[Aargee]

Without getting into much details, what happened y'day was...

Myself & wifey went for a ride to Vellore which is 120 Kms from Chennai. My initial guess was 3 hours to ride forth & back & spend half hour there. But everything shattered to pieces.
1. First the bike found hard to cross 90 Kmph mark.
2. Then on empty stretches I couldn't cross beyond 110 Kmph. Trust me it took a little while to cross from 90-110
3. Initially I thought I didn't accelerate hard; since I'd done my 1st service & crossed over 1000 Kms, I started crossing 10K RPM in every gear
4. But beyond 3rd gear, I couldn't cross 8K RPM & worst was, no matter how you accelerate, it wouldn't cross 7.5K RPM in 6th gear. So the top speed was now between 115-119 Kmph
5. After a while, the bike did 123 Kmph with great efforts, but then the engine dies during that speed.

Initially I thought it was seizure, so I engaged the clutch, but then it struck that I didn't hear any loud burst. Anyway, I pulled over & tried to start. It cranked up, but didn't start. There were no malfunction light glowing nor did the temp bar cross beyond 3 bars. We pushed the bike to a near by hotel, had cold drinks & waited for 10-15 minutes & tried starting & we couldn't. We followed the engine flooding method mentioned in owner's manual, but still it didn't start.

Then I called up the dealer, explained my situation, who in turn called up HMSI official, who calls up the nearest HMSI ASC from where I've been struck. All these happens in 10-15 minutes. However, by then I try the flooding method once again & noticed the RPM goes up to 3K RPM & that moment, I open up the throttle & be bike starts with a tappet noise grunt. After that, the bike behaved normally. We didn't have much use on the HMSI's call because the bike had started by then.

We rode back & this time, I could notice that the top speed was only 120 Kmph & the bike made it easily upto 110 Kmph. Once again, the bike revved max only upto 7.5K-8K RPM. But the exhaust note is changed for sure. After coming back, I spoke with HMSI officials & they promised to take this issue seriously.

During run-in period...
- I maintained not more than 4K RPM for first 200 Km (125 mi)
- Then not more than 5K RPM for the next 300 Km (175 mi)
- Then not more than 7.5K RPM for the next 300 Km (175 mi). That too, I didn't raise to 7.5K all of a sudden, once I felt 6.5K RPM is smooth, I shoot upto 7.5K, then allow to fall to 4K & then accelerate smoothly.

Also does anyonce experience hard deceleration when the throttle is closed at higher RPMs? I find mine to fall down speeds drastically when the throttle is closed.

 

[Aargee]

Bad gas? Well, I used a real high quality fuel from a very reputed fuel station. Can a bad gas cause reduction in top speed? Well my doubt is on the worn out shims.

 

[Aargee]

Tks for the pointers qlred, I'll pass those pointers to the mechanics at workshop.

But here in India, most C250R's seem to have one common issue - SHIMS!!!

 

[Aargee]

Y'day I spent the whole day at workshop; SHIMs didn't have any issues, valve clearance was only 0.24mm of difference (was the highest among the 4). Oil filter was right in position, which means, the vehicle didn't deprive of oil circulation. But in the afternoon, we found the alarming issue that caused the vehicle to this stage. We never expected such a thing to happen!!!

 

[Aargee]

A bird made a nest or a rat chewed the spark wire? Maybe a snake went up the pipe. A stick has bent the fuel line.

I would've accepted those very gladly. This is something else. Pls wait until this weekend or early next week. Its going to be shocking.

 

[Aargee]

And your point is Michael?

 

[Aargee]

Some members of this forum seem to be giving you a hard time in their posts

Is it? This is news to me

Your point is not yet clear

That is because I haven't told what the issue is all about. I'm waiting to hear from Honda India to move into next stage. Once they move about I can detail out as what is going on. At this stage, things are half baked & saying something will certainly raise many brows & lots of confusion. Hope this is clear

Honda has also changed it arrangements in India recently

Is it? Again news to me. Appreciate if you can help us understand.

All other points, yes, I too am aware of them

 

[Aargee]

First engine seizure to be reported

I'm sure this is going to be a long discussion for sometime here, raise brows on Honda's quality & certainly to give strong thoughts for any prospect buyers.

So what was the issue? AN ENGINE SEIZURE AFTER FIRST SERVICE!!! Probably the first seizure in this country or worst case, first seizure in the entire...

All I'm asking is...WHY ME???

Finally...was someone able to make a guess about this?

 

[Aargee]

just out of curiosity how much do you and your wifey weigh? (without being rude)

Both of us put together don't cross more than 140 Kgs. We've gone through the owner's manual once before buying & twice after buying the bike

engine under immense pressure especially being a relatively new engine.

But did Honda not ask us to run in for 300 mi or 500 Kms? Shouldn't the seizure happen within that limit?

Oh!!! In addition to this, I also had lots of false neutrals between 5-4-3-2 gears.

See the point on ARN - That's exactly what I'm saying too. At 1000 Kms, the break in has already happened. And believe me, most people have touched 140+ Kmph right after 600 Kms & I personally know someone who has clocked 137 Kmph with pillion. He couldn't do more as he ran out of road.

side of a piston tells bugger all, We need to see the top, the underside, the rod the bearings.

Can you educate how to read by the pics? Reason I'm asking is because, Honda & dealer had already confirmed it was a seizure

All that photo shows is some scoring on the side of the piston. It would only be there when crap got in its way, its not the failure

So are you saying this is quite normal?

 

[Aargee]

WTH!!! Are you guys saying its because of insufficient oil? But, the temp bar was 3/6 all the time. If there wasn't enough oil circulating, then wouldn't the temperature rise? Or is it because the coolant took care of it?

Anyway, the update is I got the entire engine block replaced right from clutch hosing, cylinder, head, piston kit, tranny. Bad thing is that, my engine number is different & I've to approach the corrupt DMV to get it changed!!!

I also experience a minor false gears at times. It happens randomly between any gears, but strictly only when downshifts.

After the new engine has been replaced, I experience vibrations. A real good vibrations after 4.5K RPM & 6th gear all the way from thighs to foot. Do any of you experience this too? If so, how did you get it resolved? Pls help.

Also both the RVM's vibrate during idling no matter the engine is at operating or cold temperature. Does anyone also experience this?

 

[Aargee]

but has not said what the cause of the engine failure was yet

How would I know that? Either the engine has to be with me or I've to work in R&D deparment of Honda India OR worst case, Honda India has to communicate to me back. Unless any of these turns true, I'm helpless to post a right info here.

 

[Aargee]

^^^ Why would I want to pay the DMV for a no fault of mine. Either the dealer does it free for me or I write to HMSI (Customercare, where else)