im thinking of trading my 99 f4 for a 03 blackbird. the blackbird has no upper cowl, left turn signal switch, and no gauge cluster (spedometer, tach, ect). it has some kinda ebay after market streetfighter headlight. the guy is telling me it rides fine with no problems. until i get all the parts on the bike, will it effect the electrical or charging system if i run without the gauges for a month or two? will it effect engine performance if i run it with out upper fairing cowl, i mean is there any air induction intake tubes on this bike? im reasearching on this bike but, i dont know much now.

basically i want to know if i can ride around on this bike and rely on it while im buying and installing the missing parts. cause i know how charging systems can act funny some times when they are altered one way or the other. and i know my bike will not run right without the secondary air tubes and the main air ducts intact.

 

G'Day Brent,

First I preface all comments with " I don't own a Blackbird but..........."

Just did a search for you on the internerd. From what I read the induction system for the BB is all important - ram air based and shouldn't be messed with too much. I don't wish to link other forums here, so I suggest as a broad search you use the string <Honda blackbird induction> .

Personally, I'd park it, buy the bits and assemble it back to stock.

Cheers. SB

 

Brent I have an 03 bird. I've had it since new. As Seb said the BB has a ram air system. Basically the faster the air is forced into the engine the more power it produces. If your just wandering around town I wouldn't worry about that to much but if your own on the highway you will notice a drop in performance cause the engine is being normally aspirated and no ram air.

I've never run mine without the gauges etc attached so I couldn't say if it would be ok or not. Good luck with it.

 

im not planning on keeping it this way. i am trading straight up, then every two weeks on payday im getting the gauges and air induction stuff first so its like its supposed to be. then buy the oem upper cowl, headlight, turn signal switch.

see, im traveling from SC to TN on my bike and meet him, if its in good machanical condition like he says im gonna trade and ride it back. my bike is my only transportation. now i just need to locate a gauge cluster and see how many parts are in the air induction system. and how much

thanks for the info

 

Air induction system is pretty basic with the ram air ducting coming from the cowl under the headlight straight into the top of the air box behind the frame. Pretty basic really. Here's me and my birdy. With regard to the parts your looking for, Ebay will be your friend there.

 

That is a very pretty Blackbird Bordo - with Yoshi pipes too.

Must sound nice

Cheers, SB

 

that is a very, very nice looking bird, thanks for the info. i think this will be easily very do-able for me as far as the signal switch and intake tubes. however, i see that i will have a hard time finding a speedometer for the bird at a low price. all that i have seen so far is brand new from bike bandit

 

so, ive searched and found nothing on here. what years of the bird's speedometer are compatible? for example, will a 97 speedometer and tach fit on a 03?

 

Thanks Seb,
Yes it sounds great mate. The Yoshis give it a lovely growl. She is my pride and joy.

 

Brent the dash cluster changed in 2001 and is not compatible with the earlier models. The dash went to a digtial speedo and the tacho in the middle of the dash cluster in 2001. I believe the earlier dash had a cable driven speedo and tacho. As far as I know they aren't compatible.