My bike died on me and want restart

Argh

So i was out running errands on my 1200 vfr. Pulled into traffic gave it a fair bit of gas. Roughly 1/8 of a mile after i backed off her the engine light came on and it lost all power and wouldn't rev past idle.

I cut it off and restarted it. Same thing engine lite on and it wouldnt rev off idle. I cut it back off and she wouldn't restart. I tried a few things and got the pleasure of pushing my 600 pound she beast back to the house. freakin 2 miles or so man that sucked !!.

I have over a 1/2 tank of gas showing and she want restart. Gas in tank is less then a week old.

Any ideas ??

P.s I have had lose of power like this before about a year ago. But it only done it for say 10 secs. Always came back and ran fine. Was planning a big trip for next week !!! argh ...

Any suggestions or things i could check would be great !!!!

 

Well shucks i did some light research and the idiot light on the dashboard was for the fi system. That don't sound so good !!

 

try disconnecting battery for a minute, let things reboot...worth a try....

 

Yep tried that. Had no effect.

I loaded it up and took it to the dealership.

I'll let u all know what they find and how it goes.

 

Seems like problems with 1200s won't ever get much useful help here cuz they're too damn complex for owner repairs.

 

Well i got the call today about my bike. The part that seems to have gone bad is 1843.00 !!!! The code they are pulling is for a failed throttle body assembly or something like that. i was in a wee bit of shock over this to be honest.

I asked about the possibility of Honda good willing that part on me considering i brought the bike as a demo not even 2 years ago. They sounded doubtful about it. Oh boy that is going to be really expensive.

Guess ill most likely just get the bike back and strip and sell it.

 

Oh man that is terrible news
You might want to call Honda America and complaint, you just have to be professional and hope the would help part of the bill perhaps provide the part and you pay for labor. Who know at least you try. Good luck and so sorry for your dilemma

 

Problem is all manufacturers are hell bent on building so much into bikes/cars so that you are unable to repair them or the costs to repair them is out of the question. They don't want them fixed they want you to just fork out and buy another one. Only thing is when somebody gets burnt they usually will never buy a product from that manufacture ever again, at least I wouldn't

 

It's news like this that keeps my Norton in the garage and in good nick. It may not be very technical but it is loads of fun to ride and has the mechanical complexity of a stone ax. Oh. . .and every part you are likely to ever need is readily available at pretty reasonable prices. You can't say that about even late model Hondas.

 

Jim there is even better news for you, the Norton is going up in value as well, not down

 

I am not so sure that trend will continue. I wonder, when the old farts that wanted them when they were new go to their reward, will anyone want to buy a cantankerous, kick start only relic?

In the future we may only have the choice of disposable motorcycles. We went from motorcycles we don't have to rebuild every 30,000 miles to bikes we can't rebuild at 100,000 or more. Except for the occasional $1843 part who's to say it's not better?

By the way, it's the selling of whole "assemblies" that give me the red ass. In the assembly you probably get a casting and a whole bunch of crap that has nothing to do with the problem and the offending part is actually a $3 chip.

 

Don't mean to rub salt into your wounds, but that's why I bought the extended warranty. The 7th gen technology was too new. Things were bound to happen. Luckily I've only used mine on both fork seals failing a few months apart.
That being said. You might want to go online and try some motorcycle salvage yards. By now, I'm sure a few have gone on to greener pastures. Might be able to get the organ off one of those donors...
Hell, I'd do just about anything before paying that price, but it seems they have you by the balls.
Good luck

 

Scuba is exactly right! I've worked at car and motorcycle dealerships for thirty years. Call Honda customer service, explain the situation, BE POLITE! The customer calling the manufacturer will ALWAYS get better results than the dealer calling on your behalf.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking, there's no way the whole assembly is bad. But even if you knew which specific part was bad, they won't let you order it without the rest of it.

Hope you get it worked out.

 

Yea thanks for the advice. I never had to deal with something like this before. I guess ill start digging around and see who to call about this and what not. I'll keep u all updated on what i find out and what come of this.

 

$1210
OEM Parts

 

Hmm

If Honda are really expecting you to pick up that whole bill on a relatively new vehicle, then shame on them and its time for some lateral thinking. So maybe you should start by watching this -

Dub Autowerks German Car Video Blog: Fixing Throttle Body Faults - YouTube

OK its for a car - but I suspect the theory is the same and there is a pretty good chance that what the Honda dealer is actually saying is their computer diagnostics say "this item is playing up", "the manual says is a non-repairable module, so go fit a replacement" - that'll be 1,800 dollars please... Kerching

Think of it this way - If the throttle body really is dead (rather than one which for now is just giving defective computer inputs), then spending time to take it apart won't make it any more dead!

So why not ask the dealer if they would be willing to try and strip and thoroughly clean the component?

If they say no, then go get the bike back (on a trailer will do), and then ask around to find a friendly motorbike garagiste. (You are after finding one of the Tinks of this world - someone who has no fear and are willing to tear apart anything and everything, and most times manage to get them working again). Hopefully they will be able to remove the defective part and possibly figure out a way to dismantle it enough to clean it and get it working properly again.

If that works out - please remember to share your findings on here - ideally by taking loads of photos so others can follow your solution. Remember you folks with the 7th Gen models are blazing the fault finding trail for all the rest of us who will be in the market for a 7th gen sometime in 2020...

Personally, I think this "no serviceable parts" approach by manufacturers is getting totally out of hand. Remember even if the DIY fix fails, then the previous post suggests you can still get the OEM part for far less money, which even with the extra garage bill to cover, may still leave you laying out less cash than the Honda dealer currently wants.

Let us know how you get on.





SkiMad

 

Update

I called and talked to Honda. Honda guy i talked to was very nice took down all the info and want not. The dealership had already been in touch with them about my bike. So they had all the info from that side of it. I was given a case number and told i be contacted in 2 business days or less by a case worker. "Ok so now i feel like i am on parole!"

P.s I got to answer all sorts of questions about the pipe and the buzz bomb i had on the bike. I also had to answer stuff about whether i done any fooling around with a power commander or not , made any alterations to the harness via splicing or cutting. Which of course i have not.

The dealership service manager had further insight about what might have happened. He seemed to be having all sorts of fun with trouble shooting this. He explained to me that when the throttle body shorts that it can also take out the ecu.

Anyway long and short of this is that the head Honda person in the area is going to be calling me in a few days to give me the word. We shall see !

 

Glad to know Honda is working with you on the issue....:thumbsup:
Good luck and keep your hope up, please keep us posted of the progress.

 

So I had a look at the link posted by Ishark and I am thinking wtf. The only part there that can throw a code is the easily replaceable $118 TPS. This is BS!