Notorious R/R issue finally showing its ugly face...

So I'm new to the VFR world and have heard and read a lot of the notorious reputation for R/R failure on these bikes. I just bought this '94 stock with 28k miles a couple weeks ago, and have only ridden it a couple times since, being so busy at work and all. About a week ago I go to start it in the garage and...no crank.

All lights work, but no clicking from starter, nothing; just no juice to turn it over. Took a look at the old Bikemaster brand battery, tested it with multimeter and decided to jump start it. Got bike running, took it for a 40 min ride, shut it off, and same deal: no crank power. Replaced battery with Yuasa.

Fast forward to last night. Started up fine, took her out for a 25 min jaunt to a friend's house, let her sit for a couple hours in about 50 degree temperature, then came out and started her up fine and rode back home. About halfway through my ride, my speedo needle starts bouncing up and down; from zero back up to my speed, back down to zero. Noticed odometer stopped turning, too. WTF..

As I pull into my driveway and right before I slot into N, the bike just quits. Turn the key off and back on, and still get the same old lights on dash and headlight, but no crank just as before.

This morning, walk back out to bike, starts up fine. Took her for a 5 min spin around the neighborhood and she quit on me again as I hit second get before turning on my street again. Pushed home.

Took off seat and checked battery connection; all O.K. Had a quick glance at the R/R and it looks to be the original Honda OEM, no fins.

I'm pretty mechanically inclined but for the most part, electrics just aren't my thing. Am I right in thinking that I've just experienced the notorious R/R failure at 28k miles? What's my next step here?

I'm hoping my longass description of symptoms helps in determining the issue, because this bike is such a blast to ride!

TIA all.

 

Normally I would say grab a meter and lets check a couple of things but gen 3 and 4 R/R is an amazing pile of shit you need to replace it even if it still was functioning correctly. I have installed a couple of CBRF4i R/R's with no problems, easy to find used and easy to install. That is what I would recommend and then check the output with a meter.

 

I would also recommend upgrading the entire wiring harness since the OEM harness wires are not adequate and the increased resistance will likely cause burning and/or melting at the connectors. The new harness takes about 15 minutes to install and is very easy since you can just leave the old wiring in place and just run the new harness alongside it.

Rollin

 

+1 to tink's comment. The intermittent nature of your symptoms point to something other than the R/R; but you may as well take care of the potential problems with a VFRness and a new/replacement R/R. While you're at it clean all the connections thoroughly. Then just ride and not worry.

 

where can one find the new harness i am the third owner of my 87 and after doing a good take it all apart and look it over i did see where some wireing was fixed i was going to take it all down and build my own but if theirs a replacment then hot dam i am in

 

Go to www.wiremybike.com and then click on the "VFR Specific Parts" link on the left.

The owner of the site/business is a fellow forum member and he will take care of you. There should be a link on his site to email him directly if you need more help.

Rollin

 

Now you know !!! It's classic.


First thing you need to check on any Honda is charging volts !!!!!

No one is considered a veteran on this site until after they have replaced their second voltage regulator.....:tongue:

 

well the reg has ben replaced and i never have any charging or starting problems their are tattle tales of a exploded battery and some burnt wireing as well as a burnt spot on the underside of the seat and a bit of melt on the side pannel i have put 400mi on and no problems after seeing the burnt spot i want to be 100% that i will have no fires on the road as i will be doing a ride from CO to yellowstone on her this summer so i am looking at everything that needs to be looked at

 

Definitely bad r/r. Fully charged battery again and checked resistance of rectifier and its plug. Plug checked out but the readings on the r/r were very very abnormal according to Honda service manual....of course I could have deduced the same by looking at the damn hole burned through it!

Started the bike and it got super hot in just a few minutes and started clicking!

 

Congrads on ur mechanical sluthing (is that a word?) I had the same unit but mine lasted 70,000 and 20 years. Stator was toasted about five years ago though. Anywhoo-Do your self a favour check stator out-put at your plug and inspect the three yellow wire plug from that to the R/R. I soldered up mine and also soldered connectors to the starter relay, I plan on never letting the VFR go, unlike someone from CO - who is gona cop out and say, "he is using the funds to pay for another project."

I went thru a few free R/Rs and adventually went with a Ricks unit, very robust looking (better than the POS units from Honda) anywhoo000 - keep us posted....

 

where is the plug that I should check from the stator? Are you referring to the same plug that the r/r unit plus into, also?

I also remember doing a search and reading somewhere about a "dreaded connection"from the stator to the r/r... I'd be really curious to pinpoint that and check it.

The bike doesn't seem like its ever seen exposure from the elements and the connectors that I did inspect seem to look very clean, no corrosion.

 

well - On my gen 3 bike the stator is on the left side of the bike, follow that wire to a plug, there should be three yellow wires coming out of the stator (3 phase) they terminate in a white plug, the mating connection is a three yellow plug that goes to your R/R. I eliminated that plug by soldering the three wires together, I had some small burn mark on one of the legs of the stator. I used to have a hot start issue sometimes when I would fill up for petrol, bear-in-mind that I live in south FL and it gets hotter than frick here (coulda been hot fuel boiling too?) anyway, since I did the soldering, the hot issue went away.

Elements dont really get the connections we are talking about cause they are pretty shielded from the elements. Its more an issue of time and voltage going thru them, the connections are the bottle neck for heat. Use a good grease for terminals not the stuff you use on your spark plugs (dialectic grease) lots of views on this too me thinks, I gots stuff that is specifically for connections. So far, so good>>

 

+1 on the contacts being the source of all evil...

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanic...fire-melted-wiring.html?highlight=#post329223