Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

1) Nothing to apologize about, I understood it would have been 8K RPM and hence I gave the info (which is already covered in the CBR thread btw).
2) You need to read the owner's manual and follow its maintenance schedule, and by yourself if necessary. Chain lube, routine check, regular look over at brake pads etc should be something that the owner should do himself rather than rely on the SVC.
3) The CBR picks up very well even with pillion, if you're trying to accelerate in 5th or 6th gear, the pick up will be slower given the taller gearing (6th gear is overdrive, meant for cruising, not for acceleration). You should not face any effort in the first three gears at all, provided you are in the correct RPM range (with a caveat, if your pillion is like the Hulk, you probably need a more powerful engine).
4) The CBR's shim noise is typical and not a 'tick tick' or stitching sound like rocker/tappets.

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

Thank you shv18, ak3d, sanjay for your replies. It is actually 8k rpm. It was my mistake to write that and i apologize.

As far as chain lube is considered, i had my first service at 30th day (~700kms) after the purchase and lubing was done at that time. After that i didn't do it till now. So that's one thing i need to do.

For pillion, i feel that the difference is very large. But that's probably normal and i am thinking too much. Because of this, i started hating it when people sit at the back side

Lastly, for shim, i don't hear any tick-tick noise as of now but will inspect more closely and get back.

Thank you all.

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

The "sssssssss" noise is definitely from chain. Get it adjusted and cleaned and lubed. We wonder did you lube the chain even once after the bike was serviced

The big question now, the Cbr 250 takes the speed from inside the crank and even if you do sprocketing or anything, it won't show speedo change. As AK3D mentioned at 7k rpm the speed is 112kmph and it will stay 112kmph despite number of sprocketing. Are you sure you were doing 125kmph @7K rpm or its just a hoax

Shim noise is mostly audible in cold morning starts as once the engine is warmed up, it is bound to have some shim noise, which we can ignore. So the best bet will be to check in early morning starts. You could hear a mild "tik tik" sound near the cylinder head, dont get confused with the chain tensioner though as small rattling is also produced in case of damaged cam chain tensioner.

Cheers,
Sanjay

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

The CBR does x16 for every 1K RPM in the last gear.
At 5000RPM, the speed will be 80,
at 6000RPM, the speed will be 96KMPH
and at 7000RPM, the speed will be 112KMPH.
If you're doing 125 at 7000RPM, your bike is performing better than spec compared to other CBR 250Rs without sprocket changes (in other words, not possible with stock config). You would need to be at the 8K RPM mark to achieve 128.

Regarding 'effort', [MENTION=32641]shv18[/MENTION] has explained it nicely.
As for shim noise and other related issues, please read the owner's manual, follow the CBR thread and there is also a lot of other information on the net. As a user, you are supposed to know when to lube the chain (every 500 kms and clean it every 1K if possible for longer life).

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R


It would be better if you take time and read the thread right from the beginning.. i know it is not a short cut but you will find out that most of your concerns have more or less been already answered on this thread with pictorial reference.

Any motorcycle depending on the overall weight (rider+pillion) will observe a dip in acceleration and top end in comparison when riding solo. To put it in layman language: imagine yourself running on a playground: first freely, then the second round with 30 kgs of weight being put on your back.. your acceleration and overall top speed will take a hit which is natural and expected due to the simple physics playing here. A heavier rider will observe lower top end whereas a light weight rider will observe faster acceleration and higher top end as the overall mass the bike has to carry will affect its power:weight ratio.

Hope this helps

Cheers,

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

My bike has done 1600 kms till now. I previously didn't pay much attention to the sound of the bike but recently, i feel that an unpleasent "sssss" kind of noise is coming.

Also, sometimes, with the pillion, the bike feels as if it is putting more efforts in accelerating. So i took it for a speed test last weekend and managed to get to 125kmph at 7k rpm. Is this speed normal at the given rpm mark?

I also wanted to know how the shim noise sounds like and also how do we get to know that the chain needs lubing. Can anyone upload audio or post some link for that?

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

Hi all,

First of all, i would like to state to all my fellow riders from Chennai that understandably the recent deluge has been an extremely difficult phase everybody has to go through. I hope all of the riders are safe and i am sure that things will shape up and you will rise again and become stronger than ever. I wish you nothing but the very best and i hope that in this terrible hour, people locally have come forward and are helping each other to rebuild and put things back in shape asap.

SMALL UPDATE

The busy office life has kept long distance riding to a minimum. I have just managed to move the odo to a snail pace 1,298 kms since, the last update. The ambient temperature in the North East India region have also started dropping quickly so late night and early morning rides is one of a kind bone chilling experience!! Regardless, @1298 kms, below is the condition of the engine oil:





Pic 1 & 2: Engine oil colour turned to a very dark amber.

As the pictures above will suggest, the current Shell Rimula R4 HDEO oil has turned its colour to very dark amber. Though, i am happy to report that compared to the last time, my CBR is still vibe free and gears are engaging smoothly. No unwanted engine/valve/shim noise, no engine oil consumption or anything. The vehicle is still returning a very healthy 31-33 kmpl under local commute and 39+ kmpl on the highway which is more than enough. Overall the performance is at par with my expectations. I shall continue monitoring the health of the engine and report back my observations post 1,500 kms.

The chain slider with adhesive is holding up well as of now. Off late, I am witnessing that my front tire is losing PSIs very quickly. intial inspection has not yielded any results related to tire puncture or any nails. I have a suspicion with the front tire valve. Will take out the front wheel completely and get the tire thoroughly inspected.

Do keep watching this space for more updates..



Cheers,

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

I have an addition to the above. Did some research about this (for teflon lined cables).

In case of teflon lined cables, you should not use a lubricant (WD40 or oil) that will damage the coating. What one should use is a graphite based lubricant which will not damage the cable internally. Either that, or a teflon based lubricant.

Clutch cable lube | Motorcycles and Motorcycle Lubrication | Bob Is The Oil Guy
To oil clutch/throttle cables or not? - Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB
silicone spray ok for cable lube? - CRF450R - ThumperTalk
Clutch cable lube
Cable lube? - Harley Davidson Forums: Harley Davidson Motorcycle Forum

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

Thanks a lot for clearing my doubt.

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

Well sir, i hope through my meandering experience, other members in this forum will learn something and in the long run will benefit a lot of people. Regardless, i intend to do one more round of Rimula 4 run (OCMD talking here!! ) just to be absolutely satisfied that my CBR's engine have had a thorough clean up with the HDEO oil and a good amount of ZDDP depositing on the internals. Then will shift to Shell Advanced Ultra 10W 40 FS oil and report my observations here. So far the vehicle has been performing exceptionally well and there is definitely a reduction in the engine operating temperature. Though, we may have take into consideration that due to earlier internal deposits, i feel my engine solely cannot be considered as the benchmark for: FS oil VS HDEO oil in terms of temperature difference felt by me. May be if someone else is bold enough to give it a try, his/her independent observation will give us a better idea about this HDEO oil's behaviour, performance and other factors, but then again i would still like to remind everyone that this is purely an experiment.

As of today, i have covered about 2392 + 897 kms (and rolling) = 3289kms with Shell Rimula R4 and so far nothing has blown up or found to be leaking, no drop in performance or nothing unwanted has happened. However, as we progress clocking more kms, only time will tell if this experiment can be said to be a success; Rimula R4 to be considered a safe HDEO oil to be used even for this class of motorcycle.


Cheers,

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

That is a great query.
The Honda CBR250R service manual clearly states this

Page 3-6


There was an interesting discussion between me and [MENTION=32641]shv18[/MENTION] - namely using a bellows type of protector for the end of the CBR clutch cable, where the end is exposed to the elements. You can get this protector off any motorcycle's discarded clutch cable (shine's seem to be a direct fit), and it'll help keep the dust away.

As to the thin oils messing up the cable, the cables are already internally lubricated with some sort of (silicone?) grease, some have what is known as a teflon (plastic?) sheath to prevent wear, but dust and rust buildup over time do happen. This causes wear to be more pronounced, as well as stiffer clutch and throttle operation. And as for lubrication - I have used WD40 earlier and now using sewing machine oil. I have been doing so (and many mechanics use a mixture of petrol and engine oil!) for the past few years as preventive maintenance. I've not suffered any breakage so far (touch wood).

You might also want to refer to these links for further information.

Cleaning and Lubing Clutch Cables | Gear Garage
Clean and Lube Throttle Cables | Gear Garage
Clutch Cable Friction... Clean & Lube? - Honda CBR250R Forum : Honda CBR 250 Forums
Full Service @ 9500 Miles - Honda CBR250R Forum : Honda CBR 250 Forums

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

Shv18....A good narration and some beautiful pictures of the lush forest growth....I really liked the environment you had photographed....Good you also covered the pathetic un-finished gravel path called road....If you drive around through such " roads" and pot holes, in another 10 K Kms your CBR 250R will fall apart and must be carried in a Basket....That the CBR250R had been able to still move around shows it's build quality. ..
The Throttle cable snapping in the middle of a trip is something most tourers experience.....so most of the tourers travel with the "A" and "B" throttle cables along with Clutch cable, Spark Plug ,fluids, and some extra tools other than what comes with the vehicle....most also carry puncture kit and/or spare tube....
The Karizma which again is a Honda product is prone to jamming of the "B" cable ,resulting in non return of throttle and a very high RPM.
The problem with the bikes developing this kind of problem is because of the cable holding clamps welded to chassis ..these can be found to be very close to the chassis , since the cables are routed under the Petrol Tank...Constant rubbing of the outer of the cable on these holders, Punctures the outer sheath and lets moisture and water inside. This leads to rust formation and the inner cable either jams or rust takes it's toll ...
Honda as a rule uses an inner sheath which protects the inner cable from exposure to moisture, but still over time moisture does get inside and forms rust.
I guess you are now learning the hard way of what awaits a trip on our roads...

Preventive maintenance should also be done before onset of a trip like engine oil top up or replacement, Checking up on cables, Chain tightness and lubing, good air filter and tire/tube that don't leak air.

The Rimula R4 at close to 900 Kms looks comparatively good. Last time the oil came to this color at 600 + Kms( hope I remember it right)..I guess you can move over the Shell Ultra now and hope to get 4,000 Kms of life without problem with it..
Good Luck..

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

[MENTION=52772]AK3D[/MENTION] still learning here so pardon me if query seems silly.
But always thought throttle wire is supposed to be left alone as any kind of lubrication messes up the (whitish looking) synthetic sheath over the throttle & even clutch wire if I'm not mistaken.

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

Nope only the clutch cable was replaced and the throttle cables were lubricated. But i guess the rust formation deep inside the unseen part of the cable had already started. Regardless, i have now learnt my lesson so will keep preventive maintenance and early replacement of some of the consumables will be done as in when deemed necessary.


Cheers,

Re: The story so far.. My Honda CBR 250R

I thought you told me that you had both throttle cables replaced upon receipt of the bike? Given that you live in a very humid climate where it keeps raining, it was bound to rust. Or did you lubricate the cables with sewing machine oil as preventive maintenance as discussed?
Even if one does not replace cables within at 20K kms as preventive maintenance, one should liberally use sewing machine oil to keep all these cables operating smoothly and to prevent rust build up. WD40 is a great cleaner, but the oil it leaves behind will dry out very fast and there won't be much lubrication after a while.