2008 Blade

[Bleck K6]

Yes thats me Bleck. Also thought that there might be an over enthusiastic steering damper at work. Definitely when I feel sore hand I check the tire pressure-inevitably down in that situation. If thats your GSXR in the thumbnail with your post above - awesome looking machine - I've heard K6's are fabulous but never been on one (tried the fireblade first & didn't feel the need to look further).
Feel really sorry for Mental Facility - don't know whats at work here - I would be inclined to try appealing to Honda senior management - they have been there once before with the "chocolate" cams on the VR1000 , 750 & 500 series - resulted in the VFR - the most reliable bike made (apart from voltage regulator) - but garanteed solid engine. Usually Honda don't like to lose face re machinery that has a flaw - often the blustering via a dealership is denial in the face of evidence that points out that the firm has overlooked a vital part of the machine's use - I do think it may be related to the run-in process. I followed the dealer's advice in not letting the bike have constant revs at all- putting the engine under lots of load both ways - never allowing 'pinking' (acceleration & deceleration). I seem to have experienced a short period of higher oil consumption followed by stabilisation of oil use. I think in the circumstances you find yourself in Mental Facility, I would look at trying to communicate with Blue wing & failing that feeding back to Japan - not going to the small claims court but sticking with your argument regarding the Consumer Guarantees Act (The bike is not fit for purpose at this point - I think through no fault of your own - you followed the manual. Essentially they have designed a marvelous motorbike that through unknown quirks has not in certain instances measured up to their usual high level of reliability. The Japanese are quite proud around this area & would not want to be seen to have achieved less than they set out to. So a respectful request may go a long way further than righteous demand - no matter how justified it may appear.
Personally I am disappointed to hear that the dealership you purchased the bike off is not advocating for your position especially as you were aware of the oil consumption issue prior to purchase. You are now faced with the dealership being afraid to feedback to the company headquarters for fear they may ignite a series of unwarranted claims - where in fact I believe the machine is strong enough provided the running in has been met & this is a bit more specific that the manual has set out. (Stories from overseas of wrong oil type being supplied in the engine by different dealerships do not help to rectify the quality control issue that honda is faced with. I believe it would be cheaper & more efficient for them to supply new machines for people in your position than to continue to try & ride out what is obviously a situation facing quite a few owners.
Good luck & stay calm Mental Facility - fundamentally all Japanese manufacturers are interested in the customer being pleased with their purchase - an approach a little foreign to Western thinking. The right approach - to Japan if necessary (Not accusatory (they do try very hard to produce excellent motorbikes)) hopefully will result in a satisfactory outcom.
Cheers

Thats my k4 in the pic,I had a k4 traded for a k6 then hayabusa & now back to a K4 just cant make up my mind hahaha

[Marmoot]

Stories of heavy oil usage concerning 600 and 1000 Honda's have been doing the rounds for several years now. Similarly stories of Ducati's breaking down seem to diminish each year.

Hence why I "changed team" this year.

But in all respect, I agree 08 Blade is one hell of a revolution.

[sAsLEX]

I haven't had any issues with Cyclespot.... I had faulty steering head bearings which have just been replaced under warranty without issue.

They even said they think there might still be a slight pulse under very hard brakes and to check it over the next few days and let them know. Could be the tyres not up to temp/pressure so I plan to go for a fang today and check it out.

Given I commute (and ride pace style on the open road) I mightn't have noticed if they didn't say anything because it's a million times better now. So +1 for Cyclespot there.

I just know others have had warranty issues through them, maybe its Bluewing being dicks instead?

My Bike goes in for valve clearances at CSpot tomorrow so we will see how they go.

[dipshit]

I think the days of Honda being infallible and uber reliable are over.

That day was over in the early 80's.

I have said this before and I'll say it again... I can't understand why journalists keep wanking on about "Honda quality and reliability". If any Jap bike is going to lunch itself, shit its gearbox, burn oil, etc etc - it would probably be a Honda.

Maybe Honda do put the paint on a bit thicker than some. However "Honda quality and reliability" is more of a spin PR campaign like their "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" from the 60's and 70's. It doesn't mean their bullshit advertisement spin is true though.

Or did you really meet the nicest people on a Honda..??

[dipshit]

P.S..

Sorry to hear of the issues you are having with your bike, MentalFacility. I did enjoy reading about your new bike and how pleased you were with it at the start. It does sound like they have raised the bar in the handling stakes.

I do truly hope they can resolve this for you.

[MentalFacility]

P.S..

Sorry to hear of the issues you are having with your bike, MentalFacility. I did enjoy reading about your new bike and how pleased you were with it at the start. It does sound like they have raised the bar in the handling stakes.

I do truly hope they can resolve this for you.

Cheers man. Im trully heart broken over this thing here (

[MentalFacility]

So it has been solved well. Thanks to Danny from Botany Honda.

Next week im getting a brand new 08. And lets all hope that this nightmare will never ever happen to me again.=)

Keep looking for me in ur back mirrors soon...

[AlBundy]

So it has been solved well. Thanks to Danny from Botany Honda.

Next week im getting a brand new 08. And lets all hope that this nightmare will never ever happen to me again.=)

Keep looking for me in ur back mirrors soon...

Have they changed the ring design or something, or is there a chance it'll burn oil again?

[AllanB]

I had a Suzuki that burned a bit of oil 250ml (a cup) every 1000kms. After spending $500 on a service to check it out, I was told that's acceptable - and I should just thrash it more as the big bore bikes like to rev.........

Suzuki had big issues with oil burning Bandits early on - the holes in the pistons under the oil rings were too large. They never accepted that it was a actual problem, but did change the pistons on future builds.

As far as running in instruction go - this is a direct quote and the full extent of Honda's running-in instructions for my Hornet 900:

Help assure your motorcycle's future reliability and performance by paying extra attention to how you ride during the first 500 km (300 miles).
During this period, avoid full-throttle starts and rapid acceleration.

That's it! Hard to get that wrong!

We have a fleet of Mercedes Vito vans at work - the early models all had big oil burning issues for the first 20,000 kms then it stopped. One had the oil issue reappear near 100,000 and resulted in a engine rebuild under warranty.

It's good to see they have replaced your bike. I think that in reality issues of this nature are probably a dealers worst nightmare - it could be something as simple as a owner incorrectly reading the oil level, or overfilling it, to a faulty crankcase breather or on to valve guides, rings, pistons, bores etc.
Any issues on new bikes need to be carefully documented and if they continue an agreed upon time frame or kms to have it rectified by is a good idea. A understanding dealer is the biggest help!

[MentalFacility]

I had a Suzuki that burned a bit of oil 250ml (a cup) every 1000kms. After spending $500 on a service to check it out, I was told that's acceptable - and I should just thrash it more as the big bore bikes like to rev.........

Suzuki had big issues with oil burning Bandits early on - the holes in the pistons under the oil rings were too large. They never accepted that it was a actual problem, but did change the pistons on future builds.

As far as running in instruction go - this is a direct quote and the full extent of Honda's running-in instructions for my Hornet 900:

Help assure your motorcycle's future reliability and performance by paying extra attention to how you ride during the first 500 km (300 miles).
During this period, avoid full-throttle starts and rapid acceleration.

That's it! Hard to get that wrong!

We have a fleet of Mercedes Vito vans at work - the early models all had big oil burning issues for the first 20,000 kms then it stopped. One had the oil issue reappear near 100,000 and resulted in a engine rebuild under warranty.

It's good to see they have replaced your bike. I think that in reality issues of this nature are probably a dealers worst nightmare - it could be something as simple as a owner incorrectly reading the oil level, or overfilling it, to a faulty crankcase breather or on to valve guides, rings, pistons, bores etc.
Any issues on new bikes need to be carefully documented and if they continue an agreed upon time frame or kms to have it rectified by is a good idea. A understanding dealer is the biggest help!

They took the bike apart. The issue was related to piston rings and the bore.

I broke her in as my the manual. Under 6000rpm, without rapid accelerations, while going through gears, and trying to load the engine. Always warmed her up before every ride, no burnouts, no raving at stand still, no other stupid shit.

After 1000km and the first service I started riding her hard.

[Bleck K6]

So it has been solved well. Thanks to Danny from Botany Honda.

Next week im getting a brand new 08. And lets all hope that this nightmare will never ever happen to me again.=)

Keep looking for me in ur back mirrors soon...

Glad to hear that.

[AlBundy]

I had a Suzuki that burned a bit of oil 250ml (a cup) every 1000kms. After spending $500 on a service to check it out, I was told that's acceptable - and I should just thrash it more as the big bore bikes like to rev.........

Suzuki had big issues with oil burning Bandits early on - the holes in the pistons under the oil rings were too large. They never accepted that it was a actual problem, but did change the pistons on future builds.

As far as running in instruction go - this is a direct quote and the full extent of Honda's running-in instructions for my Hornet 900:

Help assure your motorcycle's future reliability and performance by paying extra attention to how you ride during the first 500 km (300 miles).
During this period, avoid full-throttle starts and rapid acceleration.

That's it! Hard to get that wrong!

We have a fleet of Mercedes Vito vans at work - the early models all had big oil burning issues for the first 20,000 kms then it stopped. One had the oil issue reappear near 100,000 and resulted in a engine rebuild under warranty.

It's good to see they have replaced your bike. I think that in reality issues of this nature are probably a dealers worst nightmare - it could be something as simple as a owner incorrectly reading the oil level, or overfilling it, to a faulty crankcase breather or on to valve guides, rings, pistons, bores etc.
Any issues on new bikes need to be carefully documented and if they continue an agreed upon time frame or kms to have it rectified by is a good idea. A understanding dealer is the biggest help!

I hardly think it's an owner thing when Blades worldwide are suffering the same issue.

Honda fucked up big time... Much to my amusement...

Go the ZX10R, lol...

[SixPackBack]

So it has been solved well. Thanks to Danny from Botany Honda.

Next week im getting a brand new 08. And lets all hope that this nightmare will never ever happen to me again.=)

Keep looking for me in ur back mirrors soon...

The latest CBR thou sounds like a piece of dog shite..........sell the fooker and buy summat decent.........ZX10 would be my pick at the mo'

[Revit]

Ive just bought a 2008 blade and had the first service. Ran it in as per book.
Didn't even check oil over run in period. I will start to do so now. I see there's heaps of comment about oil use on the '08 blades on Fireblades.org
Any other 08 blade owners out there with simoilar issues??

[Neofin]

Really pleased you got a good result Mental Facility. Its good that Honda have come through on this for you - that is great service!.
It will be interesting to hear what run in advice you receive - I think run in on this bike is far more critical/reliant on being well used across the rev range as it has fewer rings (to reduce engine friction) - hence need for ring/cylinder wall to be well worn together = harder run in - ah-la running in on the Dyno as a number of race teams do, resulting in less oil consumption (compression ring also oil control ring).
Oil consumption for me has been zero since 6500k (now at 8000k) a brief period of usage from 3500k to 6500k (scary) but now very stable.
Revit, you've got yourself an awesome bike (Congratulations on your taste) -any oil usage by your bike? - I think this is the best handling bike bar none - not sure of the power - being an old fart means ones reaction time needs to be taken into account - engine management seems to know when you mean business - machine suddenly more resonsive after full opening of throttle (& on to reasonably high revs (10,000 plus)- does not tolerate this at less than 6000rpm (it will react in a leisurely fashion if pushed at less) - then wicked responsiveness & ready for action if pushed hard 6000rpm or greater- otherwise in cruise mode & difficult to wake up. I am not sure if you have noticed it - but this bike seems to encourage rough handling, matching revs on the downchange gets indifferent response vs just stuffing it down through the box with minimal throttle blip seems much smoother??
I had an interesting ride back through the Waikato a couple of months ago - through the back way Otorohonga to Ngaruawahia - overtook about 15 bikes on an outing obviously pushing along - the Fireblade seemed to have much more in reserve than the Ducatis, R1's & Gsxr's n that group especially through the fast open bends.
I have not had the pleasure of riding the later model Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha's, Triumphs or Ducatis so am unable to make a reasonable comparison, (Note in diary - must make a point of getting some time in on rival machinery to get a balanced view - could be fun!!)