After any amount of time spent on the motorycle, an unbearable odor from the exhaust similar to stagnant sewage emanates from the exhaust. This has occurred throughout ownership and is widely reported by other owners. Honda nor a local dealer did not acknowledge the issue when contacted. An independent mechanic could not find any cause of the odor. The odor causes severe headaches, lightheadedness, and nausea. The odor emanates at idle, at speed, during cold starts, warm starts, and at shutdown. The odor is noticeably stronger when the engine reaches operating temperature. *Tr
Engine & cooling
Honda CB900F Engine problems by year
4 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Honda CB900F's engine & cooling. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.
Engine complaints by model year
Latest CB900F engine complaints
I recently purchased a 2005 honda 919 (cb900f5) motorcycle. The high-mounted (completely stock) exhaust system appears to be poorly designed, given that a large amount of exhaust is pulled back into the riders clothing and helmet, especially at moderate (city) speeds. My clothing actually smells of exhaust (very strongly) after a short ride. The situation for the passenger is much worse, to the point that sickness (headache and burning eyes) develops quite quickly. My honda 919 has absolutely no exhaust leaks, and...
Read the full complaint
is in perfect tune. I searched the web (using the search string "honda 919 exhaust smell"), and learned that many others have experienced this problem, some resorting to adapting a completely different (low-mounted) exhaust system to the motorcycle. Given the danger involved, in my view, honda should address this issue via a recall that involves changes to the exhaust. (From what I have read, honda has repeatedly refused to address the problem when contacted directly by consumers.) *Tr
While riding this motorcycle, exhaust fumes will permeate the back of the riders clothing, back packs and passengers, leaving a nasuating odor that is unbearable to be around. This occurs with riding trips that are as short as 15 minutes. Passengers complain that they can smell exhaust fumes while riding, causing headaches, nasua and dizziness. Spoke with the dealer about known problems with this model, and they knew of none. Check out bike and found no defects. Spoke with "jared" at american honda in ca...
Read the full complaint
(866-784-1870), and he stated that honda is aware of the problem, but have no plans to fix because there are no defects with the bike, that this is caused by the undertail exhaust and that it is ther nature of the bike. When I inquired if any other undertail exhaust system motorcycles produced by honda had similair problems, he said they did not! That it is only the 919/hornet 900. If you go to any online owners forum worldwide, you will find that this particular model suffers from this problem in the us, europe, austrailia and japen. Owners should not be responsible for fixing a safety/health problem with a motorcycle that comes from the factory with a design flaw.*Ak
Excessive unburned fuel vapor/fumes emitted from exhaust of motorcycle "03 honda 919 from first day of ownership through 2000 miles. (6 Months) protective riding gear saturation, and inhalation/lightheadedness had been experienced. Had performed lab testing of manufactures oil having shown excess fuel/ crankcase oil dilution, and extremely reduced viscosity (first interval 40wt down to ~20wt) with oil well below specification, and before recommended drain intervals. Have documented lab data record to support....
Read the full complaint
Unburned fuel odor appears to be intermittant, however shortened oil drain intervals seems to help remedy somewhat. Please take a moment to view this link: http://www.Stinkissue.Com/#solution. As I have found, this is not an isolated incident, and only reflect a portion of the owners of this motorcycle who have experienced near-miss incidents from same. Thankyou. *La
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data