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Forza 300

Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 4:04 pm
by Mark65
Hi
While still debating what to change the Forza for i thought i would sort out its faults, exhaust was first, quick sand and a few coats of PJ1 on the weld seams, sorted.
Onto the shudder, removed the casing and found the internals absolutely caked with black dust from the belt i assume, it was everywhere and took me an hour to clean it all after removing the variator and clutch, i also found a black mark on the bottom of the casing which im guessing is due to belt slap?. The clutch faces were not very glazed but i sanded them and the drum any way, after greasing where needed i took it out for a quick spin and it was like new again.
that amount of dust makes me think the belt may not last 16k also i had smooth waves on the variator faces about .5 mill deep, again worrying as new faces and belt with rollers are about £300 in the UK.
Now theirs no mention of having to do this in my owners manual and its ok to say warranty may cover this but what happens after it runs out?, if i was not capable of doing this my self i would be getting a bill every 4k for this work on top of normal servicing, according to Honda its an oil change at 600m, 8k and the big one at 16k with a filter and plug in between, it seems Honda has neglected to mention this, as my local Honda dealer has closed down for the second time the nearest are 25 and 45m away.
Now I need to check the brake pads as i cant see the wear marks and they look down to 2mm, bloody crazy to possibly need new pads at less than 5k.
So does any one now if the variator wear and amount of dust seems normal along with the pad wear?, at the moment its sitting in the garage looking like new and as our weather is mild still i was going to carry on using it next week till the new reg comes out in March and look for a pre reg deal on something else.

Mark

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 5:45 pm
by gn2
It needs far less maintenance than you seem to believe.
The belt will definitely last till 16,000.
Dust in the casing is normal and doesn't affect judder, that's caused by glazing on the clutch shoes.
Some grooving on the drive faces is normal wear and tear, not a cause for concern.
Mine hadn't been changed when I sold it with 33,000 miles on it.
Similarly rollers with flat spots will still work, no need to change them.
They only "roll" when they're not fitted, when they're in place doing their job they actually slide.
When I had my Mk1 Forza 300 the rear brake pads and exhaust connector gasket got changed every time the rear tyre got changed.
That way the pads will always have enough material on them and you won't go through a heap of connector gaskets which tend not to survive removal and replacement of the silencer.
The rear caliper tends to stick and the pads drag on the disc. Very poor design imo.
Look no further than the Xmax 300 for a replacement, its got a much nicer engine.
But shorter service intervals.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 6:57 pm
by smoothOperator
gn2 wrote:It needs far less maintenance than you seem to believe.
Some grooving on the drive faces is normal wear and tear, not a cause for concern.
i had the same problem as i described in
https://www.hondapcx.org/viewtopic.php? ... 20#p138390

In my case the problems were caused either by the dust or by the waves on the variator faces.

they changed only these discs/faces not the shoes, and everything runs perfect for more than 1.500 km since then.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 1:39 pm
by Mark65
Hi,
So today i checked the front brakes a no suprise they were down to the marker, pin felt seized as it didnt want to come off, the disapointment continues with this machine, not even looked at the rear brake yet, EBC sintered pads come in at £50 on Ebay more elsewhere only £20 less than Honda.
May just leave it as it is and step up my search, Its unbelievable that I got less than 5k out of pads.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:22 pm
by davenowherejones
I don't think Honda put any grease on the pins in the brakes.

I greased up mine and the pads last substantially longer now.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 2:43 pm
by Mark65
Found the pads for just under £30 ha to search for the Forza 125 ones like GN2 suggested (thanks), it look to have about 2-2.5mm left?

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 3:42 pm
by davenowherejones
Those in the picture look almost like new. If you take a wire brush to the pads I bet you have more than you think. Mine were like that.

I have a 2014 Honda Forza 300.

My first set of front brake pads got replaced at 16,940 km.

I then greased the pins properly and the second set of pads were replaced after 100,107 km of use.

The second set were not worn out and I may put them back in at a later date.

I do use both of my brakes when stopping but the CBS braking system is a little different than my previous motorcycles. Having the engine attached to the rear swingarm is different than motorcycles.

My dual sports have all worn out the fronts faster than the rears. The Forza eats rear pads but a good greasing improved that as well. I got 20,000 km out of one set of pads.

I tend to be easy on my brakes, I coast up to a stop sign. I look well ahead and let off the throttle early. I also tend to do long distances on the highway with very little brake use.

It is snowing right now and the scooter will stay in the shed for a few more weeks. I want to go RIDING!!!

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 4:31 pm
by Mark65
Thanks I will take them off again tomm and clean them up, do you know the oem thickness, see how we go, I thought they were well worn.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 5:23 pm
by davenowherejones
I have some cheap SOK pads for the Forza lying around. The pad material new is 5.0 mm.

I don't know what the oem was.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 5:53 pm
by gn2
davenowherejones wrote:I have some cheap SOK pads for the Forza lying around. The pad material new is 5.0 mm.

I don't know what the oem was.
Different model, different pads.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 8:17 pm
by davenowherejones
Probably similar thickness though even if they are different part numbers, I could be wrong.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2020 9:44 am
by Mark65
Hi
Stripped both sets of brakes down today, greased sliders as Honda seemed to have run out of spit ;) cleaned everything up and rear pads have about the same as the front thickness wise 2.5mm maybe a tad more.
Front pads had no shims on pads and rear only had a shim on the piston side, I would think there is about 2k left in them and would prolly need changing same time as tyres, surprisingly the rear was in good order

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 6:09 am
by dembones
Brake pin grease is an easy insurance policy!

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:15 pm
by easyrider
Nothing wrong with those pads pictured.. Plenty of life left as mentioned.

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 1:58 pm
by jburner
Is there a how to on greasing the brakes? I’d like to at least see the process to make it a bit easier to do. What grease is recommended?

Re: Forza 300

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 3:52 pm
by Old Scoot
jburner wrote:........ What grease is recommended?
I all ways use some copper grease on the sliding / moving parts and treads of the bolts and nuts of the brake caliper on my cars and it has always done a good job of keeping everything movable and dis-mountable until the next service.