Fueling and Air overhaul imminent. looking for any advice

[misterprofessionality]

ok...pictures are lovely but how do i get one in my hands in the next 15 minutes or so?
nvm. screw it. i threaded the wires completely out of the bike and just pulled the exhaust with the o2 sensor still connected. with the pcv installed, the o2 sensor is neutered anyway.

 

[Houtman_imp]

Very easy to make a O2 sensor removal tool , just cut down a socket , I made one in about 5 minutes but an angle grinder would be helpful.

 

[misterprofessionality]

Very easy to make a O2 sensor removal tool , just cut down a socket , I made one in about 5 minutes but an angle grinder would be helpful.

lol nope, don't own one of those, nor do i own a socket that's deep enough, and my dremel definitely isn't powerful enough to cut a socket.

like i said though, with the PCV installed i have no need for the O2 sensor in the first place. it's fine to just leave it connected to the stock exhaust that i removed.

 

[misterprofessionality]

well this is just great. the bolt that's supposed to plug the port for th O2 sensor in my new exhaust is conveniently missing from the package I got from Mr. T. OF COURSE it has to be this way. it wouldn't be my life otherwise.

so, now i have no choice but to extract the O2 sensor from my old exhaust SOMEHOW, because i've already been riding around all over town trying to find a bolt to plug the port and apparently there's never been a M12-1.25 x 12mm bolt made in the history of bolts.

Creative solutions guys....how does one get an O2 sensor out unharmed without the special single-use extremely specific socket that nobody told me i needed?

 

[Houtman_imp]

If you do not have a deep socket you could cut a small piece out of a ring spanner, this will than fit over the sensor.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I might have been able to cut a ring spanner if i wore one of my cutting wheels out completely, but the ring spanner is still too thick to wrap around the o2 sensor and be able to turn. It had to be a socket.

So here's my solution:



now any old 17mm deep socket fits right over it. simple. Obviously i've ruined a perfectly good O2 sensor, but i checked tirelessly with anybody who i thought would have knowledge on this procedure and and nobody once mentioned that highly specific special tool to remove the O2 sensor. With my bike in pieces i can't wait a week or a week and a half to order a tool. The good news is that I have no use for the O2 sensor. However, i still really strongly dislike ruining any of my original OEM parts for any reason.

Now on to the next disaster:

Everything is re-assembled and back in order. I just have one part left to put on. My muffler. Here's the catch though, for some reason it now will not clamp into place securely. even when i get it 100% perfectly seated into place on the end of the new collector, put the ring clamp in exactly the right spot, and tighten it down all the way until it won't tighten anymore, it still slips around and rotates. in fact, with one easy tug i can pull it right off. obviously I cannot run the bike like this, and i'm now sitting at home taking off work because my muffler still isn't installed.

So, what the heck am i doing wrong now? this muffler clamped down fast and secure and rode for many thousands of miles without budging even 1mm, but now all the sudden will not clamp properly??? Please tell me my only solution isn't to JBweld adhesive compound the thing permanently onto the header and create a 1-piece exhaust. can JBweld even bond titanium to steel?

 

[Houtman_imp]

If you had a angle grinder or normal grinder you could have ground down the ring spanner to make it fit. Is the clamp too big and therefor you can not tight it down enough or does it need a gasket in between the ring and exhaust , I do not know precisely what you mean with not being able to tighten the ring. This is only to help you and not mend to insult you but having the right tools available will prevent a lot of frustration and extra cost when working on your bike/car.

 

[misterprofessionality]

If you had a angle grinder or normal grinder you could have ground down the ring spanner to make it fit. Is the clamp too big and therefor you can not tight it down enough or does it need a gasket in between the ring and exhaust , I do not know precisely what you mean with not being able to tighten the ring. This is only to help you and not mend to insult you but having the right tools available will prevent a lot of frustration and extra cost when working on your bike/car.

i agree with that sentiment, and I made every effort to buy the right tools along with the parts, but nobody mentioned the O2 Sensor tool. it seems to have conveniently slipped everybody's mind i guess. I would have gladly bought one, but as it is now, i'm stuck with a disassembled bike and it's too late to buy one. it's too late to buy an angle grinder or any of that mess. the budget is set and the purchase is made. the only thing to do now is find a way to make things work with what I have.

at any rate, the O2 sensor issue is solved, albeit in a kind of a brutal way.

As for the muffler...it installs perfectly on the stock headers. it installs just as perfectly as the stock muffler did. these new headers are intended to install just fine with the stock muffler as well. However, for some reason my muffler and the new headers just won't make a secure connection.

There's no gasket or other part that came with either the header or the muffler, nor was there one used to make a secure connection between this muffler and the stock headers, so i can only assume that neither is needed. it's as if the titanium is just....i don't know...more slippery? is it possible for a muffler to get "worn out" so that it can't be reinstalled on a new header?

 

[misterprofessionality]

Minor update: i've taken a picture of the inside of the slip on muffler pipe. the red goop is of course silicone sealant, but this metallic stuff that seems to be flaking off the inside has me worried. Is there a gasket built into the inside of the pipe that's falling apart? am i supposed to be able to replace that? it seems to be permanently fixed inside the pipe.

 

[Houtman_imp]

The first thing when working on a bike is to get the shop manual and than you would have noticed the special tool needed for the removal of the O2 sensor (about $170 for a new O2 sensor )
Most Honda's have a special silver coloured gasket to seal the pipes , is that what is missing , they are very cheap and your local dealer should have them in stock.
I am trying to help and not be critical towards all your efforts.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I do actually have a manual now, even though i was seriously loathe to spend such an astronomical amount of money on a simple book, i do have it. However, my task didn't originally include pulling the O2 sensor, so i never looked that part up. It only became a need when i realized that Mr. T. had left the special plug bolt for the O2 sensor port out of my package when i ordered my new headers. My backup plan become to use the old O2 sensor to plug the hole at that point, which is why i needed to pull it.

thankfully, the cost of a new O2 sensor really isn't on my radar, since i have no need for one at this point.

as for the gasket...i've gone looking around based on what you've told me and found the proper term to be "carbon crush gasket." once i knew the right name for it, I was able to do a little research.

The fact is, unfortunately, that nobody around here in town has any in stock at all, not honda dealerships, not parts shops, not cyclegear, nobody at all. So, i've now found the exact size that i'm supposed to need for a Delkevic exhaust and ordered it online.

This again is a situation where the shop manual was totally useless, since the Exhaust i'm using is aftermarket. All i had to go by are the extremely obtuse and very japanese instructions that came with the parts. If i hadn't noticed that graphite material flaking off the inside of the pipe i would never have guessed there was a gasket there that needed replacing.

 

[Houtman_imp]

You will get there ! Problems like this will make you a better mechanic.
At 68 I can write a manual about how NOT to do things on cars and bikes and over time I became handier . Still are not able to post pictures on the Forum !

 

[teamvisegrip_imp]

I know it is way too late... But for future reference when I need a special tool I go to my local Honda Shop. They will not let you take the tool home but they have in the past lent me the tool to use on the spot by bringing the bike or part to them.

Once I needed Valve Shims for a project. I asked the guy and he said he had a box full and could take what I needed as long as I put the old ones in the box... Deal I said!

Moral of the story make friends with your local shops. I always do.

Many years ago when I bought my 1986 Honda VFR750 the dealer gave tons of dealer items with it like the posters and all kinds of other items only the dealer had the ability to get. Still have the bike and the posters are in my play room and garage.

 

[Bheezy27403_imp]

Pictures or we don't believe you own it.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I know it is way too late... But for future reference when I need a special tool I go to my local Honda Shop. They will not let you take the tool home but they have in the past lent me the tool to use on the spot by bringing the bike or part to them.

Once I needed Valve Shims for a project. I asked the guy and he said he had a box full and could take what I needed as long as I put the old ones in the box... Deal I said!

Moral of the story make friends with your local shops. I always do.

Many years ago when I bought my 1986 Honda VFR750 the dealer gave tons of dealer items with it like the posters and all kinds of other items only the dealer had the ability to get. Still have the bike and the posters are in my play room and garage.

i WISH i could make friends with a local blusiness like that but, the truth is that every shop and dealer in this town seems to be out to steal as much money from you as they can. they all exhibit shifty pricing practices, lie about scheduling, fail to follow up about simple things, and i even caught one billing me for simple work they hadn't completed. This is why i made the foray (against my better judgement) into trying to learn to do some work myself, because it's a difficult nightmare every time i try to deal with one of the local shops here. Dealers are included in that sentiment. They can't even be trusted to make a simple reccomendation.

I caught one just yesterday telling a bold-faced lie about the operational hours of another shop (i guess to try and keep me from going there). I called to ask if they had something in stock "no, but we can order it." i, too, can order it, i was just looking for somebody that had one on hand so I could take care of it immediately. so I asked if he knew of any place in town that might have one on hand. he says "no most of them are closed today." it was a Monday. They were all definitely open. i ended the conversation right there. little bits of petty dishonesty like that just illustrate how i could never develop a relationship with a business like that.

Truly, i'm out in the cold here, which is why it was such a mistake to try to learn this stuff in the first place.

 

[Houtman_imp]

I am not being difficult but could it be dealers also lie because often customers lie as well to get their money back on something they bought and later changed their mind or broke it when trying to use the part ?

 

[the Ferret]

All the shops here, or at least the one's I am familiar with are closed on Monday.

 

[misterprofessionality]

I am not being difficult but could it be dealers also lie because often customers lie as well to get their money back on something they bought and later changed their mind or broke it when trying to use the part ?

lol it's definitely the other way around.

in all seriousness, this isn't merchandise i'm talking about though, this is service related. they're not honest or forthcoming with their service, they just expect you to pay whatever they want, submit to whatever they want, and ask no questions, just open your wallet. I never do business with places that require that of me.

 

[Houtman_imp]

We are lucky in Asheville to have a great multi dealer : MR on Hendersonville road , nice people and great mechanics.

 

[teamvisegrip_imp]

bheezy27403

If you are referring to me needing to post pictures as proof! LOL! I cannot post pictures yet on this sight. Once I can I would love too. The best I can do is give a link to the dreaded Photo Bucket Album. I downloaded the photos and gave descriptions below each one. Just click the link at the end.

As for the history of the bike... I had bought a 1986 Honda VF500 in 86 and at the end of the year it was totaled in an accident. I did not take delivery of the VFR 750 till the summer of 1987 so many of the dealer items were not needed any more. So they let me have what ever I wanted and more. Back in the day there was a huge tiled mural of the bike. They offered me that item but I was so stupid I said no. I regret it to this day. But then where would I put it. It was huge!

Now... I was on very good terms with these guys. They knew I had a Kawasaki 250 Ninja... I had bought a Kerker full exhaust for it... they needed a bike for Daytona Bike Week and only had room for a small bike in the van. They asked to use my Kawasaki and I agreed as long as they jetted the bike for the pipe! Sure was the answer... but they wanted to do the tuning before the trip. Done deal.

Yup back in the day you could have this kind of relationship with the dealer. I have a good relation with the dealers up here but not like the ones back then.

Enjoy the cool items with the bike.

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