Doyal

Well, at 110k miles I have the dreaded TCT failure/ticking.

The question is do I go all out on a ballade one for almost £300 or do I buy a genuine Honda one for £117.

Any thoughts or opinions welcome! I always planned to go Ballade when it happened, but almost fell off my chair and smashed my Honda mug when I saw the price.

s2k4tony

Take it off (TCT) and do the refurb first (few guides avail, I did a "guide" myself although not as in-depth). I did this, drilled the oil hole a little wider and then changed the oil.
Ticking went, no more guide slapping chain. Although it doesn't work for everyone.
Ballade is likely to be a bit more bullet proof supposedly

mikefifth

Ballade > new honda TCT.

Refurb is cheaper but doesnt always work. I refurbed twice, then went ballade, not had any issues since.

noodels

10k with my Dremel refurbishment,
And still good,
was using Castrol Edge, now less $ Shell Helix with no problems

Doyal

Going to sandblast mine saturday, may add a bit of longevity!

I am not against spending the money. The intital question was ballade vs Honda OEM. If mine has lasted 110k before being noisy, that cant be bad value. If my head rules heart, I may only own it another year or two (10k miles~), but I've said that the last three!

Doyal

All done, and new oil. No more ticking at idle! Also swapped the seat bases around, so this may have been the real fix.

Azzzah

I went for a toda racing one, its not arrived yet but i wish i went for a ballade sports. Purely for the lifetime warranty. Unsure how the toda racing ones fair up!

jay-s2k

Did you end up sandblasting it? What do you mean seat bases? Mine is making noise was going to sandblast it on Wednesday and see what happens

Doyal

As in seat bases, the ones you sit on Yes, got my friend to sandblast it. It is now like new.

jay-s2k

Haha thought it was something with the TCT. Did you sandblast the inside of the piston?