new owner first thoughts and a few problems...
 

Hi all I've just bought a '93 1000F, I bought it as a bit of a project for the summer and something I can use to take the kids/wife out on ( usual ride a Aprilia RSV1000r is single seat so no pillion option) anyway found a cheap 1000f (£500)with full test, got it taxed and insured gave it a bit of a look over and apart from the paint which looks like it was applied by Stevie Wonder all seemed well. A brief test ride revealed no major issues so it was out on Sunday for a more spirited blast with my usual riding buddies... First impressions firstly the good news, nice engine, very smooth a bit weak in the low/mid range but a decent punch top end power, nice gearbox and that's about it for the good news...next Bad stuff, brakes are very poor the 1000f is an heavy beast and stopping it with the std anchors is quite a challenge couple this with a nasty judder and the rear brake been largely ineffectual, it definitely needs some work in this area, next problem ground clearance (or lack of) it came as quite a surprise to find my peg and boot hitting the deck at relatively mild lean angles I even managed to scrape the rear belly pan/exhaust cover!!! not sure whether there's a problem with my bike but it feels very low at the back, all in all the suspension isn't great it gets quite out of shape when pushing on, and I'm no Rossi / Marquez so I'm thinking this too needs some work. The problem now is how to improve it? I already have sports oriented bike in the Aprilia ( great Brembo brakes, top notch Ohlins suspension, more power and probably 60-70 Kg lighter) so comparing the CBR with the Aprilia is not fair they are completely different animals.
At the end of the day it's a cheap motorcycle and I expected to have to do some work not least to the bodywork which is very poor, but first thing is first and I'd like to getting working more to my liking. I don't want to fundamentally change the bike as I'm pretty sure it as the makings of a very effective sports tourer, for a start I want it to remain plush but not sloppy and the brakes to be more effective I think this should be relatively easy to achieve. So I'm going to have to do a little work, with this in mind there were a couple of issues that need immediate attention which should hopefully go some way to dealing with some of the above issues, firstly when I got back from my maiden ride out I noticed the n/s front brake caliper looked wet, this turns out to be a blown fork oil seal so I've stripped the forks out and ordered some new seals, along with some more brake pads,although I think my mate as some CBR 600 F4 calipers I wander if they are a straight swap?
So now I need a little bit of advice.. re the forks, as you the forks are none adjustable, back in the day (late 80s) we used to mess with different weight fork oils to tune the damping and increase the spacer length to increase pre-load etc, I don,t mind experimenting with these but if there is an established / tested formula for this I'd love to hear about it before I rebuild the forks, now to brakes my bike was registered Jan 1993, so I ordered brake pads for a '93 > bike (EBC FA189HH) but when I've removed the original pads they don't look the same as the ones I've ordered, they are similar and until the new ones arrive I can't be sure but I think despite my bike been registered in '93 I think it as the older pads (FA196HH) so maybe my bike was '92 model registered in '93, how do I find out what model year my bike ?
So I may have a 2 sets of EBC FA189HH sintered pads going begging if they prove to be the wrong ones...
Now to the rear ride height I'm assuming there is no standard facility for increasing the rear ride height ? is it possible to add a packing plate to the top of the damper ( I've done this on Hondas before) or does anyone make some alternative lower link plates to increase the ride height ?
The final issue I have which is more annoying than anything, is whenever the clutch lever is pulled in the neutral light comes on,m so going up through the gears the neutral light flashes on/off as the clutch is applied then released, so when you come to a stop and pull the clutch in the light comes on regardless of whether the bike is in gear or in neutral, anyone shed any light on this, as I said it's not a big deal but is isn't ideal as you are can't rely on the light to let you know if you are in neutral..

OK that's it for now I'll update the thread and post some pics when the parts arrive but in a the mean time if anyone as advice or can suggest some upgrade paths then I'd be delighted to hear them,

Welcome to the forum Budd,there should be some 1000 Guy's along soon , I'm just getting you started , have a browse through the 1000 threads and download the manual to get started:)

cheers

Welcome to the forum. I'm in a similar boat to you. I also have the neutral light issue. Maybe it is a feature? Done a heap of work to my bike and spent a fair amount of money and bike is still cosmetically challenged. In retrospect I may not have bought the bike if I knew what I was in for. I don't like the engine design (particularly cam chain tensioner, alternator chain tensioner and alternator chain damper) and the expense to remove the rattles which may reappear too. Got 20 motorcycles and have been disappointed with this one. One redeeming feature is that it is so nice to ride. Not a sport bike despite it being advertised as such when new.

Accurate. Welcome to sport touring. Some people like lowered bikes, so it could just be previous owner modifications

For the sake of being diligent I'd probably recommend looking it over and making sure everything is where it should be, adjust chain, align wheels, torque critical fasteners etc etc

They definitely used to spring these bikes quite a bit softer than now. In combination with the weight, it can feel wallowey coming into turns, and unsettled if pushed too hard. I found a world of difference going to higher spring rates and messing around with preload, but it's still gonna feel constrained if you're looking for the same aggressive cornering that you'd get on a modern sportbike. You've also got narrower tires, and in combination with your brake problems, probably not a great combo

I went with higher spring rates in the front. 1.0kg/mm Racetech linear spring with a 12mm preload. It's a bit choppy on rough city roads, but I really wanted the front to feel more solid under load. I'm a good sized dude. 90% commuting, 10% recreation. Not crazy aggressive. Springs are cheap and the forks don't have to be completely dismantled to replace them (thinking of my `87, unsure about `93) so it's good to experiment until you get it feeling right

It's in the VIN. Look up an online decoder (I think they also explain it in the service manual under model identification). Also there's a lot of versions of Hurricanes, and sometimes they vary by region. A great online fiche is cmsnl.com. It's a powerful tool to confirm fitment/compatibility

If the pads are wrong you can probably return them. Also ignore the thumbnails on those sites. They'll use a generic image of a brake pad for the website. What you get will probably look different. I'm running the same EBC HH semi-sintered in the front. NAO in the back. I replaced the brake lines with stainless, rebuilt and flushed both mc's and calipers. When I took them apart they were gunked with all sorts of waxy emulsion, and the brake fluid looked like it was from 1987. I don't really think it'd be necessary to look at caliper swaps (probably a can of worms, would be easier to just swap a new front end with wheel and forks. Again, pricey)

Instead at a minimum I'd replace fluid and thoroughly bleed. If the forks are off anyway, might as well rebuild the the caliper and MC. Kits are cheap. OEM is better but aftermarket is cheaper. I think I used a mixture of both. Stainless lines seem like a placebo, but I like em for looks

Some of the big guys make kits for the rear shock with ride height adjustment, but they cost big bucks. I'm on an 87 and I left rear suspension alone, so I don't know off the top of my head if there's a cheap/common mod for ride height in the rear on those bikes. The front's just a couple of bolts

That sounds like switch wiring. Check wires for hackery, worn insulation, electrical tape (shudder), heat damage at common grounds, or damage from the elements. Try and reproduce the issue by wiggling the clutch lever switch, and if you still can't pinpoint it, get the multimeter out for a bit of detailed troubleshooting. With electrical faults the best news is when it's something obvious, so hopefully that's the case

Good luck and welcome aboard. Let us know if you have any trouble

I've done a bit of research on various forums and it seems neutral light issues are quite common and appear to be caused by a failed/faulty diode somewhere in the circuit, I'm busy sorting the fork seals and brakes at the moment but will have a more in depth look at it shortly, it's not a major issue just mildly annoying. So far the engine sounds pretty sweet no rattles to speak of, so maybe I'm lucky in that respect.

thanks for the responses, I've got the forks sorted new seals, oil and a few washers under the spacer to increase pre-load a little not sure how much good it'll do but it can't do any harm. Now trying to fettle the brakes the pads I bought were indeed the wrong type, apparently dispite my bike been registered in '93 it was made in '92 so as the older brake pads, so I have set of EBC FA189HH supersport/race pads for sale, I'll post up a thread in the for sale section.
The brakes are proving a bit of a pain, I'm not a fan of Honda's 2 pot sliding caliper in my experience they stick and bind all to easily, I spent quite a while yesterday cleaning, moving the pistons in and out more cleaning, greasing the slides, more cleaning... I've one of them working Ok but the other needs more work, really they need a full rebuild seals, sliders etc but I think with a bit more work I can get them working acceptably, but ultimately if I'm going to keep the bike any length of time a more permanent solution needs to be found. Really the best fix would be to ditch the 2 pots in favour of some 4 pots, the problem here is they aren't a direct swap the bolt spacing's are different so I'd need either fashion adaptor plates or maybe change the fork lowers. When I had the forks in bits I noticed how similar the lowers are to the VTR 1000f, 41mm stantions, a mate of mine has quite a wealth of VTR bits having broken several bikes and as the forks aren't great to start with they aren't very desirable so I pretty sure I can get hold of a VTR front end to have play with, as I said the VTR forks aren't the best but at least they have some adjustment plus if they fit I can use the later 4 pot brakes along with the front wheel with floating discs all of which would provide a worthwhile and more importantly cheap upgrade for the 1000f. Anyway back to cleaning the brake caliper...

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/cbrforu...62cba2fca2.jpg
Yes problem was the diode. Very easy to change. Left side of rear of tank- just take seat off and it can be seen. $58 from Honda is a bit steep for a diode. Mine came from my wreck. If I didn't have the wreck I'd head down to the electronics shop and buy a couple of pigtails and a diode. Voila!😊

thanks for that, it helps a great to now know what I'm looking for in the morass of wires/relays etc, I'm not an electronics expert by any means but I'm pretty sure if I scrutinise the wiring diagram I'll be able to find the type/ value of the diode and order one online.

hi budd500,
the neutral light problem happened to mine aswell.
its the diode that you've mentioned.
this looks like it,but i cant find the link to the one i bought!!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silicon-R...sAAOSwaVRcQHt-
worth a look/ask the seller?
from memory mine cost about£18.00.
this is the one i bought.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Honda...item1c9b2e3860
£12.00.