Just hit 10k miles!!

Discussion in '6th Generation 2002-2013' started by CHASETV, May 27, 2020.

  1. CHASETV

    CHASETV New Member

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    Just wanted some advice on what I should be aware of at this stage of the game. What should be done, shouldn't be done, what to look out for to avoid any problems down the line to keep her running smooth for the next 10k miles.
    Any advice is well appreciated. Thank you! [​IMG]

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  2. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    Congratulations - you only have another 190,000 to catch up with mine :)

    For me the key advice is to fit a voltmeter - sort of cheapo kit you can pick up for buttons on tBay. They are rarely super accurate so you really want to see the volts as numbers rather than pretty coloured lights - that way you will soon get a feel for what numbers are normal and be able to spot if the volts drop through the floor or go madly high when (not if) your RR/Stator start playing up. To prevent flat batteries hook up the meter to a circuit which is only live when the engine is running.

    As for servicing just use decent oil and Honda oil filters - Anne Marie will tell you why you definitely need to avoid fitting an K&N oil filter. NB Their air filter is fine if you like the visual aspect, but it delivers no discernible improvement over the OEM filter which are cheaper.

    As for the carrying out super expensive vtec check only you can decide what sort of riding you have been doing and whether or not you need to get the valves checked. On my 200K, I have skipped every other check but for peace of mind I have been happy to pay Honda to then do the checks. Even so every time they have pulled the bike apart they have found that everything was found to still be within tollerance, so they simply buttoned it up, handed me a huge bill and said keep on riding.

    I suspect that Honda rather over did it when specifiying frequent vtec valve checks - but why wouldn't they? After all it provides their dealers service departments with extra chargeable hours. Obviously the frequent vtec checks make sense if your bike is being loaned out as a daily track day mule with the bike regularly hitting red lines in every gear. If however you mostly ride below the vtec threshold you can still rack up huge miles across continents whilst travelling at 80mph in 6th gear without even needing to enter vtec. So on my VFR those vtec valves are only rarely in use when I drop a few gears for a few seconds to get out and past slow traffic.

    SkiMad
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2020
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  3. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    I'm still not convinced your bike has VTEC or that its ever been used - may have to ask Long - lolololol
     
  4. CHASETV

    CHASETV New Member

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    1st off, thank you SkiMad for your input & advice.
    200K is impressive! That's just incredible!
    I never woulda imagined a bike going for 200K miles plus!
    That's just great!

    I will definitely start looking for a decent voltmeter. And possibly the RR/Stator since I have the time now.
    I normally would take her to a shop for the oil change but about 3 weeks ago I attempted and succeeded to do the oil change myself. Everything went well except it was a pain in the ass removing the oil filter. My hands are way too big to fit in between the pipes. I finally got a vise grip locked on the filter & slowly but surely got it loose. I used Mobil 1 10W-40 and a K&N oil filter.... (I guess I gotta find the Anne Marie story) so far, so good. No issues...yet.
    And last but not least, I don't VTEC much but sometimes in traffic situations, it's a must.
    Before getting the expensive Vtec dealership treatment, what should I look out or feel for to know that a repair is coming?



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  5. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    Your choice of top quality oil is impeccable and probably the key element to ensure it just keeps on going.

    Your choice of oil filter raises alarm bells - check this out

    https://vfrworld.com/attachments/72eac5888b7c1f91041089320000297d-jpg.41728/

    or if you want to know more here is 7 pages discussing their "quality oil filters"..

    https://vfrworld.com/threads/do-not-buy-k-n-wrench-on-oil-filters-busted-on-me.52890/

    The Honda service schedule specifies regular and very expensive vtec valve checks. Why wouldn't they - as the customer is paying for them? Regular vtec valve checks and adjusments are probably sensible if you are regularly hammering the red line on track days. But if you mostly use your bike for long haul touring then those vtec valves are probably only running for brief periods to get out and past traffic, hence some owners skip every other check. It all depends on how you ride the bike and how deep your pockets are. Mine still runs fine, despite skipping alternate valve checks - but don't skip decent oil and filter changes.

    Take care

    SkiMad
     
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