1998 CBR900RR Fireblade

[Guest]

So I picked up a new bike tonight. As the title says it's a 1998 Honda CBR900RR, also known as a Fireblade in some parts. Frame and swing-arm are polished and it has new tires. It was down at some point and the plastics reflect it but I rode it 50 miles home and mechanically it's superb. Has some typical electrical gremlins. Blowing headlights, front turn signal bulbs, and speedometer doesn't work (all related to the regulator over-charging I'm betting). Once the weather clears up a bit I'll pull it apart and do the basics to it then throw it back together as is until I get the $$$ for a new set of plastics. I'm going to swap in a series regulator then swap the speed sensor and see what happens from there. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

[ShadowFocus603]

Started tearing in to the bike today. Pulled the tank and all the front fairing stuff. Gonna be a wee bit more involved but not too bad. I found it's a '98 motor in a '96 frame. Ofc they made a running change between 97 and 98 which explains the electrical gremlins. To properly sort the bike I have to get the harness, cluster, and cdi from a '98-'99 to function with the speed/cooling/etc sensors on the motor. Price of parts isn't too bad so I'm not out yet. Going to hopefully have what I need in the next couple weeks.

[Killer Canary]

Here's a '97 that I restored a few years back.

[ShadowFocus603]

That looks nice Canary. I hope mine can get there. The PO (one of them at least) polished the frame, triples, swing-arm, and a bunch of misc parts and pieces. Polished bits aren't my cup of tea but I guess they'll stay that way til I can afford to powder coat them.

[GS1150Pilot]

The '97 there looks phenomenal in all red. GREAT bikes!

[ShadowFocus603]

So after a bit of evaluation, I decided to go the cheaters route and simply get a speedo healer after determining that the wiring harness currently in the bike isn't as bad as first thought. I had all the plastics and tank off the bike evaluating everything and figured it would be far cheaper to go with the healer. Not only that, but should I choose to swap ratios on the sprockets the healer will accommodate that. I threw it all back together, taking care to mount the front plastics a bit better than they were, and decided to simply ride it. Where it's at as of now:
Needs:
Front tire
Carbs cleaned + jet kit
Fan control sensor
Temperature sensor
Speedo Healer
Rear brake lever

Want:
New plastics
Seat(s) recovered
Series regulator
Misc cosmetics

Figured I'd throw up a couple pics of it as is then I'll add a driveway shot.



The GPz isn't mine though I wouldn't mind if it were. It does basically live at my house anyways as I store it for a friend.

[ShadowFocus603]

SpeedoHealer and fan control switch installed tonight. Front tire and throttle cables in later this week. Will be ordering thermo sensor Thursday. Not a lot of progress but a little at a time. It's nice to have a working speedometer finally. And with the SpeedoHealer it has a top speed recall button which is nifty, although if I were to get pulled over that would become the tattletale button lol. Hell if my fiance decided to hit it I'd likely be a dead man too lol.

[ShadowFocus603]

Someone got a visit from the tire fairy. Matching rear coming soon.

[Killer Canary]

How much for dat?

[ShadowFocus603]

It was $88 shipped on ebay.

[Jedz123]

130 70 16??? What the heck is that for?

[derwood]

130 70 16??? What the heck is that for?

really?..its a front tire, for a CBR900RR
130 is the width sidewall to sidewall (mm), 70 (%)s the ratio of width to sidewall height, 16 is the wheel diameter in inches....

[Jedz123]

really?..its a front tire, for a CBR900RR
130 is the width sidewall to sidewall (mm), 70 (%)s the ratio of width to sidewall height, 16 is the wheel diameter in inches....

I get that its a front tire...

I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND HOW TIRE MEASUREMENTS WORK TOO...

Just seems off they ran 130 wide 16" on that bike... My 93 GIxxer is 17 front and rear (running the VERY common 120/70 ZR17 upfront) and is 5 year's older... Figured everything by that point was running 17"'s front and rear.

Hell my Fat Connnie Runs a 120 70 ZR17 Why I was wondering what it was for, doesn't seem right for a sport bike to sport in the front.

[ShadowFocus603]

Honda thought it was funny to run the 16" on this bike. Apparently, it quickens turn in. I plan on running it this season then over the winter I am doing the swap to the 17". It's pretty common in the CBR900 community. Unless the new tire drastically changes the current character of the bike (possible) I can tell you right now I don't like the way the front feels. Haven't delved into suspension yet but I m way nervous leaning in right now. May also be this is simply the first sport bike I have ridden.

[derwood]

No, Honda didn't think it was funny,
the 16 incher is lighter than a 17, and with the oddball tire size the rolling diameter is like a 17.
the interweb complains about tire selection,(selection can be a bad thing) , the bridgestones are made for this particular bike, how many tires do you need to try?
The new tires will make a big difference
don't rush into a front wheel swap, service the suspension put new tires on and take time adjusting the set up.
These bikes are very very easy to ride fast, you won't realize how quickly they eat up the corners until you ride with somebody else.you'll wonder where they went? or if they got lost?
i am a fairly conservative rider,and there are no "chicken strips" on the rear tire after a nice set of corners.

the only mod to mine is up 2 from stock on the rear.

great bike