CBR900RR Bits & Pieces

1997 Honda CBR900RR parts, but I'm buying too many online when I'd rather buy them locally.  For someone who would rather support local business, I'm frustrated at the lack of competent parts people.  Canadian Tire needs to do better.

Fram oil filters:

The oil filter for the CBR is a fairly common filter - but the big Canadian Tire in Guelph didn't have one... or anything else I needed.  It's things like this that force me online to purchase when I'd rather just purchase locally.

Strangely, the Walmart across the street, the only place I can find the Mobil 1 oil Triumph calls on for the Tiger, had an oil filter for the Honda.  Not a great weekend for Canadian Tire.  You can't really brag on having 200,000 parts if your sales rep can't find any of them.


Winter flushing oil:
This is what I'm going to put in the Honda over the winter as it gets sorted.  In the spring I'll do a flush and go with Mobil 1 synthetic.

The only place I can find the Mobil 1 is at Walmart - it's the only time I usually go there.  Since I'm already there for the Tiger, I'll go for 7 litres and do the Tiger and CBR with the same super-oil.  Running the Mobil 1 in the Tiger has stopped any oil burning in it.  It's good stuff.

K&N Filters for CBR900:
https://www.knfilters.ca/honda/cbr900rr/900/1997
The HA-9092-A air filter is a strange thing - I thought the filter element would pop out of the plastic, but it's a single (expensive) manufactured piece.  Finding these is tricky.  You can find cheap, paper filters for about $40 a go, but I found the K&N on Amazon for $120CAD, so that's going in and getting cleaned regularly.  That should pay for itself within three changes.

I'm not in a place where I'm going to put the front end back together again and pop in the replacement LED when it comes in this week.  With the replacement carb from NCK Salvage in hand, I'm going to try and rebuild as much of the Honda as I can over the long weekend (it's Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada).

The Strange World of Dash Bulbs:

12v 1.7W wedge dash light is the warning light bulb needed for a '97 Honda CBR900RR.  These are hard to find - Canadian Tire was no help and the girl at the parts desk in Guelph couldn't remember the numbers for parts, so I gave up on trying to find them.  I want to buy locally, but with that kind of floor help, it just isn't happening.

I found LED replacement lights that should last better and use less electricity in the process on Amazon.

This light search led to a crash course in bulb sizing.  The dash lights on the CBR900RR are T-5 Wedge 12v 1.7W bulbs.  T5 means it has a 5mm base.  In this case they're 1.7cms long on that 5mm base.  The LED should be cooler, use less electricity and be brighter.

A Day In The Shop

I took a day off from the enormous deck I've been building to work on the Concours.  After the initial clean up I got the instrument cluster off in preparation for a new speedo cable.  This looks like a pretty easy job.  The cluster is only held on with two bolts and the speedo cable runs directly from it to the front tire.  You slot the ends of the cable in and do them up and you're off to the races.  Replacement cables only run you about ten bucks.

'94 Concours clutch lever assembly.  Those
little bolts that hold on the cover are 4mm
and hard to source (not much in the way of
metric bolts around here).  The clutch lever
meets up with a pin and various odds and
ends that connect it to the reservoir.

I've also removed the rather sad looking handlebar end weights and looked at the clutch lever.  The former owner said it was missing a grommet, but it looks like other odds and ends are missing as well from the lever assembly, which is remarkably fine boned.  I've looked up prices online, but there don't seem to be any Canadian online parts sellers that work in this kind of OEM detail.

Considering the relatively low cost of the odds and ends I need (about $30), it seems silly to buy American and deal with customs hassles and shipping costs that almost equal the cost of the parts.  Even with dealer markup, my local Kawi dealer should be able to beat the shipping markup.

I finally got to the various fairing bits and panniers and they look to be in good shape after I got the cobwebs, mud and grime off them.

The current plan is to get the speedo operational, check other details and then put her back together again and take her in for a safety check.  If all goes well there I'll begin the process of putting her back on the road.  With any luck I'll get some miles on before the snow falls and then spend the winter stripping her down for a paint job.

The instrument cluster is a simple removal, two bolts
underneath hold the unit to a subframe.  The whole
thing is connected to the speedo cable out the bottom
and a couple of wiring harnesses out the side.

Many bits and pieces make up a
Kawasaki Concours.  The instrument
bezel (middle) cleaned up nicely after
a soak in some armourall.

I finally got the Connie up on the centre stand.  If there is a trick to that I'd love to hear it.  I ended up putting a wooden
ramp out back and man-handling it up it in order to get the stand down.