Sad story part 1- floods
Hi friends,
As all know about Kerala floods, I happen to be one among the flood ravaged victims.
Long story short
Day1. Severe rains block my way of escape to park my vehicles somewhere else.
Day2. Neighbors help me lift my cbr and park it into my home in the hall-- thought I did something very witty. Water enters inside home. Couldn't sleep a wink and had no option other than to watch my cbr drown inch by inch. The mirrors remained out for sometime but went down too. It was like watching Arnold go down in Terminator judgement day.
We witnessed the scariest moments of our life with rising water levels, strong currents, screaming sounds of people fleeing. No emergency numbers worked, no nothing. We yelled for help but none heard. It was like an apocalypse. No sleep,and were sitting in the first floor,not sure if we would live to see ourselves again.
Day3. Someone passing boat heard us out of the blue early morning and rushed for help.
A small boat belonging to a local fisherman came to our rescue and by the time water had reached till the sunshade. luckily, I did a rehearsal the previous night as to how am I going to make my parents,kid and wife from the first floor to the boat.
Managed to get all my family members to get on the boat. Seriously guys, this was the worst nightmare of my life. One false move and my parecpuld have fallen into 18 feet of water. Anyways, gathered my will power and we were all shifted two at a time to the nearest high point. I was the last to leave with some emergency medicines. Should really thank the skillful fisherman who landed us safely. Was relieved to see my wife, kid and all. Was shocked to see the calamity as I've never been in one.
We had to walk in the heavy rain and storm to the nearest relief camp where hundreds were waiting for help.
Post apocalypse- today was last day in camp as roads were cleared. The aftermath is terrible. Drove my family out of the place for good to inlaws home. Still.haunted by all what I saw and trying in vain to get some sleep.
Happy to be safe now and hoping to resurrect my cbr soon.
Request you gentlemen to advise me what to be cautious while my bike is worked in the asc in the presence of the insurance guy. Heard that insurance people will ask asc to service and fit things rather than replace in order to save their money. What all should be replaced for sure after underwater soaking?? Please guide me. Here are a few pics of my bike and home post the floods.
Recovery post will follow in part 2.. I hope all will go well without hassles..

Glad that you & your family are safe. Was indeed a calamity of massive proportions.
Stay positive man and i pray you guys get back on your feet soon.

Coming to your bike.. Do you think any service center has started operations in your area?
Anyway here are some recommendations from my end:
1. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO START THE BIKE
2. REMOVE THE BATTERY
3. Call your insurance and nearest service center and report the issue and find out the process (towing bike, claims, paperwork etc). Preferably try to keep some of them also in writing (like informing insurance, maybe a mail to honda explaining your case).. and keep mentioning that there was no attempt to start the bike and it has just been sitting there.
4. Coming to the repairs:
- a through water wash
- drain out all fluids, oil, coolant, fuel .. doing this first might give you an idea to the extent of water seepage into various parts like the crank case/radiator/fuel tank.
- strip the engine (head, block, crankcase) clean it up thoroughly and put back with new gaskets/ seals/o rings and bearings preferably. The block and piston need to be checked and maybe just a new piston kit is required. Same for the head, inspect , clean and maybe replace the valve seals at-least.
- maybe a new set of clutch plates (at least the friction plates)
- get the exhaust also pressure washed from the inside.
- clean all the electrical contacts/connectors thoroughly with some contact cleaner and an air gun.. and let them dry out.
- clean out the throttle body, ignition coil connectors and any other electrical parts like fuse box, relay connectors etc..
- the ecu i think should be a sealed unit and water proof, so it might not need to be opened up.
- the speedo console might need to be opened up and cleaned.
- complete brake overhaul.. clean and put back with fresh fluid at least. worst case might require new caliper piston/seals which cost around 500rs iirc.
- clean out the control cables (throttle, clutch)
- clean out the petrol tank and the fuel pump.
- remove and clean out the radiator with plenty of soapy water and rinse with clean water.
- new fluids (oil, coolant etc..) all around with new filters (Air, fuel , oil)
- fork overhaul with new seals and fork oil.

And any other obvious parts that might need replacement based on inspection/condition.

Let's be grateful to God that you and your family are alright.

As for the motorcycle I believe this would give you an idea of what you're likely to expect;



1. Pressure wash the motorcycle and then strip it.

2. Clean AF box and replace AF.

3. Pull the spark plug out and crank the motor, so that water trapped inside the cylinder would come out, once done put in a new SP.

4. Replace all fluids and disconnect clean spray and close every electrical connector in sight.

5. Put everything back on the motorcycle and crank it to life.

It was brilliant of you to not try to start the motorcycle.

I have managed to drown my motorcycle a hand full of times and have brought it back to life as mentioned in the earlier link, though fortunately Ive never had the motorcycle remain drowned for extended periods.

The SVC would try pushing for a cylinder replacement but frankly I don't see the purpose as I doubt the CBR's cylinder sleeve would rust considering metallurgy, even if it would I still doubt that would happen in a short couple of days.

Sad story part 1- floods
Hi friends,
As all know about Kerala floods, I happen to be one among the flood ravaged victims.
Long story short
Day1. Severe rains block my way of escape to park my vehicles somewhere else.
Day2. Neighbors help me lift my cbr and park it into my home in the hall-- thought I did something very witty. Water enters inside home. Couldn't sleep a wink and had no option other than to watch my cbr drown inch by inch. The mirrors remained out for sometime but went down too. It was like watching Arnold go down in Terminator judgement day.
We witnessed the scariest moments of our life with rising water levels, strong currents, screaming sounds of people fleeing. No emergency numbers worked, no nothing. We yelled for help but none heard. It was like an apocalypse. No sleep,and were sitting in the first floor,not sure if we would live to see ourselves again.
Day3. Someone passing boat heard us out of the blue early morning and rushed for help.
A small boat belonging to a local fisherman came to our rescue and by the time water had reached till the sunshade. luckily, I did a rehearsal the previous night as to how am I going to make my parents,kid and wife from the first floor to the boat.
Managed to get all my family members to get on the boat. Seriously guys, this was the worst nightmare of my life. One false move and my parecpuld have fallen into 18 feet of water. Anyways, gathered my will power and we were all shifted two at a time to the nearest high point. I was the last to leave with some emergency medicines. Should really thank the skillful fisherman who landed us safely. Was relieved to see my wife, kid and all. Was shocked to see the calamity as I've never been in one.
We had to walk in the heavy rain and storm to the nearest relief camp where hundreds were waiting for help.
Post apocalypse- today was last day in camp as roads were cleared. The aftermath is terrible. Drove my family out of the place for good to inlaws home. Still.haunted by all what I saw and trying in vain to get some sleep.
Happy to be safe now and hoping to resurrect my cbr soon.
Request you gentlemen to advise me what to be cautious while my bike is worked in the asc in the presence of the insurance guy. Heard that insurance people will ask asc to service and fit things rather than replace in order to save their money. What all should be replaced for sure after underwater soaking?? Please guide me. Here are a few pics of my bike and home post the floods.
Recovery post will follow in part 2.. I hope all will go well without hassles..




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Thanks dude. M trying to replace radiator fan, entire wiring, may be cylinder sleeve if insurance would cover for it. Only doubt is will the replacement sleeve be original as factory line piece. Also will I get the same performance as before.ive heard that anything other than factory line assembly is second quality even if supplied by oem. The best part is iam still breathing and very much alive.

I am glad your parents, wife and child are safe. That's the most important thing. The CBR can be brought back to life, just ensure that you don't try to start it as it is. Same with the car.

Where in Kerala do you reside?

Thanks dude. M trying to replace radiator fan, entire wiring, may be cylinder sleeve if insurance would cover for it. Only doubt is will the replacement sleeve be original as factory line piece. Also will I get the same performance as before.ive heard that anything other than factory line assembly is second quality even if supplied by oem. The best part is iam still breathing and very much alive.

Neutral light is flickering whenever i am trying to start the bike. Is it normal or is it a sign of dying battery?

Hi Leech, I live in chengamanad, Aluva, about 7 kms from airport.. managed to remove car battery. Tried to the ecu off, but no time.. I was previously in Chennai for around 35 yrs..

Water getting inside the cylinder is not a serious concern as long as it has a place to go out. So rather than pull the intake off you could just remove the spark plug and crack the motor. All the fluids in the cylinder and intake route would be thrown out via the spark plug hole.

At least that's how we do it with carbureted motorcycles after draining the float.

why risk cranking an engine that might have muddy water inside and give a chance to scratch up the bore. and remember this is a liquid cooled motor, so there is a head gasket also that does a role of keeping coolant out of the block. so the best way for such a calamity would be to take it apart and put it back together with new seals/gaskets/o rings after cleaning and replacing the required parts.

Water getting inside the cylinder is not a serious concern as long as it has a place to go out. So rather than pull the intake off you could just remove the spark plug and crack the motor. All the fluids in the cylinder and intake route would be thrown out via the spark plug hole.

At least that's how we do it with carbureted motorcycles after draining the float.

Glad that you & your family are safe. Was indeed a calamity of massive proportions.
Stay positive man and i pray you guys get back on your feet soon.

Coming to your bike.. Do you think any service center has started operations in your area?
Anyway here are some recommendations from my end:
se with clean water.
- new fluids (oil, coolant etc..) all around with new filters (Air, fuel , oil)
- fork overhaul with new seals and fork oil.

And any other obvious parts that might need replacement based on inspection/condition.

Sad story part 1- floods
Hi friends,
As all know about Kerala floods, I happen to be one among the flood ravaged victims.
Long story short
Day1. Severe rains block my way of escape to park my vehicles somewhere else.

Though, folks have poured in their views, it seems as though they are missing a very important point. Apart from removing the battery, the bike's AIR FILTER, SPARK PLUG and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the ENGINE OIL MUST BE DRAINED FIRST AND FOREMOST before CRANKING THE ENGINE. The reason here is why, to keep it in layman's terms.