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

Replace the fan ???

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

I believe Mr.Ram had explicitly said " Your fan relay is faulty, replace that and issue will be resolved. Do it sooner else disconnect the battery to stop the fan running " which means FAN RELAY IS FAULTY and NOT THE FAN. Please read all of the words clearly and understand to prevent Confusion.

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

Got it thank you !!!!

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

Hi All,

been a while since, i have posted something. I guess once a vacation comes to an end and the regular life schedule starts all over again, one tends to get immersed in it and lose sense of time. This post has been pending for over a month so i do apologise for a late update but i hope the readers will understand my situation. As mentioned earlier this particular trip was going to be more or less the last long distance tour i would do on my Honda CBR 250R "Little bird". It was my way of spending one last unique and amazing experience with her while she is still with me. The following log will be broken down into two sections:

1) Covering the journey and experience: little bit more elaborate to share my experience with the readers and break apart from the standard write ups done so far on this thread.

2) The Aftermath: The surprise, the tantrums, troubleshooting, new discoveries, tips & tricks.

I do apologise in advance if i get carried away with my story, prolonging it too far and "really boring!!" category... But if you want to go through this, a tub of popcorn and hot cuppa tea/coffee is recommended!

So without further ado let us begin..

BHUTAN: THE TRIP & THE RIDE

As for those members who have been following this thread since page 1, the usual prep was done and the first 500 kms of ride to Guwahati city from my place of stay was initiated. Since it was pretty much uneventful owing to me doing this same route many times over so no pictures nor details will be elaborated. She was performing brilliantly as she always does so i had no complaints. But just about 40 kms before entering Guwahati, i was lashed on by heavy rainfall, dirt and muck attack flung over by oncoming and vehicles ahead of me which made the ride pretty engaging and challenging rather. The helmet visor would get clogged up with dirt and mud deposits = zero visibility due to which i had to stop and clean the visor only to find that in a matter of few kms the process had to be repeated all over again!

Nonetheless, i did notice that while leaning my CBR, it was becoming a bit skittish which confirmed my suspicion that thanks to incessant torture sessions i had taken the street tires through - Michelin Pilot Street Radials, they had lost a significant chunk of rubber grooves which disperse the water off quickly and aid in traction when riding on wet surface. However, having said that, it doesn't mean they were in the range of being uncontrollable or something but still just a hint given off by the tire that it is reaching its last stages soon. In spite of the rains, i reached Guwahati rather quickly and took a break for about 2-3 days in order to catch up with my family and friends. Thanks to the thorough mud and dirt bath she had taken en route, i felt guilty of keeping her like this so the services of a close by Car & bike washing shop was pressed into action. I wanted her to look neat and clean before the commencement of the journey to Bhutan.





Pic 1 & 2: CBR getting a proper wash before the commencement of the trip from Guwahati to Phuentsholing, Bhutan.

This time i was joined by a friend of mine who was equally interested in exploring Bhutan and experience the people and the culture of this unique little country. Thanks to my previous little stint with Bhutan last year (2017), the roads were known to me and so was the route. Thus, it made everything a lot easier for us to do the ride to Phuentsholing without getting lost or stopping here and there to ask for directions. In a matter of 6.5 hours, we were on the way to Phuentsholing while enjoying the beautiful view offered by Hashimara tea estate in West Bengal. I was happy to note that my CBR was giving a decent FE of 37-38 kmpl given the relaxed pace me and my riding buddy kept throughout the journey to our destination for Day 1.





Pic 3 & 4: Hashimara Tea Estate en route while heading towards Phuentsholing, Bhutan.

Me and my fellow rider buddy had decided the following itinerary to explore Bhutan while being on a budget which included:

Day 1 (22/04/18) - Ride from Guwahati - Phuentsholing and stay overnight.

Day 2 (23/04/18) - Get permits, local Tashicell Sim card and reach Thimpu

Day 3 (24/04/18) - Stay in Thimpu

Day 4 (25/04/18) - Ride from Thimpu to Dochula Pass and stay over

Day 5 (26/04/18) - Ride to Punakha and head to Paro

Day 6 (27/04/18) - Stay in Paro and explore

Day 7 (28/04/18) - Head to Chelela Pass and return to Paro

Day 8 (29/04/18) - Return journey from Paro all the way to Guwahati

Since my earlier experience with the procedures in immigration and the headache of running around to get the permits for personnel and vehicle was pretty much seared into my brain - i knew that keeping all the photocopies of the required documents with you well in advance goes long way in reducing wastage of time and possibly leaving early from Phuentsholing to reach the capital city: Thimpu. Last time when i was there, thanks to heavy rush and me not knowing the application process, it was quite an arduous task to finish everything and get the required permits. However, as luck would have little did we know that the story will repeat itself all over again!

On 20th April, 2018 - Bhutan had conducted local council elections: during which all Govt. offices including immigration were closed. The Bhutanese officials has also closed the border entry gates which led to a major log jam and chaos all over. On 20th And 21st it was an official govt. holiday - so a combination of 3 days of closure of immigration office meant that on "D" day - Monday of 23rd April, 2018 (the day we were going to apply for our respective permits) there was tsunami of people waiting in cue to get the entry permits issued from the immigration office. Even with all the documents in hand, we had to wait for nearly about 4 hours for the permits to be issued. After that we made a dash to the RSTA (Road Safety & Transport Authority) office. Again due to procedural delays by the time the vehicle permits were issued, sim cards and getting the luggage loaded onto our respective motorcycles it was 4:00 pm (IST) so we both knew that we are not going to arrive in Thimpu before 8:30 - 9:30 pm. Again since, my last visit to Thimpu was done all in darkness and alone, i was fairly more confident of tackling the high altitude narrow roads leading to Thimpu city. Incidentally, i had also brought in my bluetooth intercom system which was installed on both of our respective helmets which made communicating and pair riding really easy especially when riding in the dark. It enabled us to be in touch even if for some reason one rider had gone ahead by say 900+ mtrs. I would highly recommend getting hold of bluetooth intercom units to any rider planning to go on touring or long highway rides in general.

Anyways, by the time we had entered Thimpu city and managed to locate our hotel, it was already 9:30 pm. We quickly unloaded our luggage and then went out to grab a quick meal then after a bit of goofing around we finally crashed.

THIMPU CITY, BHUTAN

The next day was pretty relaxing for us. As required by the Immigration Department of Bhutan - if one wishes to travel beyond Thimpu and Paro (the permits till Thimpu and Paro only are issued at Phuentsholing) one will have to visit the immigration office at Thimpu, present a photocopy of the permit (earlier issued in Phuentsholing) and come back after an hour or so to collect the extension permit. In our case, we needed extension of our permit to Dochula Pass - Punakha. Since, we were going to stay one more night in Thimpu, we reached the permit office by 10:30 am (BST) and gave the requisite documents to the officials. We were asked to come after 1.30 hours so in order to spend time and have a good breakfast, we thanked the officials for their help and then went out to experience Thimpu city by foot. I must point out that as per the requirement, one is also supposed to get an extension of vehicle permit for Dochula Pass and Punakha from RSTA in Thimpu. However, in our case we managed to find a very humble officer in RSTA Phuentsholing who on request issued us vehicle permit to visit Punakha as well which made the whole process a bit more easy for us two.





Pic 5 & 6: Condition of typical tourers after entering hotel late at night. We stayed over at Hotel Taktsang in Thimpu.

Since, i had been to Thimpu before it was fun to be a guide for my fellow rider buddy explaining the road, building, the city life, food, people and culture: i felt like a make shift tour guide . Compared to last year i noticed a lot more buildings coming up in Thimpu city. I hope that the people of Bhutan are able to maintain the natural beauty of this city without turning it into a complete concrete jungle like what we have done to our earlier beautiful hill stations in India. This harmony is very important if Bhutan wants to keep happiness and cleanliness over commercialisation. To me, i can never ever get tired of the traffic policemen in Bhutan who are there at the respective junctions, monitor, assist and guide the vehicular traffic movement accordingly. There are more or less no traffic signals in Bhutan, nobody honks anywhere in this country unless absolutely necessary. This makes it a far more pleasant experience for everybody. I hope to someday us all back in India will at least try it out once... trust me it makes riding or driving a far more pleasurable.









Pic 7 - 10: The beautiful commercial capital of Bhutan - Thimpu City. Sincere and diligent traffic police doing their job like clockwork.

All this walking around had gotten our stomachs rumbling so it was time for us to do "Pet Puja" . We first visited a small shop called "Laphing" which specialised in preparing traditional vegan dishes and the menu looked very appetising. However, the shop had not opened yet so we were back - out on the street to look for more options. Incidentally, i remembered one small joint i had visited last year which was located near the main clock tower in Thimpu city and the food i had tasted then was delicious. I remembered the exact location of the shop but i had forgotten the name. After a little bit of searching around, we managed to find the place - "Foodlover restaurent". The owner: Mr. Kelzang Fintsho was an absolute treat to interact with and the food was still as delicious as it was the last time i had stepped into this restaurent. I decided to try out the traditional Tibetan - Bhutia dish 'Momo with Sha' which was out of this world. My friend took a bite from my plate and then just took over till i had no choice but to order for one more plate! I don't know why but i kept on profusely thanking Mr. Phuntsho for the wonderful hospitality and the sumptuous meal we had over there.

After our breakfast, we then moved on to get our extended permits from the immigration office and further explore the city. My family members were constantly pestering me to get hold of some collectables from Bhutan so i finally relented and picked up stuff from a local Gift shop. It was really nice to interact with the shop keepers here in Thimpu. Everybody is polite and nice and even if you don't buy anything they smile back at you and ask you to visit their shop again. I don't know if there is any marketing involved or people are just plainly simple over here but it is really a good experience for any visitor to witness it.

So far Thimpu was a great place for us two riders to be in as we ended up interacting and making friends with local riders who were equally passionate and keen to visit India and experience it by riding all the way from Bhutan. We were humbled by their hospitality and repeated request to join them to explore the unknown in Bhutan the next time we pay a visit over there. It was really nice to see local Bhutanese people wearing their traditional dresses in pride which is commendable.





















Pic 11 - 20: Small vegetarian food joint called Laphing. We then visited Foodlover restaurent where true to its brand name, it is for a 'food lover' as the food is simply out of this world. Picked up some mementos from a gift shop and we were out back exploring the city.

We went out in the evening as well and enjoyed the night city life and then ended our day. The next day since, we did have the necessary permits and the distance from Thimpu to Dochula Eco Retreat Resort (our next drop point) was only about 20 kms, we took it easy and strolled around and picked up some more collectables from Govt. approved handloom shops in Thimpu main market area. We came back to our hotel @ 12:30 pm (BST), brought our luggage down and were in the process of getting them mounted onto to motorcycle when the manager - owner of the hotel Taktsang - Mr. Ugyen Tshering came out and interacted with us. It turned out that he was a motorcycle enthusiast too and one thing led to another: We kept on chatting till we figured out that time had flown and now it was 2:30 pm. So we bid farewell to Mr. Tshering and went on with the ride to Dochula Pass.

AT DOCHULA PASS & DOCHULA ECO RETREAT-RESORT

The route to Dochula Pass from Thimpu is really very beautiful. Being at an altitude of 10,000 ft one will notice the ambient temperature dropping very quickly to single digit so good warm winter gear is highly recommended. Since, i had the Alpinestars Drystar Andes jacket with me, riding to Dochula pass even while we were ascending, i was feeling fairly warm and comfortable. We managed to reach Dochula Pass rather quickly and from the Dochula Chorten our resort was barely 300 mtrs ahead. When we checked in as luck would have it the owner of the resort: Mr. Karma Phuntsho was also there. He came forward and introduced himself and then the typical me, we went on having a nice interactive discussion with him for over and hour. Since, today was again going to be a very relaxed day for us, we took out own sweet time, got the luggage out and requested the staff to take us to our room for the night. I guess Mr. Phuntsho instructed his staff to take care of us and take care of us they did!! The room was just plush and royale! We were taken aback by the simplicity and beauty of the hotel and the room itself. Of course, by the time we were busy admiring the wooden craftsmanship of the room and the resort, the temperatures had dropped to 3' C. So as it happens, a nice fire place along with a good cup of tea and conversations was a good starter for us all. Mr. Phuntsho and the staff were kind enough to make out stay very pleasurable and relaxing to the extent me and my friend promised each other that we will be back here again but this time we shall spend two nights instead of one and just have a gala time over here. If any of the riders/travellers are planning for a trip to Bhutan, i highly recommend Dochula Eco Retreat resort. The view itself is worth all the money!

I don't know why but for some weird reason i am drawn to the mountains. They make me feel puny, make me get a true sense of the power and might of mother nature - we are nobody but just a tiny spec in this universe. And the experience of riding to Dochula pass nonetheless made our day even better! Everywhere we looked, the view was simply breathtaking. We were told by the Mr. Phuntsho that on a clear day one can easily see the snow capped mountain ranges of the Himalayas right from the resort but i guess if one looks are the pictures below, the weather had some other plans. But nonetheless we simply kept on exploring in and around the resort.



























Pic 21 - 33: At Dochula Pass and Dochula Eco Retreat resort. polite and helpful staff and a humble owner. Truly a unique place to experience peace and harmony and ofcourse amazing fire place!! A must stay for any crazy tourer or rider planning to visit Bhutan.

TO PUNAKHA & PUNAKHA DZONG

The next day we were a little lazy and left from the hotel for Punakha at around 9:45 a.m. (BST) Since, Punakha was only about 40-45 kms from Dochula, we had requested the staff and owner to kindly allow us to keep the luggage at the reception counter so that we can go there, explore and can come back and then ride back to Paro. The roads have been recently worked upon by BRO (Border Roads Organisation maintains and constructs fresh roads in Bhutan thanks to very special relationship both the countries share since many decades) so it was butter smooth and every corner we took, the view was simply serene and unique. We were awestruck throughout the ride and decided to slow down to sedate pace instead of going for a corner carving session. By the time we had reached Punakha Dzong, we had dropped down to quite an altitude to naturally the ambient temperature had gone up so when we reached at the parking lot of Punakha Dzong, the ambient temperature had soared to 32'C so one can imagine how cooked i felt inside A Stars Andes riding jacket which has been designed purely for fall and winter weather. I guess i don't have to spend much time blabbering as the pictures below will give the readers an idea about what me and my riding buddy experienced over there. The Punakha Dzong is simply an amazing manmade marvel! From any direction one looks at the structure, one simply can't help but wonder how in the world somebody managed to construct it and how has it been able to withstand the test of time all this while for over many centuries? The constant prayers of the buddhist monks reverberating inside the Dzong was something else.. trust me when i tell you this - when inside the Dzong, one feels the clock has gone backwards and there is nothing but peace and calmness around you.

Even though both of us were sweating profusely, we simply couldn't stop admiring what we saw with our own eyes. The trees blooming with flowers while the river flowed by gently - made us feel spiritual and totally lost. We both stayed there for over an hour till the hot weather made it unbearable and we decided to head back to Dochula resort and then continue riding to Paro.



























Pic 34 - 46: Enroute Dochula to Punakha Dzong. the pictures speak more than million words of how beautiful Bhutan truly is! Punakha Dzong is indeed a architecture marvel and looks magnificent!

We rode back to our resort, collected our luggage and then decided to halt at Dochula Chorten. We stayed there for about an hour or so and then started riding towards Paro. Now that both me and my friend had tasted the mountain roads of Bhutan, we both were fairly comfortable and confident while going through innumerable corners while ascending and descending through the topography. Enroute, we were bathed with a thunderstorm which along with high strong winds was something that we both didn't expect at all. For the first time i experienced my motorcycle oscillating from left to right on its own without any rider input all thanks to the crazy crosswinds we faced for a fair bit. After crossing the bridge, we then moved into Paro Dzongkha and were about 19 kms away from the town and again mother nature showed us her beauty all over again. It seems everywhere you go, from one mountain to another mountain there is no other way for one but to stop and take pictures, try and absorb what one was seeing - it cannot be expressed in words rather one has to be here to see and feel it while being in Bhutan!

Our respective motorcycles were working just fine however as expected, being a carbureted bike, my friend's Apache RTR was gasping for breath and misfiring at times whereas being a closed loop EFI my "littlebird" was working just fine. FE was still hovering happily around 37-38 kmpl which considering the mountainous region we were in was well within acceptable range. We had to be a little bit careful on the corners though as out of nowhere there will be little stones and pebbles probably chiseled off from the mountain top by the weather which may lead to your bike's rear braking traction if the lean angle is too much. So we kept our corner carving sessions to the minimal and took the safe course of riding which turned out to be far more better experience.







Pic 47 - 49: At Dochula Chorten. Then while enroute Paro after crossing the bridge, we saw the beauty of the mountains completely changing to something unique. Me and my "littlebird" enjoying the view.

We then finally entered Paro and then my friend just couldn't help himself and forced me to stop in every 1 km. He had to take pictures every now and then as for him it was something he never expected he would get to see! The river, the trees, snow capped mountains, the sunlight playing around with the clouds: it all became too much for my friend!! We finally managed to reach our hotel in Paro, changed to regular clothing and then went around exploring the small town. Without a doubt if somebody asks me to compare out of Thimpu and Paro, which one i would rate to be better: for me it would always be Paro. This place has a very unique beauty to it which i have not seen anywhere else in Bhutan or may be i simply sound or may be i am biased towards Paro!! But nonetheless the 3 nights we had planned to stay in this beautiful place, we both had decided to make the best out of it!

This place at night looks even better, with the lights highlighting the beauty of the monasteries in and around, one simply can't help but get awestruck by it! The food and stay is comparatively expensive in Paro in my experience but since me and my friend had planned for it i guess we were good for the remainder of days. We did try out the local Bhutanese cuisine by the amount of Chilli used was far too much for our delicate stomachs to process so we raised our white flag, claimed defeat and requested the restaurent owners to kindly tone down the chillies by a bit..











Pic 50 - 54: The ever beautiful Paro. Without a doubt this is one of my favourite places to be in.

My rider buddy was insisting on going for a ride to Chelela Pass which is one of the highest motorable pass in the country. So the next day we were ready for it. The good thing about Chelela Pass is that it is only located about 35-40 kms away from Paro and navigating to it isn't a difficult affair. So the next day, we got up early and then started out ride to the famous pass of Bhutan.

CHELELA PASS

As one leaves Paro and starts taking the twisties and sharp turns of the road leading to Chelela Pass, the route goes through dense natural forest and wild flowers blooming here and there all by themselves. Every corner was a treat to our eyes as we clock on the kms with our respective motorcycles. We were greeted with a bit of rain, mist, lot of fog, a bit of sun and then clouds coming over and claiming the land. At certain places we found BRO contractors working tirelessly to patch up certain bad section while laying fresh tarmac on the other. From what we could gather, during winters, this mountain range being at a higher altitude, witnesses snowfall and probably the snow itself damages the road every year just like it might be the case in Spiti valley or Ladakh.

After a lazy paced riding of almost an hour, we reached the Chelela Top which is at an altitude of 13,084 ft pretty much similar to Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh (though Sela pass is at a higher altitude of 13,700 ft). The temperature dropped to 0 - 1'C and we could feel the cold wind the moment we took off our gloves. I guess this was not the season otherwise we were told one usually finds snow at Chelela Top. We spent sometime over there and then started our return journey to Paro.













Pic 55 - 60: Road leading to Chelela Pass and Haa Valley. Beautiful wild flowers and coniferous trees. It is common to see Buddhist prayer flags almost everywhere in Bhutan and they look beautiful. The weather was bone chilling but no snowfall had occurred.

When we were about to enter Paro, on to our right the Paro international airport looked amazing. We had to stop and take a picture of the same. By the time we had reached our hotel both of us were happy and a little bit sad knowing full well that tomorrow the return journey to "same 'old same 'old" city life had to be done. Both were not exactly looking forward to it but alas life can't be all cream cheese, sugar & spice and everything nice right? We went out in the evening and had a nice meal with a local Bhutanese couple who were kind enough to accommodate us and also managed to get hold of fresh and pure butter from a local dairy farm (trust me every branded butter in India will tumble down the stairs when compared to the fresh tasty treat one gets when using local butter from Bhutan). Paro is famous for its red rice which when served in front of you: the smell of it is simply more than enough to make your mouth start salivating. Both of us were not hesitant to try out any and every kind of dishes that were presented to us and by the end of it we both were stuffed to our neck!



Pic 61: The beautiful Paro International Airport.

The next day, we both got up very early (4:30 a.m. IST) knowing full well that today it was going to be one heck of a journey all the way back to Guwahati. All-in-all we were going ride about 560 kms: from mountains to plains and from beautiful cold weather to sweaty and sticky one something which was far more discouraging than the distance itself!! Since, we had tanked up the night before, the first pit stop for fuelling was planned at Phuentsholing. We both knew that since, it was going to be all downhill we may witness a very good fuel economy considering little or no amount of throttle input was needed while our decent is on. It took us about 3.6 hours to reach Phuentsholing (approx 178 kms). When we stopped at the petrol pump and filled up our bikes, i was in for a total shock: my bike refused to drink more than 3 - 3.2 ltrs which roughly translate to 47.8 - 48 kmpl!! i knew i was going to get a good FE but 48kmpl by far was the highest FE i have ever recorded on my Honda CBR 250R! Surprisingly my friend's Apache RTR gave a lesser FE. I guess modern EFI engines consume little or no fuel when going downhill with the throttle in closed position. But it was no time to wait and gloat about it so we left for Guwahati city immediately.

The ride from thereon was pretty much uneventful. It took us about 9.5 hours to enter Guwahati city. Enroute we found plenty of riders either heading to Guwahati or coming from Guwahati to Sikkim/Bhutan - not sure but was happy to see so many like minded riders going to explore this magnificent country on their own. With this we came to an end of our trip of 8 days. Once, we entered the city, me and my buddy bid our good byes and i left for my house. Even though my friend's trip was officially over, for me it was still going to be another 500 kms of ride from Guwahati to my place of stay which by now had become fairly boring. I guess one can understand my position especially when one has to go through the same road over and over again for every piece of adventure one takes in. But nonetheless, i shall cherish this trip forever with my ever reliable "littlebird".

So in the end was it a fairy tale and a fair ending? NOPE NOT AT ALL!! It seems my Honda CBR 250R still had a few tricks up her sleeve... On my return leg of journey she gave me a few surprises and moments of headache too but i guess it is enough for now. We shall carry the second part of the story in another post. Do stick around as the story so far will take an interesting twist!!

Until then...


Cheers,

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

Hi All,

i apologise for the delayed update on this thread but thanks to the inevitable, got busy with lots of work so not been able to visit here and do the deed for a while now. However, finally managed to get some "me time" so shall cover the 'Aftermath' as best as possible. In order to ensure that i don't end up blabbering a thesis on the sequence of events that followed right after i reached Guwahati and was getting ready to leave for my place of stay, i shall be breaking up this update in 2 sections which hopefully should make it a bit more pleasant for all the members and readers of this thread to go through (though i doubt the blabbering would be any lesser) ...

I am sure by the end of it we will all will learn something new about our respective Honda CBR 250Rs (at least i got to know a lot more about my "Littlebird" especially on electronics front, though i completely suck at it!! ) Anyways, let us get on with the story... Popcorn and a 'nice cuppa' is highly recommended!

THE AFTERMATH (PART 1)

So after reaching Guwahati, i decided to stay over in the city for a few days to finish off some pending work and of course spend time with my family and friends. The overall trip so far was turning out to be hassle free and without any incident. I did take out my "Littlebird" to commute in and around the city - during night time as i absolutely detest riding in traffic. She was happy and butter smooth and did her city commute duties without complaining one bit. After my work in Guwahati was complete, it was time for me to continue heading towards my place of stay. So the night before, i got my luggage ready and by early morning got everything hooked up to my CBR 250R and off i went. However, from there on things started getting weird rather very very weird! Within first 5-6 kms i felt as if the rear wheel is getting stuck and the vehicle is becoming unbalanced. I stopped and checked if the recurring irritant chain slider had managed to jump the hooks, breaking away from the zip tie straps and somehow got stuck between the chain and the swingarm however, it was looking all good. I then slowed down and continued riding till i noticed that handling was becoming freakishly weirder and weirder as i rode on so i knew in all probability either the front or the rear tire had picked up a puncture! By the time i managed to reach Khanapara junction, the rear tire was almost out of air.. as luck would have it, none of the puncture repair shops were open given the early morning start i did from Guwahati in order to gain considerable amount of distance by the time it would have been Noon. After asking around, i found out that there was a puncture repair shop just at the end of the famous Ganesh temple in Khanapara. However, the main issue was that the rear tire barely had about 7-10 PSI left and i was in no mood to go through the whole process - unpack my luggage, take out the puncture repair kit, hook the electric pump and attempt to repair the puncture by myself. So i rode very slowly while balancing the bike, keeping both foot more or less hovering above the road. Somehow i climbed the ghats, took the corners very slowly and managed to reach the puncture repair shop.

Luckily the puncture shop had just opened and i was supposedly the first customer of their shop. So the moment my vehicle was parked, the puncture repair guy along with his assistant came over and checked the rear tire for leaks. At first we found a big chunk of glass shard embedded deep inside the centre patch of the rear tire which was taken out and repaired. After rotating the tire and using soap water we managed to find 4 - 5 more micro punctures which couldn't be fixed as this tire already had 4-5 previous puncture repairs all thanks to our brilliant nail and glass shard infested Indian roads. It was clear to me that Michelin Pilot street Radials had more or less reached the end stage of their life thanks to constant torture sessions i took them through and the series of puncture repairs i had carried over the due course of time. I was already late and pissed off by the sequence of events so i asked the puncture repair guy to jack up the tire pressure to 41 PSI which would allow me to complete my 500+ kms of journey (though little bumpy) and then i can decide the next course of action to be taken.



Pic 1: Note the puncture wound caused by a huge glass shard (probably come off from a beer bottle thrown on the road by some truck driver). Simultaneously, more micro punctures were found all due to glass shards penetrating the center patch of the rear tire.

Anyways, content with the fact that i could at least ride to my place of stay, i commenced my journey. After riding for about half an hour, i got the shock of my life when i glanced at the MID console for a moment only to find that the MID display console was completely dead and the RPM meter was showing 0 rpms even though i was riding fairly at decent highway speeds! Now this was another blunder which i never expected!! I again stopped, turned off the ignition for a few minutes and then cranked up the engine.. the vehicle came to life but the MID console was dead - no signs of any activity.. besides horn and headlight beam the MID console, the indicators, rear break light and the front parking lights all were non-functional. By now i had already come out of the city and was about 15-20 kms away. This whole period was really downright disconcerting given the fact that i was not in a position to identify and narrow down the culprit let alone if i continue the journey will my "littlebird" breakdown in the middle of nowhere?

I waited for about 10 mins trying to make up my mind whether to head back to Guwahati city or else continue riding and deal with the consequences if something does end up happening mid-way through the journey. After a while, i decided what the heck... we have had many adventures so far.. perhaps it was time to have another one while being on the state highway, so off i went though worried a bit with 2 things going right one after the other but nonetheless, it was important that i made it to my place of stay on that day itself anyhow. After clocking about 185 kms though my CBR was still running fine, it just felt weird not to see anything on the MID console and not knowing what speeds i was doing, I decided to trouble @psr sir and confirm whether i should continue trying my luck or i should stop somewhere and get my CBR checked! @psr sir suggested that in all probability a 10 amp fuse might have blown due to natural ageing or else some simple short in that particular circuit. Since, the vehicle was still operational i could carry on with my journey. After having a chat with @psr sir, i gained a bit of confidence and went on riding my CBR all the way till i reached my place of stay. Even though she had a punctured rear tire which was more or less losing air slowly but steadily, even though some electrical issue made her go partially blind she brought me safe and sound all the way to my destination. That day it re-affirmed my belief that a "Honda is Honda" it will take all the beating and even with battle wounds all over, it would still manage to take you where you want to go!

I took about 2 days off and then visited my mechanic just to show him what was going on. He suggested the same possibility that a 10 amp fuse controlling the whole circuit must have blown due to which the MID console and the associated items were not operating. We had also checked the rear tire which by now had managed to gather 10 more micro punctures taking the overall score to 15!! I looked in and around my place of stay to check with nearby shops if they happened to have Michelins but as expected the tire i was offered was Ceat XL Zoom with 140-70-17 specification. i was in no mood to wait for a while to get hold of a decent tire now that i had made up my mind to put her up for sale, so based on recommendation by fellow CBR owners it was decided to place an order for MRF Masseter 140-70-17 over online. I know normally given the circumstances i would not recommend mixing different tire brands with potentially different tire compounds which may hamper the handling and braking of the vehicle however, given the end cycle of ownership i was in, i decided that installing a good radial tire with ample grip would be a good parting gift for my "Littlebird". I then parked my CBR 250R at mechanic's garage and then went ahead with placing an order for the same.

It took about a weeks time for the rear tire arrive at my doorstep but arrive it did! Unfortunately as luck would have it.. i got very busy for about the next two weeks afterwards, so had to delay the pending work on my CBR. After a while, once things got settled i fixed and appointment with my local mechanic and then reached the shop along with the tire to start the work and then identify and isolate the culprit causing all the electrical issues related to non-functional MID console and other items.



Pic 2: MRF Masseter 140-70-17 radial tire for the rear. I am huge fan of the Michelins but due to unavailability of the same locally i chose to go with the Masseter.

The mechanic first put the vehicle on rear paddock stand and then started to dis-assemble the rear wheel to be taken off from the motorcycle. Right after that the sprocket set along with the rubber cush dampers were taken out from alloy wheel hub then the old Michelin Pilot Street Radial tire was removed from the alloy wheel. While the fresh MRF rubber was getting installed, we inspected the condition of the Michelin Pilot Street Radials. As the picture below will show, it was my sheer ignorance and torture offroading sessions i took these street tires through was the primary reason why this rear tire burned out so quickly. I managed to finish it off in under 18,000 kms. If not for my crazy adventures, this same tire is known to last close to 24-25k kms on street and regular highway use. But nonetheless, i am happy to report that even at the end of its lifespan, the grip was still phenomenal and the tire would always give out series of warning when i was reaching the thin line of grip vs rear about to break traction which is really commendable! On dry surface the tire was still sticky and never skidded but on wet surface i had to be a bit cautious.

All in all, it was worth it and if anybody asks me about which tire to go for without a doubt i would always recommend Michelin Pilot Street radials as they offer the best of both worlds while ensuring rider safety at all the time. Once the MRF Masseter was fitted onto the rear alloy wheel me and the mechanic decided to do a side by side comparison in order to see the difference between a brand new tire Vs a worn out one. If one looks at the pictures below i was rather astonished to find that the Michelin Pilot Street Radial still managed to retain its shape even after taken off from the alloy mag wheel. It confirmed my theory that thanks to better and rigid steel belt construction across the tire, it retained its shape even when it had reached at the end of its life! All the off-roading at Mustang valley had wiped out one side of grooves on the tire while the other side still had plenty of it left but the tire did serve me well for the places i took it through something it was not at all designed for at the first place!















Pic 3 - 9: Rear tire taken out from the swingarm. Note the number of punctures repaired during the lifetime of the tire and of course those which weren't due to the sheer nos. which even if repaired would have made the tire unsafe for further use on streets. Michelins still holding its shape after 18,000 kms when compared to fresh MRF Masseters all thanks to superior construction and years of experience of Michelin in doing what they do best. Note one section of Michelin tire losing more grooves than the other due to severe off-roading torture sessions it was taken through.

I was happy yet sad to see Michelins coming off from my CBR however, i had to be practical and would want to provide a decent alternative to the prospective buyer of my CBR in the near future so MRF Masseter it is then.

ELECTRICAL ISSUES - AND THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS!!

Right after tire change, it was time to address the electrical issues my bike had displayed in the last 500 kms of highway ride. However, before we could commence with the same, i noticed fresh scratches on the front of the bike. On further enquiry initially my mechanic evaded questions telling me that these scratch marks might have been their earlier however, he knew my OCMD so when i told him that i know each and every scratch that has ever occurred on my bike he apologised and said it might have happened during storage. However, i was not mad as i considered it to be another battle scar If at all the supposed new owner would like to get rid of it either a touch up paint job, stickering work or else a fresh panel would get it sorted as it won't cost more than 500 bucks to take care of the whole deal either way.



Pic 10: Note the scratches on the LHS side of the front fairing. I had no choice but to accept them as fresh battle scars.

Moving on, the mechanic then started to dis-assemble the fairings from the vehicle while i dialed @psr sir to trouble him in order to double check and troubleshoot As per @psr sir we would first prepare a list of possible suspects and then narrow it down to a few as we isolate one from the other. We had looked at the following possible suspects:

1) Battery might be on its way out which would lead to some amount of AC current jumping from the alternator creating unclean voltage spike thus end result-blowing up a fuse
2) the fuse itself had become weak due to operation and natural ageing.
3) RR unit might have gone bad though highly unlikely as little or almost no such cases have been reported
4) Rear brake bulb might have gotten fused which led to spike in voltage thus taking out the fuse
5) The alternator might be leaking current which meant it was slowly dying - again highly unlikely as no such cases have been reported
6) The wiring loom might have a fault somewhere
7) Rust built up inside the connectors leading to increase in electrical resistance leading to a fuse blowing up
8) Wires shortening somewhere close to the fuse box or may be at the ignition switch itself shorting out
9) The MID console may have had an internal short or else the connectors to the MID console may have developed resistance due to being exposed to high moisture environment
10) Brake light switch might have shorted.

We roughly had a fair no. of suspects to go through so we went through the obvious. We first checked the fuse box and found the 10 Amp fuse which controlled the power to the MID console, indicators, rear tail light, front pilot lights and the rear brake light. As expected we found the fuse to be blown. So the first step was to replace the 10 amp fuse and see if everything is hunky dory. At first after replacing the fuse when we turned on the ignition, all the systems came online and everything was fine. However, after sometime when i turned on the ignition again, there was a crackling noise and the MID console went dead which confirmed that the Fuse was not the problem and it must be something else. We checked the 10 amp Fuse and found it to be blown.

We then moved towards the back of the motorcycle and took out the rear brake light bulb to inspect. We found that the master glow light filament had burned out so it was replaced immediately. I guess i was happy that more or less we must have isolated the problem. We again replaced the 10 amp fuse the turned on the ignition: all the systems came online and MID console and the rear brake light was also operational but again after a second or third test of turning the ignition off and on, there was a crackling noise and the MID console went dead! We again checked the rear brake light bulb but it was found to be all OK! By now i was scratching my head wondering what kind of weird symptoms my bike is displaying? @psr sir told me to be patient and then move on with the list.

While i was chatting with @psr sir my mechanic pointed out that the rear brake light switch had come off from the connector. We cleaned up the connector and the terminal with WD 40 and then re-attached them. We then changed the 10 amp fuse and tried turning on the ignition only to find the 10 amp fuse blowing up again!! But the weird part was that the fuse would blow up randomly and intermittently. At times the vehicle would be absolutely fine and would display no symptoms. It would happily crank and run while the MID console and everything else running just fine. And then within a few minutes when the same process is repeated the 10 Amp fuse would blow up!

We then moved onto our next suspect. A multimeter was brought in to check the voltage of the battery. Amaron MF battery was happily retaining a charge of 13.25 volts which was in normal range so battery was ruled out. Next we cranked up the engine and measured the voltage at the terminals while the engine was idling. The multimeter displayed 14.38 - 14.42 volts which was normal. Now if the RR unit had gone bad, when raising the engine rpms one will find the nominal voltage surging way past the recommended 14.3 - 14.4 volts at the terminal. However in this case when we raised the rpm to 3,000 and then later upto 6,000 the voltage readings at the terminal were still hovering between 14.38-14.39 volts which confirmed that the RR unit was healthy and functioning normally. So few suspects were knocked off quickly from the list.

The mechanic then went ahead with dismantling the front fairing to access the MID console and take it out from the connector. We then took out the MID console. At first the connector was doused with WD 40 to remove any moisture or rust deposits inside it then the MID console itself was turned over and the connector pins inside were sprayed with WD 40 to negate the possibility of any resistance due to which this may happen. The MID console was put back in and the 10 amp fuse was again replaced with a fresh piece. We turned on the ignition and started the bike, again everything was fully functional and MID console and all the system were go. However ater 4 - 5 runs of switching the bike off and then on the 10 amp fuse would blow up. We had again changed the 10 amp fuse and tried checking the connectors again but this time a new symptom cropped up!!

The moment the ignition switch was turned on there would be one crackling sound right after the other and then everything would turn off! Nothing turned on and now i couldn't even start the bike unlike what was the case earlier























Pic 11 - 21: The list of suspects systematically isolated in order to try and identify the primary culprit behind all this disturbance in the force!

After scratching our head over it we then started checking all the fuses and then later found out that the master 30 amp fuse which is situated in the starter relay: one which controls master load had blown up! i was slowly getting annoyed and began to wonder why the hell my CBR is displaying one crazy symptom after the other and out of all other bikes on the road why does it always has to be an electrical problem on my motorcycle!! Last time it was the earthing issue which took quite a while to identify... and now this!

Anyways, we then took out the connector of the starter relay and found both the relay connector and the fuse area to have huge greenish white deposits which confirmed that fair amount of oxidation had taken place and as a result the presence of the deposits. So again the services of WD 40 spray was used to drench the connectors and the fuse area. We replaced the 30 Amp fuse with a fresh one, re-connected the wires, replaced the 10 amp fuse and then turned on the ignition switch only to find that 10 amp and the 30 amp fuse would blow up rightaway. So now the next step was to take out all the individual fuses from their respective connectors and douse all the connectors with WD 40 spray in order to remove any potential moisture/rusts deposits. We also took out the 30 amp fuses which controlled the ABS unit though none of the fuses in that separate fuse box had blown.

While i was busy fuming @psr sir suggested that he might have found the culprit! he advised to completely disconnect and take out the rear brake light switch from the motorcycle. It is usually connected to the rear brake lever via metal spring. As per him if the brake light switch had shorted it is possible that the same would irritate the system and the 10 amp fuse would blow up. The mechanic then taped the ends of the connector of the rear brake light switch first. We then replaced both the 30 amp fuse in the starter relay and then the 10 amp fuse controlling the MID console and the associated electrical units. We then turned on the ignition only to hear another crackling sound. We immediately inspected the 10 Amp fuse box only to find that the earlier 10 amp fuse which was busy blowing up every now and then was found to be ok. But on further inspection we found that the 30 amp fuse in the starter relay had again blown up!

i was quite pissed off by then as the little issue what i had come to solve we ended up finding a much bigger headache now which simply turns everything off: rendering the bike completely dead and useless!! As suggested by @psr sir the mechanic dis-assembled the rear brake light switch from the rear brake lever and completely took it out from the system. We again connected another 30 amp fuse and turned on the ignition switch only to find the 30 amp fuse blowing up immediately while the 10 Amp fuse controlling the MID console to be still holding up. This confirmed that the brake light witch had shorted out which led to the 10 amp fuse controlling the MID console, indicators, rear tail lights and the rear brake light blowing up while i was on my way back to my place of stay. Considering what was happening right in front of me i thanked my stars that my "Littlebird" didn't throw any tantrums coz if for any reason the 30 Amp fuse inside the started relay would have blown up i could have been in a deep soup! But i guess some progress is better than nothing right? Anyways, this meant that i now had to source a rear brake light switch which was not in stock with my mechanic and in probability was also not there with any of the close by Honda SVCs.































Pic 22 - 36: 30 Amp starter relay fuse found to be blowing up constantly. All connectors cleaned up with WD 40 while the fuse box and the ABS fuses were also taken out and cleaned with WD 40. Eventually the culprit for 10 amp fuse blowing up was isolated to rear brake light switch. The 30 Amp starter relay now kept on blowing up the moment the ignition was turned to ON position.

@psr sir suspected something major was causing the master 30 Amp fuse to blow up. He suggested that he had to re-look at the wiring diagram of Honda CBR 250R to understand and then try and narrow down the culprit causing this issue. It might be a break or fault anywhere in the wiring loom and might be something wrong with the connectors to the fuse box or else worse - the alternator must be shorting internally!By now we had spent more than 4 hours to isolate the culprit - rear brake light switch only to find a new symptom cropping up and probably all the more serious.

I was pretty irritated by then so decided to wrap it up for the day rather than continue pursuing this new culprit and resolve the issue once and for all at a later date when our respective minds are fresh. I also had a terribly busy schedule coming up soon (which un-knowingly and un-expectedly would eventually delay the troubleshooting by over a month to the extent where this project would take a backseat for while!!) so it was mutually decided to postpone this project. The motorcycle was to be left in the garage of my mechanic and i indirectly told him that there better not be any new "battle scars" during this period of storage at his shop.

Since, my CBR was "popping" 30 Amp fuses like anything, i decided to pick up a bunch of 30 Amp fuses from a nearby car accessories shop knowing full well that if and when we commence with this project all over again, it will take going through a few of these fuses till we isolate the culprit and work on it.



Pic 37: fresh pieces of 30 Amp Fuse picked up for the upcoming task to isolate the new culprit busy making my bike completely non-functional!

Since, i did have a new toy to play around with (Read new found love: https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/superbi...nja-650-a.html) i whole heartedly admit that my Honda CBR 250R had now taken the secondary role in my life as it naturally happens "absolute power corrupts absolutely!!" My priorities had shifted to this green elephant - riding it, understanding the unrelenting torque and power this machine is capable of dispensing at the wring of the throttle... so whether i like it or not my "Littlebird" had to to wait out a bit longer to finish off this work and get her back to her full health.


I know the overall blabbering is bit too much but hopefully it has covered some of the bases in order to understand a potential electrical fault which may occur in any Honda CBR 250R as the vehicle ages and is exposed to various elements. We shall cover the second part of "the aftermath" as soon as i can manage some free time...

Until then..


Cheers,

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

@ Shv18 While the pictures of your tour had come out great, your bike had suffered through the vagaries of the climate and usage.

The problems arising esp., in your CBR250 had made me realize once again how important it is to be strong in understanding the fundamentals of Automobile Electronics.

No other bike had thrown up so many Electrical and electronic Gremlins like your bike has so far , and it was a good learning curve for me..learning that nothing can be taken for granted , and to be on toes most of the times.

By sharing the same you are making this thread an Almanac of information for all CBR250R owners to benefit in Future.

Good luck.

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

Hi All,

So after riding around like crazy on my new Green Elephant (link: https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/superbi...nja-650-a.html) it was time to pay attention to my obedient and reliable housewife: my "littlebird". Being engrossed with my Ninja for a while i wholeheartedly admit that i was inadvertently ignoring my Honda CBR 250R for a while to the extent that i had actually forgotten about it till i realised that a month of half had passed since, i had last seen my CBR. Well what can i say, "absolute power corrupts absolutely!!" Regardless, it is now time for the second part of the story on how we finally managed to identify the hidden electrical gremlins on my CBR and the necessary steps taken to rectify them once and for all...

So get yourself a bucket of popcorn and let us begin with the story then..


THE AFTERMATH (PART 2)

It was time to pay a visit to my CBR as i felt guilty of ignoring her for near about a month and half. So the first thing we did was to remove the Amaron AGM battery from the terminals and check the voltage at the ends considering the fact that my bike has been lying idle for a such a long time, it may have potentially lost a signifiant amount of charge and may not crank my bike... but to my surprise Amaron had still managed to retain 12.79-12.80 volts! Let us not forget that by now the battery has turned 3.5+ years old and all the signs were pointing towards very healthy and functional cells inside the battery. So kudos to Amaron for making such a reliable and resilient battery which has proven itself over due course of ownership, even after being taken to extreme sub zero temperatures it still never skipped a beat.



Pic 1: SOC (State of Charge) of Amaron AGM Maintenance Free battery after 1 and half month of non-usage. Totally worth it and highly recommended in place of Exide!!

While i was in Guwahati, i managed to visit Vinayak Honda to place order for rear brake light switch. To my surprise one unit hardly costs something like Rs. 55-60/- so will not exactly pinch somebody's wallet. After i came to know about the price my OCMD kicked in and i ended up getting hold of 2 units (one for installation and one for back up!!) I had placed a call to @psr sir who by now had studied the electrical layout of Honda CBR 250R and suspected that the Fuse box in someway might be the culprit: may be due to a lose connection or some wire fraying. I decided to inspect the fuse box of my CBR by taking it off from its position, after checking it for a while i noticed that when the fuse box was re-installed in its place, the wires coming from the bottom of it were in a very close proximity to that of the metal retainer plate which holds the battery in its place. I conveyed the same to @psr sir who then suggested that potentially due to vibrations or rider sitting on top of the seat the fuse box wires may flex a bit and at times may be coming in contact with the metal retainer plate of the battery thus, effectively providing a path of grounding to the wires which may cause shorting - end result 30 Amp master fuse on starter relay blowing up! When i raised a query regarding how is it possible considering the fact that wires below the fuse box seemed to be insulated and no fraying of the wires were found, he suggested it is possible due to high moisture and wet type climate my "Littlebird" has been consistently exposed to which may provide an electrical path thus making things conductive and result in shorting.

So the cheapest way to isolate the wires below the fuse box from ever coming in contact with the metal battery retainer plate was to install a cheap/free insulator in between which would completely negate this from ever occurring. So the mechanic sourced a used rubber tire tube and cut it to the required length. We then made an incision in the centre of the rubber tube so that the metal battery retainer bolt can go through to secure the battery properly. The rubber insulator was double checked for fitment, the fuse box was re-installed and then we put the battery back inside and tightened the bolts on the retainer.









Pic 2 - 5: Installation of new rear brake light switch. Local Jugaad rubber insulator inserted between the battery metal retainer and the fuse box effectively isolating the wires below the fuse box from coming in contact with the battery metal retainer clip.

We then replaced the earlier master 30 amp fuse which had blown up in the starter relay. After checking all the connections, the ignition switch was turned ON and then one by one, all the the electrical lights were turned on: Blinkers, headlight, parking light and then intermittent usage of front and rear brakes individually to confirm whether the 10 amp fuse controlling the same or the 30 amp master fuse would decide to blow up again. After 5-6 trials, without cranking the engine, we kept the bike on rest for like 2 hours and again followed the same process... and you know what both the 10 amp fuse and the 30 amp master fuse didn't blow this time!! So in short what @psr sir and i had effectively managed to do was to find a rather unexpected culprit which was causing this electrical issue on my ABS CBR 250R. I was on cloud no. 9, totally elated that finally we had fixed this electrical issue and that i can finally head back home taking her with me. However, as luck would have it, she still had few more surprises stored up her sleeve.
@psr sir suggested to crank the engine and confirm that during starting process, if the either of the fuses don't blow then we have successfully resolved the issue. When i turned the ignition switch and engine kill switch to ON position and pressed the thumb starter, the vehicle cranked immediately, however the mechanic noticed some massive sparking taking place on the LHS side of the wiring loom which was coming towards the RR (Regulator Rectifier) and the fuse box area. We immediately turned off the bike and then inspected the section. After a while it became clear that we had to dis-assemble the fuel tank, the airbox from the bike in order to access the wiring loom and the point where the sparks were found to be taking place. I was utterly shocked and pissed off considering the that by now this supposed simple fuse change procedure has now turned out to be much bigger issue and that it is the 3rd and possibly the biggest electrical fault we had discovered so far! Something related to wiring loom, i suppose i was praying in my mind hoping that we should not end finding something major and nothing expensive hopefully since, i was planning to put her up for sale soon...

Since, the OEM wiring loom was installed in the deep recesses of the motorcycle, we also had to take out the battery and the loom connection to the RR unit so that we can remove the wiring loom and inspect the affected area. Trust me when i tell you this, unless you or your mechanic knows how to dis-assemble the airbox and the hoses and connectors and put them back in place on your Honda CBR 250R i would not let anybody touch my bike as one has to go through a plethora of connections: both electrical and various hoses in nature! The Electric starter basic layout gave us an idea as to how the wiring was done for the system to be operational. One must note in the image below that for Indian model, we don't have a side stand switch in the connection on our respective Honda CBR 250Rs.











Pic 6 - 10: The diagram representing the electrical starter wiring set up. Note that no side stand switch is present on Indian version of CBRs. Location where sparking had occurred at the time of starting my CBR 250R. The mechanic had to take out the fuel tank, the battery, the airbox and associated hoses and electrical connectors in order to access the wiring loom (running on the LHS - interior side of the motorcycle chassis).

Once, the mechanic carefully removed the RR unit and the wiring loom connector to the RR unit (from underneath), we finally managed to removed the wiring loom from the retainer clips on the LHS side of the frame. We then inspected the affected area and found big brown and rusty markings on the electrical tape wound on top of the wiring loom. I shared the same with @psr sir and he suggested to make an incision in the wiring loom to see which wire had lost insulation and was coming in contact with the chassis to cause a spark. The mechanic, using a blade tool very carefully cut through the rubber cover and the OEM electrical insulation tape and then immediately we found the master culprit!! There was a single black wire located at the outside away from the wire bunch running inside the loom which had frayed and was more or less devoid of any rubber insulation one normally finds on electrical wires. We also found huge amount of sticky, gooey and watery kind of formation inside the wiring loom which was quite disconcerting. @psr sir confirmed that this was moisture and water ingress which had managed to percolate inside the wiring loom and the sticky substance was most likely the gum from electric insulation tape wound from the factory which now had become weak, weathered and now had mixed with the moisture and water ingress and probably couldn't evaporate from inside due to weather conditions and also due to shielding or isolation provided by the layer of electrical tape on top of the wiring loom itself! This was one heck of a discovery as so far i have never seen so much moisture/water ingress and a frayed wire like ever in any of the motorcycles i have owned so far!

The mechanic and i decided to inspect the wires bunched together inside the loom in order to see if any other wires had become weak or frayed, if that was the case, we probably had a massive headache awaiting us! Luckily we found all the other wires inside the loom were healthy except this black wire. @psr sir after going through the electrical wiring diagram confirmed that the black wire located outside the master looms was most likely one of the 3-phases coming directly from the stator coil of my CBR which at some point of time had frayed a little, Due to high AC voltage generated by stator coil and the nature of AC current itself, all it needed was a small path to come in contact with ground/metal chassis body add to the wonderful watery/moisture ingress inside the loom - all of these combined gave a perfect environment for the AC current find a path and thus, it was busy making small sparks which over a period of time managed to burn through the insulation rubber and the electrical tape itself. If one closely looks at the black exposed copper wire, one will notice that the amount of wire exposed the rubber insulation frayed is not flat lined instead is elongated quite unevenly which confirms @psr sir's theory! This was going to take a while so the mechanic had closed the Throttlebody intake port of the motorcycle with a plastic bubble wrap to avoid dust particle from entering inside it.















Pic 11 - 17: Post removal of wiring loom from the chassis we found brownish deposits on the electric insulation tape. On further inspection we found black wire to be completely frayed though uneven. The loom inside had significant deposits of water/moisture+gooey/sticky substance. Intake port was covered with bubblewrap to isolate it from dust.

After having a chat with @psr sir it was decided to leave the bike as it is and expose it to sunlight, in order to allow the moisture inside to completely evaporate from now the exposed area we had created. This would enable us to inspect the internal wires inside the loom again and also to have a better sealing once, we start the process of re-sealing the loom again. This meant i would have to delay this process once again - few more days of running around with my green elephant then! Anyways, after a week of sabbatical, i landed up at my mechanic's shop and then we started the process of insulating the affected area and also re-winding the loom with fresh electric insulation tape. The ones my mechanic sourced out are standard electric insulation tape, available anywhere even in B towns and villages. When we inspected the loom again by now the moisture level had gone down by 70%. It was still sticky and gooey but much better than we had witnessed a week back. Since, the wiring loom was covered in dirt and dust, the mechanic first cleaned the whole loom with a moist cloth. we then took the frayed black wire, and sealed the naked copper wire with insulation tape. Since, we had identified the culprit and found that Honda had kept this wire located on the outermost LHS side of the wiring loom, we simply repositioned it to the bottom side of the wireloom which in theory would keep it away from coming in contact with the chassis should for any reason this kind of environment occurs again. What me and the mechanic did find that there was only one loop of insulation tape wound over the wiring loom which i guess has been done as a part of cost cutting. Since "absolutely no compromise on anything" was my motto for the day , the mechanic was instructed to make multiple loops and create at least 4-5 layers of insulation tape, wound one over the other without compromising on flexing of the wires to completely isolate and negate this issue from ever occurring again.

While he was at it, we also found little bit of moisture ingress in the wiring loom splitting to RR unit, the earthing ground wires and the wires going to the fuse box. So one by one we cleaned up those sections of the loom and then started winding fresh insulation tape over the OEM older lot in order to remove any possibility of such occurrences from taking place in any part of this section of the wiring loom. We also noticed the insulation tape to the bottom end connector to RR unit and the earthing wire (3 green wires) had started coming off so they also were not spared from this treatment.. what can i say my OCMD always gets the better off me!!

















Pic 18 - 25: Electric insulation tape being looped multiple times, at least 4 05 layers thick to provide adequate protection against the environment and wires from ever coming in contact with the chassis. The tape can be found in any local electrical/hardware store across India and abroad.


Once, i was satisfied with the job undertaken, the mechanic then started the tedious process of putting the wiring loom back in its place, put the airbox and the various connections back and then re-installing the fuel tank on the bike. He then put the battery inside the battery box and post insulating the metal retainer with the jugaad rubber insulator, he tightened the nuts holding the master power wires at the respective terminals of the battery. We checked and double checked everything to confirm that all the connections both electrical and mechanical in nature has been done alright. After we were convinced, it was time for the real test. we turned the ignition key and engine kill switch to ON position and then pressed the thumb starter and then i got the biggest smile on my face when i found my CBR 250R coming back to life in half a crank. Everything was back to normal and fully functional.. there were no sparks coming out from the earlier area which confirmed that the insulation and winding of electrical tape we had done was doing its job and now my CBR was back in action! Just to be sure that the battery was getting adequate charging voltage, the multimeter was hooked up to the terminals of the battery to inspect the voltage sent to the battery by the RR unit. I was very happy to see the nos. displayed below, we also revved the engine at first to 2,500, then 3,000 and finally to 5,000 rpm to confirm whether consistent voltage range of 14 - 14.40 volts is being supplied to the battery and to my relief the voltage supplied was well within the specified range which confirmed that the RR unit and the stator coil were healthy and operating normally. After letting the bike idle for about 15 minutes, we then turned off the motorcycle and after letting it rest for 10 minutes we checked the voltage at the terminals of the battery. I was happy to note that the battery was still retaining a charge of 13.19 - 13.20 volts which is within the range of a healthy AGM battery.





Pic 26 - 27: RR unit sending proper charge voltage to the battery. Post 10 - 15 mins the AGM MF battery was found to be still holding its charge just fine.

So finally once everything was checked and double checked, we then cranked the bike and she started at half a second.

So if one notices, from a supposed simple job of replacing just a blown 10 amp fuse we ended up finding, isolating and eradicating 3 major electrical gremlins by the end of this mega exercise! I was happy with the fact that whenever she is put up for sale, the new owner will never ever have any such issues for the remainder of the operational life of this ever reliable motorcycle which gives me immense satisfaction. It was my way of saying thank you to this "obedient housewife" who took care of me and even though she was suffering from a major electrical fault, she still managed to bring me back to my destination without breaking down!! This is by far the most reliable motorcycle one can own in India.

I am sure to an untrained eye, all these list of issues may make one feel as if this bike is riddled with issues. However, if one applies common sense and take note of the torture sessions and wet climate she has been exposed to, such little problems are expected! I would request @psr to kindly elaborate as to why a major electrical fault like this occurred on my bike and what possible precautionary measure other Honda CBR 250R owners can take to keep their bike away from such issues on their respective bikes in present and near future. I will testing my CBR for another 200 - 300 kms to see if the necessary steps we took are holding up just fine and she is back to being happy and fully functional. After that she will be deemed ready for the next leg of the journey with a future owner.

This was one heck of a discovery and something new i learned from my Honda CBR 250R knowing full well that this will help me with my green elephant and future acquisitions to especially when it comes to identifying, isolating and taking care of electrical issues! Hope we learned something new today


Until then...


Cheers,

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

The problems faced by you are unique, and is especially seem to be tailor made for you....as someone associated with automobiles and their electricals, and electronics, these are part of usage.
Since you live in a place of high non evaporating humid condition , condensation of moisture in every nook and corner takes place, and compounding the problem is the fact that you had recently traveled to hilly terrain with sub zero temperatures. If you had been in places where dust and grime is more, then all bearings open to atmosphere would have perished ... So in short most of the problems in your bike are specific to the place , and the travel you do , and not bike specific.(Except Earth Wire mod)

The best any biker can do for his ride is to keep the bike clean, not subject it to repeated exposure to water or moisture( repeated pressure water wash) do service at periodic intervals , and keep it as dry as possible , externally...

Good Luck.

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

Thank You sir for your inputs. However i feel learning from my experience above, i would recommend those owners who are living in similar wet type conditions, especially in hilly and coastal areas to consider the following steps to ensure that such problems don't ever crop up on their respective motorcycles:

1) WD 40 is your best friend. Once in a year, periodic spraying of the connectors especially those recessed inside the bike should keep them healthy and clean and fully functional.
2) The wire loom has got the insulation taping which is only one layer thick. I suspect the same location where the wire frayed on my bike, it is a potential failure point for other CBR owners as well as the bike ages and the gum of the insulation tape wear off naturally due to ageing. If owners tape that section with fresh electrical insulation tape (will hardly cost 30 bucks for raw material!! ) this will ensure that even if the wire has frayed for some reason, it will never come in contact with the metal chassis thanks to a thick barrier due to multiple layers of taping on it thus avoiding any sparking or potential source of fuse blowing up.
3) Installing a cheap/free rubber insulator between the Battery retainer clip and the fuse box will completely isolate it from the wires below the fuse box from ever coming contact with the bike: though in my experience this would be more applicable with ABS bikes as i have noticed on the ABS model, the fuse box is located comparatively closer to the battery clip than the NON-ABS one.

Hope this helps...

Cheers,

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

Hi,
Can I take the Shell Rimula R4 HDEO and FZ oil filter to the Honda SVC for servicing or do I need to get it done outside only?
Thanks.

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

Why would they allow you to use something you are not buying from them? Then again there's the thing about OEM recommended products. And should a Honda service centre allow you to bring in a Yamaha oil filter?

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

Thanks for the reply.
I need to get a full bike service, so do I tell them to skip the oil and oil filter part?

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

There's nothing wrong in trying to do that.

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

Hello All, I'm a new member on Xbhp.

I own a Classic 350 and being fed up, I am on the look-out for something practical.

I thank my stars I came across this thread as I am going through the same turbulence the thread owner went through before he got his CBR.

And I have most probably zeroed in on a second hand CBR250 ABS decision too. Will start scouring the market soon.

Sorry if above paragraph was OT. Newbie mistakes.

Coming to the topic, would the 2018 version LED headlight retro-fit older CBRs? They look astounding and also look to solve the purpose.

Also, anybody here has any reviews of "Droom" site for second hands? There are pretty good listings over there.

Can't wait to go over every single line in the thread and take down notes before buying one.

Thank You to all of the good people here. Insane knowledge.

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

See the video below for headlight conversion.