What is it with this bike??? My old Yamaha R6 used to come to bits and go back together with ease. Fairings would come off in seconds, never really had a problem getting at anything. This ol' Blade-o'-mine seems to fight every single effort of mine to fix it. I'm putting it down to Honda's mass centralisation efforts on the post 2004 machines making the packaging really tight but honestly. I used to actually enjoy bike maintenance but I'm rapidly going off it
Even my garage moans about all the clips and screws with the Hondas where most other bikes are just bolt together. I dread taking bits off and refitting as it never goes back together perfectly and you are always sat thinking where the hell does this bolt go.....
Glad it's not just me, mate. I replaced the steering stem on my R6 a few years back and that involved taking the whole front of the bike off and it still resulted in a helluva lot less angry spanner flinging than changing the CCT on my Blade has done. Could be something to do with the fact that I'm no longer smoking but that's another issue.
I miss my old Ducati in this respect. Taking off the fairings was simply a case of hunting down the allen headed bolts, but the real trick they scored with was that, at rest, none of the holes in the fairings matched the bolt holes, so you had to put so much flex on the plastics to get them aligned that there was no need for nylocks or spring washers and it never, ever creaked going over bumps. Then, when I head butted the Nissan Micra, the stored energy in the spring loaded bodywork acted like ablative armour, springing apart and creating a reactive crumple zone to protect me. Clever design, that.
Yeah, but that's why Honda have a good reputation for build quality and not falling to bits over time. BMW and Audi cars are the same - built like tanks but a bitch to work on!
Shhh! The pulse phasers never worked and the cloaking device would never switch off. I was always getting pulled out on at junctions.
That always used to p*ss me off "The cloaking device isn't working, Benjamin. Lieutenant Dax just plugged in her hair straighteners and it's overloaded the system" I've seen Ukrainian microwave ovens that are more reliable than that thing.
It did get it's arse kicked a lot considering it was supposed to be state of the art... A bit like Dani Pedrosa, in fact...
Poor Dani. He seems like such a nice guy but maaan did he have a face on him yesterday. Can't be easy, like. Seeing your younger full-o'-beans team mate come in and make you look slow. Helen was laughing her head off when she saw him being interviewed at the start of the race. He looked like a child stood next to the bike.
I know exactly how you feel mate. I went to change my spark plugs on my rr4 the other day, and when I finally got the tank off, it pretty much went straight back on. Far too much s**t to remove so gave up. A mate of mine is Honda trained techy so gonna pay him to do them, lol.
It's rediculous, but at least you can see the build quality, and why they ride so well. Take up smoking again mate i quit a year ago so know how much the smallest thing can wind you up, lol.
I saw that part, when Dani got on his bike he had to stand on the footpeg to be able to get his other leg over the seat....51kg he weighs...I bet that bike doesn't even know he's on it
Yeah I noticed that too. I thought he was was going to need a leg-up from one of the mechanics. Reminded me of a bloke I saw at the petrol station a few years ago. Riding an R1 he was but nevermind being unable to get both feet down. I don't think he could manage either. He was having to shift totally off the bike to put a foot down. I'm a proper short-arse myself and I can get both feet on the deck. God knows what it must be like trying to ride like that.
Being so light it maybe the reason he brakes so early into a corner, if he broke later and harder then that bike would be doing stoppies every time as there is not enough of him to keep the rear wheel down, I bet the anti-wheely system is cranked right up too. I recently owned a Husaberg 600 crosser....I couldn't touch the floor sat on that thing, in fact to kick start it I had to lean the bike against a wall, I actually fell over on it trying to kick it off one day....much to my very hurt pride !!
Yeah I've had the same problem. The rubber bung / bolt thing sheared off in the center. I bought some well nuts that are the right size but don't seal properly.
