Power interruption

When I attempted to start my bike, I turned the key to on, everything lit up normally, and when I pressed the start button I heard a click and all electrical was dead.

I tested battery to have 12.6 volts, checked all the fuses and wiring to battery, seems normal. I snugged the battery terminals and she fired right up.

I rode it more than 20 miles with a couple stops and it started no problem. As of now I expect it to start but want to know what to inspect to prevent future unreliability. R/R unit is 8 months old or so VFRness installed.

Voltmeter installed on bike reads 13.6 to 14 volts while I'm crusing down the road. Dips below 12 when the fan, brake lights are on.

 

Anyone have an idea what to check? Happened again this morning, only this time, the lights were dimming out. 2 or 3 volts when key was on. It then corrected itself and started.

 

Your stator probably dying...... The symptoms sound like it.

 

Sounds expensive, and convenient. It's never shown symptoms of under charging when running. It's 13.8v constantly when running at idle. I've seen it surge to 14 a couple times at 5k to 7k rpm. Is it consistent with something grounding out?

I'm considering replacing the battery anyway, it's 2 years old. Should I do that to rule it out?

Right now I'm going to snug all connections up to the starter, and test for continuity to the starter if it's still "under powered".

The work is taking place in a publix supermarket lot, my buddies place doesn't allow motorcycles. The corvette next door is way louder than my vfr.

 

How would I test the stator?

I've been over the obvious things stated earlier. The bike is acting normally / running and charging as of now. Battery has 12.76v cold. And 13.8 at idle (1900rpm) I tightened the + lead on the starter motor. It wasn't loose but did snug up a bit. I also tightened the pos & neg battery terminals, I haven't been able to recreate the problem since.

 

Check the frame earth, remove it clean it make sure there is no rust and refit, charging seems ok

 

Is the bike die on you when you stop?

 

Your battery seem to be ok
And you stated your rr and the harness are new...... hummm
Let check the rr again to make sure it is work as it should

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. How would I check or test the r/r? It hasn't exhibited these symptoms since I tightened the lead to the starter and battery terminals. I'm hoping it was that simple. A new battery is in order this week anyway, just to waste some money on piece of mind.

 

The bike has never died while running or riding.

 

Batteies don't usually die and then recover as I said before check the battery negative to frame connection.You say it worked after you fiddled with the battery connections so also check the solonoid connections and the connection to the starter motor

 

to test the stator
get your ohm meter/volt meter
each yellow wire should have about one ohm resistance between each other
each yellow wire should have no continuity between itself and ground
the output of each yellow wire to ground should be 20ish volts AC at idle and 60ish volts AC at over 5000 rpms
their exact output isnt super critical but they should be very similar (within 1 volt AC)

to test the rr
it should be putting out between 13.5-14.5 dc volts between idle and redline (without fan/high beams)
if it passes 15 or drops below 13 volts you need a new one

other common failures are the blue wire connection (theres like 20 pins in there, located behind the left fairing)
and the 30 amp main fuse holder next to the battery (you need to replace this with a spring loaded inline fuse holder)

 

6th Gen - Blue Connector Ground Fix - How To. - Sixth Generation VFR's - VFR Discussion

Near Firey Nightmare....NEED HELP!! - Electrical - VFR Discussion

 

Sometimes the large terminals on the starter relay need a bit of sanding to restore proppa good connection.

 

Thanks for all the replies, I'm going to sure up the connections soon, next day off. It's been fine since the lead to the starter was tightened.

All the help is greatly appreciated.

 

first charging voltage should be a constant 13.8 to 14.2, higher is not better, but your voltage should never dip below 13.2 with high demand on it.
second, you can use a meter to test the stator, or you can use your meter to monitor voltage while you pull the negative off the battery. do not pull the positive ensure the battery sense lead and connector is good, the R/R must see this as close to batt voltage to work properly. if the voltage drops below 12.6 then you will need to do a long test on the stator which means you will need to see my post on proper three phase stator testing. After you confim the stator is good then, get a R/R to test against the one installed. if all else fails then you will have to inspect the VFRness for possible problems. PM me if you need help finding the testing the stator procedure.

 

It will dip to 11.5 to 11.9 when sitting at a stop light and the radiator fan is on. I have the idle RPM set at 1900 / 2000. Voltage will drop lower if I hit the brake lights at any time.