Tempest wrote:
I am guessing, however, given that if the oil at the bottom of an engine was at the correct level (not really low) I would never think any engineer/designer would ever make any engine, whereby being held at a slight angle (side stand) would mean there was any less than a full supply of oil being pumped thru all the internal oil ways. Especially when being on a side stand is part of the design of the bike.
I would be shocked to hear of any design that mean the engine was in danger of lack of oil due to being leaned over a little bit.
This is kind of why I don't bother too much with this topic.
Everyone wants a explanation and no one wants to believe that running a bike on the side stand is bad for it.
There are many theories on why this can be bad but I tend to look at it from a different angle.
No where in anything Honda has published does it say to start and\or run the bike on the side stand.
In fact you are told not to do this as the bike can fall over.
Even then, if you follow what Honda tells you, you first get on the bike (so now it is standing up) and then start it.
They also do not give any instructions to sit and warm the bike up, it's a water cooled bike and doesn't need an extended warm up.
So it is what it is, you can follow the couple simple instructions or you can do it your way.
All I will say is I have run my engine over 100K miles, all with the unreliable Honda auto CCTs, with no issues.
Is it because I do follow those rules, I believe the answer is yes.
As for my Moriwaki comment. For the newer guys, Moriwaki not HRC did the development on the VTR.
They also had the English program (Revolution) that ran in BSB that you know about but there was also a US program(Erion Racing).
It is not well know as the bike never made it to the AMA.
The reason for this had to do with the team rider and the championship run.
You might have heard of the guy as their #1 rider was Miguel DuHamel.
Then the "up and coming rider" was this other kid, Nicky Hayden.
So with that they decided the only place to test the bike was AFM club racing.
Which was a bit of a "home coming" for Honda USA or Erion Racing as it was known.
This is because Erion Racing was started by one of the Erion brothers after the two if them split up their first company.
They started that one when they were racing in the AFM and saw a need for NT 650 bits and formed the first business, which you also might have heard of, Two Brothers Racing.
When they showed up with the racing VTR they also had a couple Moriwaki guys besides Bob H.
Unlike a BSB or AMA race the atmosphere was much more relaxed and the guys were very approachable.
They told me don't run the bike on the side stand, not that you should run any bike on the side stand but this one really doesn't like it.
I didn't ask why just took the advice, besides with their limited English I doubt I would have understood the answer as I don't speak any Japaneses.
Which is a long winded answer...... the short answer is you can believe it or not, I live by it and have run my engine hard for over 100K miles and it is still going strong.
Loud pipes don't save lives, knowing how to ride your bike will save your life.