[arjun_b2]

Originally Posted by Ford5

My 2004 unicorns odometer shows 35000, but it had done closer to 42-44 k kms.

Now the problem im facing since 2 months. Clutch is weak, hence pick up is not as good. Needs change. 3rd gear results in a loud hemming sort of sound. the engine area next to the rear brake pedal gets super hot these days even with proper idling and riding slowly in city speeds.

Is the engine's time up? My mechanic says it's drinking oil but no compression loss and can last another 10k if ridden sedately. And what about the oil filter? Even the HASS guys do not clean it at every interval.

Check the valve timer, valve gasket.... if nothing work out check the fuel tank blockage and change spark plug. Go for engine overhaul only if issues are not settled with minor repairs

[MDED]

I bought Honda Unicorn in the year 2012 and it has clocked 32000 kms. The other day near Sriperumbudur on NH 4 I was trying to take the bike beyond 80 kph and the bike after touching 90 kph started giving this weird sound.
Drove back in the evening to Chennai city and took the bike to Kun Honda service in Adyar. They checked the vehicle and informed that the estimate would be in the range of 11,000 to 12,000 rupees as bore piston needs repair. I was in for the shock of my life.
I bought Honda for its sheer engine quality and refinement levels, and overhaul of engine at dismal 32000 kms is certainly not good. Having said that, after reading through the posts on the forum it seems Unicorns are not lasting the distance beyond 40,000 kms and warrants engine overhaul.
Prior to my purchase of Unicorn, I had passion pro which I drove till 35,000 kms without any fuss. I sold just because it had met with an accident. When earlier engines of Hero Honda were piloted by the Honda engines, how come when Honda started their own manufacturing of bike, was supplied of sub standard engines.
I am on my way to the Honda service center to take delivery of my bike after repair and I am being informed that the total bill is of Rs 8,000. I will post my comments after driving the bike for few weeks.

[arjun_b2]

Originally Posted by arjun_b2

Hello, i have encountered a similar problem with my unicorn 2005 model, kick start. The bike 's odo reads 47400km and for the last 2 years I have experienced a rattlling sound in engine. I always serviced it in honda authorised showroom. When I asked them about this problem , they told me it would cost somewhere around Rs9000 to 14ooo only to open up the engine. Another authorised service centre (Haiku honda) said engine's rebore has to be done.
But when I read through the forum in Team-BHP I learnt that a honda engine would need a rebore not before 1lakh kms. And that the problem in engine would be minor. So I decided to give my bike to a service station outside the authorised dealer. I reside in North-east Bangalore , likely Castrol Bike zone was near by. Gave my bike to them, a mechanic test drove the bike and said it would require a day to service. They did a decent job on diagnosing the problem in engine. It was a broken valve timer , which were replaced with a genuine honda spare by Castrol Bikezone itself. Now the bike rides as good as new. The work done was a general service, oil change, battery replacement . The main problem of oil leak from engine also resolved. And the bill was 2900 only.
Was very pleased with their service.
Castrol bike zone
Pro : one to one attention
: prompt service
: honest owner & mechanics
: professional service

Cons: the front disc brake was a lil sluggish
: forgot to replace the high beam bulb which was fused.

So with same bike now the odometer reading 76000km . The oil leaks have just not stopped. The guys at Castrol bike zone say it can be stopped only temporarily. After one month of service it again starts leaking.
Not sure whom to give it to for a repair.
Engine runs with a minimal haze sound. Mileage has always been 42 kmpl.
Pick up is good and I don't ride above 60km/hr speed.

So the only major complaint now is the oil leak from engine .

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by arjun_b2

So with same bike now the odometer reading 76000km . The oil leaks have just not stopped. The guys at Castrol bike zone say it can be stopped only temporarily. After one month of service it again starts leaking.

Where does the oil seep / leak from? Head cover or the manifold?

There is nothing like no permanent solution for this issue, people are little hesitant to analyse the issue and find the cause. Rather they follow the standard operating procedure and trouble shooting.

If the leakage is from head cover even after the gasket replacement, there could be minor crack or deformation in the head or the cover. I witnessed a similar situation on a Honda Shine but it took couple of trials to narrow down at the issue. Grinding and new gasket + anabond gasket paste solved the issue and the bike is running fine for past 2 years, covered a little more than 10k km.

[dre@ms]

Own a 2006 Unicorn and around 50k KMs the engine was giving a tapet sound and the exhaust was in white color. Given to JSP honda and a rebore was done. Except for the oil leak from engine, the bike is touchwood. Returns a mileage of 50km when fuelled from Reliance or Essar.

During the recent service, gasket was changed and for now the oil leak is stopped. Also coated the rusted exhaust pipe with some black paint for Rs. 600 with 1 year warranty.

Parts still to be changed,
1. Carburettor
2. Chain sprocket
3. Battery
4. Rear casing, under the seat.

Not sure what else is in store.

[dextor]

I had the very first batch on Honda Unicorn bought in 2004 (if I remember correctly). The bike was fun to drive & i had clocked something around 70k on that. But then the problems were too many to handle and finally I had to sell it off in 2016. Every month I had to visit the mechanic. Honda service centers were useless as they only wanted to change parts instead of repairing. The major problem was of engine consuming the engine oil & giving out white smoke.
As mentioned in the thread I had encountered similar issues which are already listed
1 - Oil leak - My mechanic tried changing the gasket multiple times but it would reappear so finally he zeroed down that the nuts were not tight enough to hold the gasket. He opened up & got some re-threading done & that fixed the issue.
2 - Abrupt loss of power/no pickup while acceleration - This was because of issue in carburetor. One of the screw which regulates air or oil was jammed. My mechanic did some jaguad by drilling new hole & then the thing worked out.
3 - front brake disk worn out. Continued with that as cost of new was quite high.
4 - Issue with headlight/instrumental cluster - became loose & had vibrations.
5 - Fuel tank rusting - The tank had rusted from inside & there was fuel leak at some points. Initially I was fixing it using m-seal but when the leak happened from another places, I had to get the tank replaced. But I got it done under insurance claim. Cost of tank was 8k out of which 5k I got from insurance. I showed it as puncture in tank due to accident.

As I cannot live without a bike so I purchased a used(8k done) Suzuki Gixxer. This bike is also really nice in terms of acceleration & refinement but I feel it is not as great as Unicorn. I feel the gear ratio is improper & I have to keep shifting to lower gears. Also seating posture is not that comfortable.
My final plan is to go for some high performance bike - BMW310 or R25 or CBR250RR (if it ever comes) or if pocket allows then Kawa.

[arjun_b2]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Where does the oil seep / leak from? Head cover or the manifold?

There is nothing like no permanent solution for this issue, people are little hesitant to analyse the issue and find the cause. Rather they follow the standard operating procedure and trouble shooting.

If the leakage is from head cover even after the gasket replacement, there could be minor crack or deformation in the head or the cover. I witnessed a similar situation on a Honda Shine but it took couple of trials to narrow down at the issue. Grinding and new gasket + anabond gasket paste solved the issue and the bike is running fine for past 2 years, covered a little more than 10k km.

Guess the oil leak is from the head gasket, at castrol bike zone they said they had used sealants to stop the leakage but was temporary.
They were not sure of opening the engine foe any diagnostic purposes.

[arjun_b2]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Where does the oil seep / leak from? Head cover or the manifold?

There is nothing like no permanent solution for this issue, people are little hesitant to analyse the issue and find the cause. Rather they follow the standard operating procedure and trouble shooting.

If the leakage is from head cover even after the gasket replacement, there could be minor crack or deformation in the head or the cover. I witnessed a similar situation on a Honda Shine but it took couple of trials to narrow down at the issue. Grinding and new gasket + anabond gasket paste solved the issue and the bike is running fine for past 2 years, covered a little more than 10k km.

Leak looks for come from the manifold

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by arjun_b2

Leak looks for come from the manifold

Well having no background information on your motorcycle I would prioritize my diagnosis by;

1. Taking out the SP and observing for oil stains, Observing exhaust tip for oil residue. If you find any then its time to consider a rebuild determining on whether the motorcycle has adequate compression(Compression Test) and if the oil burning is manageable.

2. Inspecting Air Filter compartment for oil residue, if present determine source if it is the PCV then with the compartment open fire the motor and observe whether the flow is too much to cause alarm if so then you would need to in for a rebuild. If the PCV is not the culprit but you notice misfiring then you would need to go in for a rebuild.

3. If the SP and AF are fine and it is not in fact the manifold to blame then the culprit is the head-cover gasket, now if there is considerable oil loss i.e alarming depletion on draining then consider getting the head cover gasket replaced and use heavy duty sealant as the ones used in 600cc motorcycles, a shop in Trivandrum uses the same on Pulsar's to completely eradicate head cover leaks and has gained a reputation for ultimately fixing oil leak issues on Pulsars.

As for oil leaks in General, I ride a Pulsar 220 and as of now have the following leaks which have honestly been present for the past 25k km's.

1. Tappet Window Leak.
2. Head Cover Leak.
3. Head Gasket Leak.

I simply chose to ignore them as fixing them at the moment doesn't seem to be worth the effort or I'm too lazy to get my hands dirty as the P220 has too many things that need to be removed to access the said parts. I simply intend on replacing the parts at fault once there is a serious enough concern that requires my attention as that would help save me some moolah going for a complete rebuild rather than wasting time and money on every single niggle every now and then.

EDIT: This is not the right way to go about the matter, this is just my opinion.

So the choice is yours and I hope you choose wisely.

Ride Safe,
A.P.