First - im no mechanic and am not a genious with vehicles...

I've had my '01 since its birth, so I feel like i know how my own personal bike goes pretty intimately... 2 years ago I changed mechanics, was unhappy with my current one and was told about a mechanic who only does japanese and knows sports bikes particularly well (even had pretty good reviews). First service was also a rego check (Australia) and it seemed to go ok. Its been in 4 times since, and i've had 3 bad experiences - the next was another service but i'd also broken my exhaust servo and asked them to replace it (i know, i could get an eliminator and I have one, I just dont like the sound of my bike with the elliminator). When I came back they went "its not your exhaust servo, its your air box servo". I said "yes, its the same servo" and in my head was thinking "why am I telling you this?". So they replaced the servo as well (its the 3rd servo its chewed up).

Next service, riding away the FI light came on, got to where I was going and this time i had a "MAP error" - checked it out, sure enough they'd disconnected the MAP sensor and not re-connected it. Not so impressed with that...

Next service - this time I opt for a major service. "Yeah, she was great, didnt need to adjust a thing".. but ever since that service, she's been coughing a bit below 2500 rpm (never has my bike struggled at low rpm), seems to idle relatively ok, but occasionally had truoble starting it. Its weird cause its almost exactly 2500 rpm where it just instantly stops struggling. Its also not consistant with that, sometimes it seems fine, sometimes it feels like its really struggling and I can find no set of conditions which cause it.

Then my regulator wiring burnt out, and my bike seems to be having heat issues. Up until one of those services, my bike would very rarely go beyond 103 (217f), it did once on one record-heat-wave kind of day in really bad traffic get up to 105 (221), and on rare occasions i'd seen 104 (219).. This last week has been particularly hot in Australia (Sydney) and it hit 107 (225) on a couple of occasions... none of those temperatures particularly scare me other than the fact its abnormal for my bike.. What did worry me is pulling in yesterday evening I could hear my coolant boiling (or at least, i could hear something bubbling away, and I assume its my coolant).

I've tried draining all the coolant and replacing it as per what I can find is the appropriate way to do all of that. Haven't had a chance to actually run it properly to see if it solves anything though, but just looking for a bit of advice - is the problems with my bike just my bike aging (though rather suddenly) or does my mechanic sound like they dont know what they're doing?

Second question - im onto my 4th exhaust servo (and they're actually getting hard to source now) and something I've noticed with this is that every time my bike chews out its servo gears its during heavy rain, does this mean anything? Secondly is there an aftermarket alternative? Im considering designing my own as I do know electronics and servo's reasonably well, not to mention the servo on the '929 is exceptionally simple and its only real design flaw is the really cheap plastic gears its using - thought the one I design would be a "from the ground up" replacement.

 

For the running hot and bubbling you hear, check the radiator cap. Sounds like it's not holding pressure.

For the servo, why is it burning them up? Make sure the cables move freely and are not causing a load.

 

I checked the radiator cap, but it seems ok? having said that i wouldn't necessarily say I have a good idea as to what is normal either, that side of things im pretty unknowledgeable about. The bubbling sounds like its coming from somewhere down in the engine (loudest near the alternator cover)

The exhaust servo, well, last time it went out, the mechanic said the exhaust valve and the airbox seem to be just fine (i.e. not stuck or anything)... might be worth getting them to take a look at it... i can hand crank the head of the servo pretty easily though (unless something happens when water is introduced that causes it to stick?). But i've also heard that its not overly surprising the cbr929's servo will tear its gears after a while (it is 17 years old now)... Not sure if youve seen the inside of one of these servo's, but they are pretty cheap garbage.. The case on the servo is supprisingly good (fairly exotic plastic) but the gears they use inside are cheap, plastic and really bargain basement stuff... the motor they use to drive it is cheap, you can get one on ebay for around the $5 range. The gears as well you can get for literally less than a cent except for the gear thats driving the actual head, that seems to be a custom job (of still fairly cheap plastic).

 

The overflow reservoir is down there by the oil filter. When the cap goes bad, it will cause the coolant to be pushed down into the reservoir. The cap may look ok, but I'd bet it doesn't hold pressure. Have it tested or just replace it just because it's good maintenance and cheap enough.

 

No worries, i'll replace the cap. Cant see one locally though (looking for 19104-MB0-700), just wondering if theres an alternative to that? Like a generic part that fits?

As it turns out, my headlights died yesterday (seriously cursed with this bike lately) and turns out its the starter switch (which was a fun little wiring hunt), so im going to buy a new starter switch assembly anyways and i can buy them together but those parts tend to take a while to arrive (from the US to Aust).

 

The starter switches can get gummed up and stick down just enough to kill the lights. Ask me how i know.... Little cleaning and lube is all it takes.

The cap can be sourced at any auto parts store. Bring the old one with you and have them match one up.

 

Its not actually the switch thats the issue, the wire going to the switch disconnected (easy enough to fix) though why it desoldered itself is perhaps a little bit worrying. I really want to take the whole unit off and re-do its wiring cause its a bit of odd design for a switch:


Up until the last year, i've not really had a reason to poke around in the electronics of the bike, but what i have seen so far often makes me wonder about the reasons behind some of the design choices... no idea what the mechanical side is like on the CBR, but the electronics are truly strange in the extreme in many cases. Would love to crack open the the ECU and the dash now just to see what they've put in them though I Imagine someone probably already has.


Oh right, thanks for that, figured it would be a completely custom part or something.

 

You may be in luck. I'm taking apart a speedo cluster to do a repair very soon, maybe this weekend. I can take a few pics if your really interested.

 

I did manage to find a photo of the dash (though not the ecu) without its casing (somsone offloading one on ebay) https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RrMAA...q2/s-l1600.jpg and https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hQYAA...qn/s-l1600.jpg

Would be really curious to know the part numbers on these two chips if you do get a chance (or some close up photos of them):

Thanks in advance!