California Scientific

ST1300 Known Mechanical Issues

The experience of existing ST1300 owners is that the dealers frequently overfill the oil on these bikes by anywhere from ½ quart to 1 ½ quarts.Over filling your oil can increase the pressures internal to your engine and cause leaks in seals and gaskets. I suggest you check your oil level and adjust it or have it adjusted as necessary. Full instructions for this are in the oil section of this web page, or in your owner's manual.

If you want to try to change your own fluids but are inexperienced, here's an excellent step by step instruction set with pictures.

Some ST1300s are developing oil leaks from the top end which are difficult to track down and can keep your bike in the shop for a long time. Several of these leaks have now been traced to a loose machining plug on the block which is supposed to seal up an oil gallery drilled in the block during manufacture. This plug is not listed on the parts list, nor shown in the service manual. The oil which leaks from this plug flows down into the engine V, and masquerades as a leaking alternator or water pump. I don't have a picture at this time, unfortunately.

Some riders have complained of excessive engine whine and/or transmission noise. Some riders have complained of excessive engine vibration. It has been found by a couple of riders that their balance shafts were mis-adjusted, and adjusting them cured the noise and vibration problems.Full instructions for adjusting the balance shafts are here, or in the service manual. It's an easy job. Symptoms of mis-adjusted balance shafts: too tight = excessive engine whine. Too loose = gravelly sound seemingly in transmission, especially when accelerating from low RPMs.

A couple of riders have found bolts on their triple clamps which were incorrectly torqued - far too loose. Some have also found loose axle pinch nuts and brake caliper bolts. You might consider having a look at your entire front end.

Dash Branding is when your windshield catches the sun at precisely the right angle, and the entire windshield acts like a lens to focus the sunlight onto a small portion of your dash.You know, the magnifying glass frying the ants trick. The branding happens when the sun is directly behind you, at not quite but almost the same angle as the windshield. So, it can happen to you when you're driving west at about 10am, or east at about 2pm, or if you're parked pointing north at about noon in the winter.The solution is, don't park pointing due north, or cover your windshield if you're pointing in a north- like direction around noon. If you're driving on the freeway and it happens, you're just screwed. It happens very fast - it takes about 4 seconds. All you can do is watch your dash smoke and disfigure. This has happened to a couple people in Texas and the Mojave desert.

Most riders have found that their final drive gear oil looks really bad at 1,000 miles. The factory calls for this oil to be changed at 12,000 miles. I recommend you change it at1,000, and about every 250 miles thereafter until you have it flushed out. Full instructions are in the Drive Shaft section.

The temperature gauge tops out at 50c, 122f. If you exceed 122f, the display flashes. This would be a good time to seek an air conditioned restaurant, if you ask me.

ST1300 Road Tests

ST1300 Links

The following people sell parts and accessories mail order at discount:

General

ST1300 Parts Schematic on-line.

Honda Service Manual for the ST1300. $53

Honda Parts Catalog for the ST1300. $38

Downloadable Honda ST1300 Accessory Catalog.

ST1300 Wall clock, about $19 from CopyShopExpress at Ebay

Handlebars

Helibars Handlebar Risers. $220. Retains stock handlebars, cables and wiring. Moves handlebars 1" up and changes the separation and angle to achieve 2" pullback.

Genmar Handlebar Risers. $130. 1" rise, no pullback. Pictures by Scoot Benson.

Footpegs

Make Your Own Toe Rests

These give you a way to slide your foot forward a few inches, which gives you a little extra room to move around on long rides. They are also good in cold weather, as they let you tuck your feet into the fairing as much as possible. In spite of how the picture looks, when I'm using these there's no contact with either my rear brake pedal or my shift lever. The gap is only about 1 mm, but a gap is a gap.

Required:

• Band saw with non-ferrous metal blade.
• 1 foot of 2" by 1" L shaped aluminum, 1/8" thick.
• Drill with ¼" bit.
• four 6mm x 10mm bolts, four 6mm nuts.
• two 6mm x 30mm bolts
• two ¼" long nylon spacers
• six 6mm washers

1. Cut two pieces of aluminum to a length of 3". Cut the 2" width down to 1 ½". Two inches is a bit too large, and will slightly interfere with using the controls. Make a 45° cut on the 1" part of each. This is a bevel to allow insane cornering. Remember to make mirror images, not duplicates. On the same side, radius the corner. I can't see how you would actually ever hit this corner with your leg, but you never know.
2. Cut two pieces of aluminum to a length of 2". These need to have a cut on the 2" portion of the L which leaves about½" at the bottom where the bolt goes through, and radiuses up to the 1" portion. Remember to make mirror images, not duplicates.
3. Drill two holes to bolt a 2" long piece to a 3" long piece. Make sure they're oriented correctly - the relief on the support piece goes forward. Attach the two pieces with two 6mm x 10mm bolts. If you can weld extruded aluminum, I suppose that would be better than bolts. I can't. Repeat for the other side.
4. Drill ¼" holes in the support portion, and make a trial attachment to your bike. You'll need a 6mm washer and a ¼"spacer. On the brake side, I needed two washers and the spacer. You want the platform to be as far forward as possible.
5. You'll likely need to cut a notch in the forward inner corner to allow room for the rubber seal between the fairing lower and the frame. At least I did.
6. At this point I suppose I should polish them and/or send them out for powder coating. But, you can't see these from most angles, and I just don't care that much.

Idea by Yves Breault.

Make Your Own Passenger Floorboards

Increased comfort for SWAMBO ("She Who Always Must Be Obeyed"). Get a piece of sheet aluminum at your local scrap yard, and cut a rubber mat to fit from an automobile car bet protector. Bolt the works to your existing passenger pegs. Scott used aluminum plate 1/8" thick, found some rubber pad and glued it to the plate. He then used stainless screws and fender washers, locknuts underneath.Idea and pictures by Scott Cloniniger.

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