Spring is here in CT & so is Christmas!

[redbirds_imp]

Half the fun will be installing all that cool stuff. Congrats!

[Hedge_imp]

Wow that is truly a boat load of cool stuff. can't wait to see it all assembled.

Do us a favor and weigh the exhaust parts for future reference.

Great idea and I can still do that Mickey!
So, adding to my post from this morning, I wasn’t ready to explain the Header Install process. Of course after seeing them arrive I was eager to get them on, as a matter of fact so eager I had already taken off the stock exhaust system in preparation. Uninstalling the stock exhaust was very straight forward up until the point of trying to get the stock O2 sensor from the pipe. It is really not accessible by wrench or anything else unless you have the Correct Wrench . . . http://www.samurider.com/?p=17238/#itemImage
So what did I do when you run out of patience? That is correct . . . I fired up the dremel and cut the shield just enough to get my wrench in. Yep that worked but my troubles weren’t over. I now had to trace and unthread from the wire bunch and then disconnect it from the O2 Sensor plug. Now if I had tiny hands or was able to enroll my wife into helping I probably would have made the job easier. But alas, as I struggled at fishing it through and my patience wore thin again, I simply snipped the line with dykes and pulled it through the wiring harness. I can easily re-splice if necessary. Meanwhile I put in the O2 sensor eliminator plug.
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Man is everything tight on this bike!

Onward to the Ryujin Headers –
I got to admit, looking at these 4 pipes, there were 16 possible positions for them and I was scratching my head. My wife came down and told me she would help me figure the order out if I would not loose my patience, so I said sure and put the dremel away! I figured out which was the furthest pipe so now I had to figure out the other 3. I noticed that 2 pipes had spring retainers on one side and the other 2 had spring retainers on the other side, which makes it now 2 scenarios. So My wife and I got the 4 pipes mounted loosely to what I thought was the correct order and I then mounted the pipe to try and fit the 4 ends into the collector . . . No Dice! Very difficult and wasn’t gonna go in easily. It was kinda hard to see in the garage even though I recently installed two 100-watt LED bulbs, which do a much better job then the previous bulbs. I decided to take a step back and move onto some of the other projects and re-think the header install.

I decided to tackle some easy ones. I grabbed the 2 Mirrors and bolted them on. They were a perfect fit and I know I’m gonna love them. They are Napoleons like I have on my Triumph but not bar-end Naps. These will make Lane splitting much easier in rush hour traffic jams on I-95.
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So since that went over easily I decided to press on with the WhiteHouse Hakofugu Short fender kit with Lucas taillight included. Taking off the rear fender was easy enough but I should have noted that the new fender comes with plug & play
Rear taillight wire. I started to take apart the stock one to get the wire out before I realized my mistake. I took the fender off with 4 bolts and then after it was off, and then traced the wire back to the wire plug bunch near the battery. Getting the plastic pulled down to expose the plugs was not easy but doable. Trying to unplug all these plugs is not straightforward and easy but can be done. The rear turn signals and tail light wires are all color coded on the plugs so you cannot make a mistake. Nice touch! I put the taillight back together in it’s stock configuration and put it aside. So here is the bike fenderless.
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and closeup
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Putting the new rear fender on couldn’t of been easier, 4 bolts and it was on and all I needed to do was fish it through to the front wire plug bunch near the battery to connect it.

The front fender went on just as easy but there was no provision for the break line holder. There is a picture with Japanese writing that shows the holder dangling freely so I’m guessing that that is not an issue. I will revisit this with some kind of solution . . . Perhaps go to braided lines and then zip tie them.
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Lets take a break and look at the Pazzo’s and Obreons, Both of them were extremely easy to install. I know you are thinking that these are to expensive and that you can get the same kind of stuff cheaper but I like them and they never failed me on my Triumph.
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The only thing you want to know about the Obreon set is that they are specific for Front and back and not really noticeable. By the luck of God I got them right the first time around.
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***Side Note - I did get some Swag from Ryujin
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So tonight I will be installing the ECU, air funnel & K&N filter, grab rail and rear tail lights. I will also have another go at the headers. Many more pictures and comments to come
So I forgot to mention that I contacted Mr. T to explain about my header installation confusion with the headers and the threaded hole on the pipe and the piece of metal that was included.
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He got back to me quickly with the following information for me . . .

“Dear John,

I am glad to hear that the all packages has arrived safely.

Regards to the exhaust pipes, there is number (1,2,3,4) on the each flanges, please check.
and the hole near the collector is for the stock O2 censor. And the included plate is for the center stand stopper. Please remove the rubber stopper from the center stand, and please reuse it with the included plate.
The plate can be mounted at the base of center stand Spring at the left side. *please use a blank hole to mount the plate at the base of center stand spring. and, please do not use lubricant at the collector or pipes, it is not necessary.

*I recommend to install the parts at a professional shop.


Thank you very much again, I am looking forward to your feedback and pictures of the items

Have a great day,

Takashi”

OK so I overlooked the flanges! I will have another go at it and if it torques my temper I will step back and bring it to Stamford Honda and have them deal with it and just throw money at them.

[CB4ME_imp]

Totally awesome. Did Don map the ECU for your new setup?

[CIP57_imp]

John,

The flanges on my Yoshi where offset a hair, if they feel tight going on to the studs turn the flange 180 and they slide right on.

If you need a hand let me know.

[Hedge_imp]

Totally awesome. Did Don map the ECU for your new setup?

Yes he did and I used MG's map.

Wow that is truly a boat load of cool stuff. can't wait to see it all assembled.

Do us a favor and weigh the exhaust parts for future reference.

Looks like it is 17lbs - does that sound right?

John,

The flanges on my Yoshi where offset a hair, if they feel tight going on to the studs turn the flange 180 and they slide right on.

If you need a hand let me know.

That sounds like a good trick. I'm gonna give it a shot on Sat morning. The only thing left to do is the headers and the Posh lights. They are definitely plug and play but getting them attached is another story. Big shout-out to Lola for sending me clear-cut directions with pictures but I am still trying to get the right mixture of parts in the right order to make it work. If you want to drop by my Triumph buddy "Uncle Charlie" and I will be here giving it our best and we can certainly use an extra set of hands. Breakfast and lunch is on me and if you get bored you can break in my wife's CB300F for her. It has 1.5 miles on it

[Hedge_imp]

Gonna give the headers another go tomorrow morning before I throw in the towel and Have Honda do it. My Triumph buddy Uncle Charlie is gonna swing by to add a second set of hands. I got an email from Mr.T and he said that each flange is numbered and that I should first attach all four pipes, in their correct order, to the engine and then afterward fit the collector onto the 4 pipes. I'm gonna go with Steve's suggestions of flipping the flanges to see if one side fits better than the other and making sure to mount the center stand stop before the collector is installed,which should give me more room to work. I did dry fit the pipes into the collector last night and they do indeed fit nicely.

I also stepped on the scale and weighed myself, then stepped off and grabbed the whole system and stepped back on and it looked like it added on approximately 17lbs.

If anyone else has any suggestions that might make the header install go easier please chime in. BTW - whoever said I should tape the frame before starting gave a great tip . . . if only I had done that in the first place . . . :-(
Here's a pretty decent picture of the orientation of the pipes - [url=http://ryujin-japan.jp/service/assets_c/2014/06/SDIM1699a-7994.html]http://ryujin-japan.jp/service/assets_c/2014/06/SDIM1699a-7994.html

[lola_imp]

Youre Welcome John! Youre not alone having scratches on the frame I myself have them. just consider those battle scars from the exhaust installation

I think Ryujin sent you a free t-shirt for the troubles of installing that beautiful exhaust

[Hedge_imp]

Thanks to Lola I now have the rear Posh turn signals on. They look and operate perfectly!
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So here is the easy way to how it is done! The kit comes with a whole bunch of stuff to rig it. Between what they supply and what comes off the stock turn signal is enough to get the job done.
So here is everything you will need . . . The rest you can chuck into your spare nuts and bolts cup.
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The kit comes with a long threaded tube that you pull the wires through and screw into the new turn signal.

Then you take the black washer with the little tab and stick it in the front if the Honda Grab Bar where the original turn signal was.
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You then slide the turn signal through the black washer with the wires going out the back and put on the washer, lock washer and nut and tighten it down with a 14 mm wrench.
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Do not forget to use some RTV Blue to hold everything in place!

Now that everything is in place and locked down good I put electrical tape on both sets of wires before I plugged them into the color coded No-Brainer plugs!
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I researched, using the service manual, how to get the front lights off and i have a solid plan which will include drilling out the size 6 hole into a size 8 hole and then noodling a solution for the front. Stay tuned more info will be posted. Tomorrow I get those headers on!

[Hedge_imp]

So I got the Headers on today thanks to the 180 tip that Steve gave me. I fitted the center ones first and if it was tight I 180 the flange and it would slip right into the exhaust port. I then fitted both of the end ones. I tightened them up just enough to hold them in place.
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Im gonna try and fit the collector on tomorrow. Meanwhile, i had to try and figure out how the center stand stop plate attached. It was not easy since they didnt include instructions. Again, Steve helped me noodle it out. He reminded me that Mr T sent some directions so I went back to my email from him and after a few times trying different positions and with the help and input of my wife, i finally figured out how it mounts. There is a rubberstopper that is attached to the center stand that you need to pull off and attach it to the plate.
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Then I realized, from Mr T's instructions that it attaches to the left side (shifter side) of the bike. It goes on the inside of the frame. I will post a pic of the finished tomorrow. Had to shoot over to the hardware store to pick up a #6 SS socket head, lockwasher and nut.
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So I took a break from the exhaust and installed the sprocket protector. Although the directions were in Japanese the pictures were spot on. Here is the finished job with the chain guard removed.
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And a closeup
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I decided around 11:30am to take a break from the project and since it was about 52 degrees out I figured I would fire up my wifes new CB300F and break it in for her. I rode it for 52 miles. This bike was so light and so easy to handle. It will be the perfect starter bike for any beginner. I whipped it pretty good upshifting and down shifting frequently. No issues whatsoever. Drove by the beach and they had a Go Kart Racing Track setup. Looked fun!
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[the Ferret]

hedge, are you just going to leave that gold guard on the sprocket with no cover? Interesting.