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New F6B Owners - Here's some collected gouge to get you going. Updated: 21 Aug 2019
Welcome to the F6B experience.
Since this board was formed, many thousands of hours and miles have been racked up by the forum participants.
Whenever a new person joins, they will generally start a new thread and introduce themselves and their new bike - with a pic or two.
Then all the forumites welcome them with tips and advice.
What I have attempted to do is to put all these "new guy" tips in one place for easy access and easier updating.
Please keep in mind that some of our "recommendations" are completely subjective, and we don't recommend anything that might void the warranty.
So, in no particular order, here ya go:
- Learn to use the Search function AND the Advanced Search function - it is an invaluable tool.
- Read as much of the General Message board, and the Garage Sections as you can, to learn about your new toy.
- With one individual exception, NO ONE seems to like the stock windscreen. HOWEVER, get your seat, suspension, and footpegs squared away before you purchase a windscreen
- Keep a spare key in your wallet, vest or even hung around your neck - memorize or have on your person your bike's key code so another key can be easily made by a Honda dealership
- Check your suspension pre-load and know how to use it. Honda sets it to the softest setting from the factory. Most of us keep ours there or in the middle of the range.
- Finalize your rear suspension adjustment before ordering a new seat - see Owner's Manual for details on adjustment (it's easy!)
- Follow the Maintenance Schedule in the Owner's Manual. Your dealership may "recommend" doing or not doing certain things at certain times. Personally, I want all my ducks in a row if I should ever need warranty work. For easy stuff like oil & filter, I save receipts. I also have a bike logbook (Dollar Store notebook) I keep in the left cubby and I document everything that happens with the bike down to every fill up and trip odo reading so I can track MPGs - not a contest, but should there be sudden change, I know something is amiss. I also document all modifications & servicing to the bike.
- Add lighting and make it all LED. Possibly, the easiest and most important ones to add are flashing brake lights and preferably, the LED strobe type. There are several choices installed by various forum members. See WIR, Federal Signal, SoCalMoto, and HyperLites. These make you much more conspicuous to traffic coming from behind and could literally save your life.
- Check out BigLry's engine "break-in" advice
- LgJhn's air intake modification with air cleaner change - he cut & wrapped the old air cleaner's metal mesh over the air intake horns to keep rodentia out of the air box.
- Paint is not the best feature on this bike http://hondaf6b.com/showthread.php?1...OBLEM-Registry
- Registering your VIN here on the board in case your bike goes wandering http://hondaf6b.com/showthread.php?28-VIN-List
- If you like, register for the exclusive phone number roster. These are F6B owners around the globe who share a wealth of knowledge and will attempt to help stranded riders. Only those who are on the list, get a copy of the list. http://hondaf6b.com/showthread.php?4...ate-Phone-list
- We also have a Map of Owners that you may add yourself to and also see who is around you. http://hondaf6b.com/showthread.php?2...ghlight=owners
- Come to the annual rallies - meet these people behind the keyboards!
- The radio-knob-key thing for the bags/gas cap/accessory cubby is EXTREMELY convenient http://hondaf6b.com/showthread.php?8...ghlight=owners
- Letting the bike warm up. Per many threads, most of us are old school and will start the bike, put on our gear, remember to use the restroom, put on our gear again, and by that time the coolant temp needle is off of "C" and the idle is down to normal. Mine likes this better rather than start and go.
- F6B cubby is so convenient to have an onboard tire pressure gauge.
- Ignore the "Ticking - Clicking" sound from the engine.... no it is not a sewing machine or your valves ticking, it's your fuel injectors --> it's normal
- Raise your Tire air pressures to 40 (front) - 41 (rear) psi
- Use 87 octane Gasoline; engine is designed for this low octane fuel and seems to yield the best MPGs
- Change Brake and Clutch fluids every 2 years, or every 12,000 miles, whichever comes first
- Change radiator fluid every 2 years with SILICATE FREE radiator fluid, or every 24,000 miles, whichever comes first
- If you have the cold engine stumble, change your Denso spark plugs to the NGK brand (has eliminated the stumble for several owners)
- Check Brake pads at 20,000 miles and every 5,000 miles thereafter until a new set is installed
- Purchase the additional Factory 4 year Extended Warranty BEFORE your original 3 year warranty expires.
- Check your final drive oil and don't change it until the Owners Manual says to do so. Some quantity of "moly" is in the factory fluid to help the gears stay happy. If you find that your final drive oil is very low like 1 to 1.5 ounces left in the reservoir call Honda service in California - the number is in the owners manual - and report same to them so if later on down the road your final drive goes out, your drive - whether in warranty or not - will be covered by Honda. I did that when I discovered I had only one ounce of oil in my final drive with 2965 miles on a brand new bike. They take the report and keep it so if there are any problems later you're covered.
- Remove every cover you can on the bike and locate all the rubber grommets...I can almost bet you are already missing one or two. Mine was even when brand new. Easiest way to make sure you never lose another one is to attach a micro zip-tie around everyone you can...they don't have to be tight, they just have to be on...It guarantees you won't lose them anymore. You will come across some which are just a push in button type...for these, remove and add some silicone to the hole and replace the grommet. Using some lube on the hole style grommets will also make the "tupperware" come off and go on easier.
- And while you have the covers off and some zip-ties...now is also a good time to securely hide a spare key in there.
- Practice slow speed maneuvers. This may sound silly to some but it really helps when you get in a tight spot. This is one of the heaviest, longest bikes you will crawl on. Tight turns at slow speeds can be challenging. If you have a passenger on board it multiplies the pucker factor. Find you a vacant parking lot and give it a try. It will increase your fun factor and reduce embarrassment. For parking lot practice, remember two spots is ~20' = a two lane road width, and is useful to practice slow speed turns and U turns. Also practicing braking and swerving is imperative to learning how to ride this girl.
- As an MSF Instructor, I also would suggest taking the BRC2 and/or ARC courses which puts you and the "6" through the paces in a controlled environment. If you have taken the BRC2, there is a new BRC2 Updated course that is a REAL challenge! Nothing "Basic" about it.. Any street course you may take after the Basic Rider Course, you take on your own bike - which adds to the learning!
- Think about your physical condition, before buying the F6B. You must be able to maneuver a 900 lb machine around safely, and back it up manually, in and out of tight spots, with or with out a passenger. She doesn't have the "reverse" system that her big sister has.
Some personal preferences ...
- Change the engine oil and filter at every 5,000 mile interval on the odometer (easy to remember even though Honda recommends 8,000 miles after the initial 4,000 mile oil change. Think about using a synthetic like Shell Rotella T6 but please make sure you get one that is classified as JASO-MA Motorcycles. Mobil 1 Synthetic and Amsoil are also popular synthetics.
Optional oil filters that riders have used and recommend:
- Shorter oil filters:
- Purolator Pure One PL14612
- Mobil M1-108, about $12 (Made by Champion.)
- Bosch 3300, about $6 (Made by Champion.)
- Wal-Mart SuperTech ST6607 (Made by Champion.)
- Longer oil filters:
- Purolator Pure One PL14610
- Mobil 1 M1-110 (Made by Champion.)
- Bosch 3323 (Made By Champion.)
- WalMart SuperTech ST7317 (Made by Champion.)
4 July:
- When it's time to change the rear drive oil (first one at 24,000 per Honda), be careful what you use. Every gear lube I have found in the auto supply houses (correct weight should be 80-90 or 75-90 GL-5 gear lube) says that it has "friction modifiers" for limited slip differentials. This is BAD. In an application like a limited slip rear end, because the clutch plates are constantly loaded with heavy springs, in theory they should always remain in lockup. If that were the case however, they would never slip. So the purpose of a friction modifier in a rear end is to ensure that the transition from lockup to slip and back again during cornering etc. is smooth. Thereby reducing chatter which occurs in much the same way it does in an auto tranny's torque converter clutch. What to use? Amsoil makes a Severe Gear 75-90 in synthetic, and of course Honda GL-5 or any other hypoid gear lube that does not state it has "friction modifiers" in it is acceptable.
- Here's what I keep in my cubby logbook so I know what to do when:
Attachment 4221
7 May 2019: added the bit about the flashing brake lights and the Updated Basic Rider Course2.
- There are now "drop-in" flashing replacement LED brake lights for our bike. No other load balancer is required - just pull the old ones out and put in these new ones and your brake lights are now flashing and attracting more attention.
Cheers,
Steve
Good stuff for a brand new F6B owner!
Thanks for the overview of what to do and not to do with my new F6B! Just getting off the VTX 1800C with over 80,000 miles on it.. Still running strong so I kept it...no used bike value but worth a lot to me!
Glad to see Big Larry's on this F6B site. Great guy and I memorized most of his threads on VTXOA. That is why after 80,000 miles my X is only getting it broken in.
Got to say, the only thing similar between the VTX and the F6B is that they both have two wheels! Sort'a like the difference between boots and slippers. You gotta have both!
Great site!
Lesson Learned the Hard Way and ended up in the ER
Just laid down my brand new bike,,,on top of my foot, The passenger peg, which was in the up position dug into my ankle. I was home along and the only way I could get free was to drag my ankle out from under the bike, Doing that, the peg stripped the flesh off my ankle, down to the tendon and bone. :yikes: While waiting in the ER last night to have things stitched back together, I had time to analyze what went wrong.
Here is what happened:
I parked on a very slight slope, facing down...and I mean VERY slight just so the water will drain away from the house. I sifted into neutral as always before turning off the bike,,,like I have done with the five other bikes I have owed.
When I stared to dismount, the bike started rolling forward and pushed the side stand backward.
Since I was leaning to the left while dismounting the bike leaned left after the side stand moved up. Once the lean gets more than 15/20 degrees there is no way to recover, It is going to GO down!
What I learned the hard way
1, Never park with the bike pointing "down slope", no matter how slight!
2. Shift back into 1st Gear before dismounting.
Of course, I could go to an aftermarket side stand which is shorted and will give more lean to the bike when parked but the downside is it will be more difficult to pull it back into he riding position.
