Hello all! I am a new proud owner of a 01 RC51 has only 14k on it. However, I am sad to report that since I have owned it, I have only gotten about 6 hrs of solid riding and have at least 10 hrs of personal labor and over 800 dollars in repairs. I have owned it about a week :(


It all started with the bike being neglected the last three years of its life by a spoiled teenage kid (previous owner) I knew buying the bike that it was going to take a little work to make up for the last three years of neglect.

The list of things I have done or had done starts with the fork seals and a new fork legs.(the kid must have tried to change the fork seals himself and made mistake by putting vicegrips on the fork leg and this created plier marks that rubbed the fork seals and made them continuosly fail)

Fresh oil, filter, plugs, and cleaned KNN filters

After all this work was done, i rode it for one night and it began misfiring and giving me hesitation. This is ultimately what led me to this site. And I am proud to say that I think this site may have helped me fix my misfiring and hesitation issues that came up. it seems that this is somewhat of a common problem with these bikes. and while i was thinking it was a fuel problem, this forum led me to check the ECU and all of it connections. and sure enough when i check it, the ECU was just laying in the undertail unsecure flopping around as i was riding. So I did what other owners have done and coated all of the pins with dielectric grease and velcroed it down to the subframe. and to my surprise i took it out today and it was perfect!!!!!!!!!! I love this bike and I sure hope that the meticulous care i give my bikes will begin to pay off on this one. I just want it to ride like all of my other honda's have. Problem free. If there are any maintenace suggestions for this bike please let me know!

Also this bike has Jardine slip-ons and KNN air filters but NO power commander? Do I NEED a power commander with this combination of mods?
Thanks and ride safe!

any advice guys?

welcome.

i've got an 01 with scorpion slip ons, k&n and flapper mod done. had it dynoed and the a/f ratio was good. that satisfies me because i won't blow up the motor.

i do hate the driveline lash at low throttle openings. the bike bucks and surges. it is annoying but not bad enough for me to spring for a pc and custom mapping. plus, i mostly ride out in the country and small throttle openings rarely happens.

Yes get a power commander do you need one no but you should get one. Change your gearing and that will take care of the bucking at low rpm's

thanks guys appreciate the advice!

changed the gearing on mine and alot more enjoyable to ride around the city

+ eleventybillion on the gearing change and PCII USB.

While they're V-twins they're not chuff-a-lumps like Harleys.
These are performance twins and they like to be revved, not chugged.
Mine does not like to be ridden at 3500 or below RPM and with barely cracked throttle (stop and go traffic). Easy to get into a surging/bucking state.
Take it to 4000 or above, no problem.

Glad to hear about the ECU fix.