spare tank with a rather embarrassing yet skillfully executed custom flame paint scheme. That tank will not be pictured here; this new tank will be replacing it so it can go back to being a spare.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/farm1.staticflickr.com\/839\/29442112788_a5a26e46ac_z.jpg"}[/IMG2][IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/forums.finalgear.com\/image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw=="}[/IMG2]​

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1823\/42408246425_8f830a0341_z.jpg"}[/IMG2][IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/forums.finalgear.com\/image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw=="}[/IMG2]​

After waffling about for a bit as to how it should be painted, I was able to trade some surplus Bronco parts for a professional tank paint job in the correct original Asphalt color. That tank came back today, so now I need to order in some original decals/badges and try to figure out/develop some tank protectors.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/farm2.staticflickr.com\/1889\/44123793661_29741890c8_z.jpg"}[/IMG2][IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/forums.finalgear.com\/image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw=="}[/IMG2]​
 
Last edited:
Top