Shop in Philly/Trenton Area?

T

thundertwini

New Member
Hi everyone.

I had a nice time yesterday at NJMP until my bike died on me in the 3rd B session. It is a 2001 RC-51, I just got it about a month ago. It has a PC-II installed, although it does not look like it is hooked up at all. The symptoms are the bike cranks but does not start. Fuel pump does not run when the key is turned. Fuses seem OK. I tested the FP relay, and I think power is going to FP, so maybe the FP is bad.

Anyway: I do not have time to fix this myself. And if there is a PCII issue, I have no ability to do that kind of stuff.

Where should I take the bike? Any recommendations? I want to try to make the Aug 8th Lightning date.... Thanks a ton.
 
EngineNoO9

EngineNoO9

Member
Wish you had stopped by my pit area as I could've helped take a peak at it. I had the yellow and black RC51 (sp2) over by the VIP suites. I've had my bike die several times and been able to fix it. Can't help you unfortunuately with any shops as I'm in MD. Try looking at all of the fuses though. There's on in the tail plus the ones on the left side. Several fuses could've stopped the fuel pump. Could also be an issue with the tilt sensor. Several things to look at. I'm not too up on the PCII either but check out speedzilla.com and post your issue there under RC51 discussion. Should be able to get some help.
 
T

thundertwini

New Member
Thanks. I wish I had come by as well.

I am leaning toward bringing it to a Honda dealer over in Penn, unless I hear otherwise from the forum.
 
T

thundertwini

New Member
thanks for your interest.

i wound up taking it to a honda shop in Bensalem (East Coast Cycle) - they said the ECM is bad! I found one on Ebay for $100, so I have to go pick up the bike next saturday, and swap out the ECM.
 
Landshark

Landshark

Control Rider
Possible cause: PCII's were known to have issues. Something to do with the side stand and that would prevent starting. Disconnect your PC and give it a try.
Also the rectifiers on the 51 are a known weak point. I have had several friends have this part go bad.
 
T

thundertwini

New Member
Landshark;72663 wrote: Possible cause: PCII's were known to have issues. Something to do with the side stand and that would prevent starting. Disconnect your PC and give it a try.
Also the rectifiers on the 51 are a known weak point. I have had several friends have this part go bad.
Click to expand...
there is no sidestand switch - sidestand and switch are gone. the PCII was disconnected the whole time. Bike still did not run. I hope the new computer fixes it. The shop says they tested everything, and the ECM is the problem.
 
EngineNoO9

EngineNoO9

Member
hrm... I'd still maybe see about a PC3r if you decide to keep it. Also hang onto the old ecu just in case. Sounds a little odd since you mentioned that you plugged in the PC2 and it ran.
 
T

thundertwini

New Member
i plugged in the PC2 and it ran, then it quit. Then it wouldn't run with the PC2 hooked up or unhooked. I took it to the shop with no PC2 at all. I hope they are right about the ECM, and it is just not some frayed wire. I looked everywhere, but I did not test every single wire path.

I plan on cracking open the old ECM and eyeballing it, to see if anything is fried or loose. Oh, and I bought a fuel pump on ebay too, cuz my initial trouble shooting pointed to that as the cause. So I have a spare fuel pump. I got that going for me.
 
T

thundertwini

New Member
GRR! GRRR!

As I expected, the shop guys were idiots. A new ECM makes no difference. What seems to make a difference is futzing with the wire harness where i passes under the rear end of the tank. But I cannot see any frayed wires, and I cannot get it to work predictably.

I guess next weekend's track day will be on my street bike. I will give myself a few hours today - I am pulling the tank off and undoing the rear harness up to the tank area - taking the rear subframe off, so I can get a better look at the area. I am not hopeful.

If I can't get it fixed by mid afternoon, I will start prepping the street bike for the trackday.

I have an off-season project, I guess. dammit.

I have been reading the tech threads on Speedzilla, as well. I have registered, but they have not yet approved me to post.
 
T

thundertwini

New Member
Yesterday was a frustrating day.

I took the tank off, and immediately found frayed wires on the starter motor sub-harness (i think that's what it was) I fixed that. I looked at the main harness, found nothing. I put the whole thing back together - with the new ECM, turned the key and the fuel pump primed, and the bike started. I was overjoyed. I turned it off, then turned it on again. It worked! A third time? NO! It just clicks, no fuel pump priming. Same thing after several more tries. Same thing after letting it sit for an hour.

I am just chasing ghosts.

Next plan is to replace the fuel pump.

If that doesn't work, I will go for all new FP relays, and possibly the converter.
 
EngineNoO9

EngineNoO9

Member
See if you can find a new sub harness to replace the one that was frayed? I have a spare fuel pump as I have two fuel tanks that you could borrow if necessary. Also check your fuses again after you fixed all of the frays something may have popped.
 
T

thundertwini

New Member
thanx man. I have a spare fuel pump as well.

The starter is fine (was fine before, too), it cranks away. The fuel pump just doesn't prime. Except when it does. I am hoping the new Fp fixes it. Not really getting my hopes up, and my streetbike is all track prepped now, so I don't have to kill myself to get the danged thing ready for this weekend.

So, back to the thread title:

Does anyone know of a good race shop in the Philly/Trenton area? East Coast Cycle Center was not what I was looking for, to say the least. Or is the best shop me in the garage with a multi meter, a shop manual, a soldering iron and infinite time?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top