NEVER park a VFR at the bottom of a hill.

I bought a 2001 with low mileage(20,000 kms) and 1 week later it does the same clock reset thing. So I check with a volt meter and it is charging so I figure the bike sat for a long time battery needs more charging. I start leaving the battery tender hooked up overnight and everything seems fine until tues when the battery is suddenly quite dead. I bump start the bike go home and pull the battery out. It is a Yausa with a Honda wing on it. Could this be the original 8 year old battery? Probably. I buy and install a new battery and the bike is now as good as new. So long story short a 98 with 11k miles needs a new battery.
I am thinking that some sort of digital permanently mounted voltmeter might be an idea. I also own a 89 Honda Pacific Coast. They tend to cook the stator early and many people(myself included) replace the original as a preventative measure. The r/r on the VFR seems to be the same thing.

 

The Latest......

I installed a new Battery yesterday evening & it started right up.

Today I rode about 40 miles in suburban traffic, and when i got home & turned it off, it started right up. So the battery was the problem. The remaining question is why the battery is dead / dying.
Maybe Old.
Maybe R/R.

so far so good.........

I checked & the battery doesn't appear to be 11 years old.....but it could be 6 or 8.

stay tooned.....

 

Had the same problem. Replaced the battery and the problem has not come up again. It happened two days after buying my bike.

 

Sounds like my story.

Ash gets up at the crack of dawn, gets train to Portland, purchases 96 VFR, dies on I-5, call RVFR and bug the crap out of him for the next 2 hours and he teaches me how to jump start, jump start to get home, over next 3 days learns how to use a multi meter while bugging the crap out of RVFR.

This is a battery issue.

I have had exactly the same issues on my 96. I kept getting the battery load tested at Schucks, and it tested perfect even though the battery was 4 years old. I keep riding, keeps happening here and there, only after the bike has been ridden a considerable amount, say more than 1.5 hours at a time.

Finally decided to change what I was told was a good battery and have not had a single problem since.

I think just to be on the safe side I am going to change my battery every two years now. For $80, no point risking.

 

battery

I put about 350 - 400 miles on it since the new Battery & I'm callin' it fixt.

I even put about 60 miles in a thunderstorm on it as a "special" test.

Wish I'd have planned for that.
may be time to think about a 'Stitch........

I've got a spare R/R ready to stash on the bike.......I'm set!

ride safe y'all!
:thumbsup:

 

I guess I will chime in on this one. basically same situation as yours bought
a used 98' by the time I got it home about hour ride battery was dead. I called the guy and he said he just replaced it. I was doing research on this site so I figured it was a R/R problem. I tested it and it was not charging the battery. Bought a new upgraded one from servicehonda.com and the guy I bought it from reimbursed me. Problem solved. Now the side story I know that you replaced the battery and have a R/R on hand so this is not a big deal for you but this guy said his battery had died and he replaced it then went on this long trip to NC from mich rode a few more miles after he got back from his trip and put the bike up for sale because he was leaving the country. I bought it rode another 60 miles and the battery is dead again so thats like 1,500 miles on the battery, So you may still have a R/R problem.
Another story over this past winter I had been doing some mods and kinda running the battery down never starting the bike when I finnally went to start the thing I noticed slow start and the clock went back to 1:00am I rode into work 12.5 miles battery was allready charged up enough were it started with no problems when I got out of work 10hrs later. It seems if you bump started your bike and rode that long your bike should have started under its own power by the time you got home, could have been bad battery or R/R not working to charge battery.

 

At work I have seen batteries test good one day and die the next.

If your battery isn't fully charged it will start to grow crud on the plates that will slowly reduce the capacity of the battery. It is important to keep it charged. You don't need to keep a tender on it all the time, I do so during the winter once a month cycling it between the 3 bikes.

Sorry about the A terminal on your meter. Since meters are different it is hard to be too descriptive of using it. When you touch a meter across a battery on the Amps, you have a dead short, until the internal fuse blows (or you melt your leads).

My son replaced the battery in his CBR1100 with a Honda wet cell in 2001 and it is still good. You just never know how long they will last.

 

I'm also not convinced it's just the battery. You rode many miles to the gas station. You emptied the tank, so it wasn't a 2 minute trip. So there was plenty of time for the thing to charge. So, what do you think happened during the ride? The last drop of electrolyte happened to evaporate? The last straw on the camel's back? It's possible, but then there's the fact that the clock reset while the engine was running. That makes me think R/R was the original culprit.

My R/R is getting weird on me. It always works fine on a cold start. But after about 10-15 minutes of riding (once it's nice and hot, I guess), it often turns itself off, esp when I stop and restart the bike while hot. (I installed a voltmeter on the bike. By "off" I mean the voltage drops from 14V to 11-12V, with the occasional very short dip to ~8V!?). But it can randomly turn itself back on for awhile when the throttle is revved high enough. And if left to sit till totally cool, it works again on start up. A good, fully charged battery might work fine for an hour, or so, under these intermittent conditions, masking the problem (and that's from experience. I have already bought the new battery, and the voltage chages persist, but haven't had to pushstart the bike, yet). So with a new batt, your bike might work work well enough for shorter trips. Indeed, I have not found the motivation to remove the fairings to install my new R/R yet, since I haven't any long trips planned.

There is the theory that an old battery will present a lighter load on the R/R, making it dissipate more power as heat... leading to early failure. Installing higher drain headlights is thought to improve R/R longevity using the same logic. So a new battery is probably a good thing, either way. But once damaged, I don't think replacing the battery is going to reverse the R/R problem, if there is one. Furthermore, my R/R should theoretically take longer to overheat with the fresh battery installed - further masking the problem.

At the very least, I suggest you try this: At the end of a long ride, stop the bike. Open the seat and immediately restart the bike. Then put your meter on it and see if it's still putting out 14V. If I hadn't installed a voltmeter on my bike, I'd also be pretty comfortable thinking my new batt solved the problem. It's been over a month, and my bike has still started every time with the new batt.

 

I'm out of town for a couple weeks, but I'll do this when i get back. I've ridden in 100 degree temps "start & stop" for 50 miles. and about 60 miles in a thunderstorm since i replaced the battery. about 400 miles total. so far, so good........

thanx.

 

Just noticed this thread. Same thing happened to me when my 4 gen died in Edinburgh a couple of months ago - stopped for fuel, wouldn't start. I suspected R/R but garage tested it and no problem. faulty battery seemed to be the cause (The previous owner replaced it 3 years ago)

Battery was replaced and has been fine ever since, and since I'm working in London and commuting back to civilisation at the weekends the bike is not started at all during the week. In the winter I'll disconnect the battery or hook it to my Optimate.

The mechanic told me that modern batteries can be fine one minute, die the next.

 

Pull the electrical plug out of the R/R unit and examine it closely with a magnifier under a strong light. If you notice corrosion or blackening at all, you MUST clean it up or replace it. That is the number one reason why R/R units go bad.

Some units have no plug on the R/R, but on the end of wires coming out of it, either case is the same, clean or replace those connectors.

For data, I just pulled the plug out of mine the other day, bike has 30,000 kms - connections are still clean and shiny! Mine is a 1990 and has the large 5 position plug right on the R/R.

More data - there is a model number in white on the R/R, if it starts with SH then that's the old style SCR type. The new ones have MosFets and the numbers start with FH. You can convert to a new style if your old one is toast, in fact I recommend it as they're available used much cheaper than a new factory old style one and they not only don't get as hot but they're more efficient.

Same rule applies though - connections must be clean and shiny!

Over 14V at idle with headlight on, with a good battery that is fully charged is good, anything less is not. See your workshop manual for exact specs for your bike. My workshop manual has all the tests you'd need to diagnose your charging system too, it's not that hard so don't guess, get a decent VOM and learn to use it.

 

I just bought a 6th gen and it arrived on wed. :thumbsup:
first thing i did was ride to the petrol station and fill up and ride home.

after about an hour i rode to a a friends place and we went for a ride.
my friend has a 5th gen and wanted to know how mine went so while i took a break he went for a ride on mine.
about 10mins later he comes into view pushing the bike back, i thought he was having a joke, but it turns out half way round a corner the taco and the DG8 went nuts and the bike cut out...no start.
the Fi dosn't prime and the Fi light don't come on but the headlights and everything else work. it cranks but no start.

i charged the battery which is the original one (5 yrs old) from what seemed flat to full, but still no go.

fuses under the seat and up front near the instruments are fine, but i don't know much more than this. :crazy: :redface:

oh yeah but i do know enough to check the kill switch.

i will get the bike to a shop tomorrow but before i do should i get a new battery and try that?

any other thoughts?

 

Hi, Jim. Nice to hear from you! Get some more new stuff at your store so I can send some more money your way!

Question: My '98 shows 12V and change at idle, and 14V and change at speed. You say it should show 14V+ at idle. So I guess I have a problem?

Thanks!

 

Mine is also intermittently dropping down to "12V+change" at idle. But if I twist the throttle obnoxiously a few times, it sometimes kicks back up. So the next time you see a VFR'r revving his engine obnoxiously at a stop light, don't jump to any conclusions.

 

Well first things first, is the battery charged and is it in good shape? I recently splurged on an Optimate 4 charger and the best part is it can tell me how good a battery is. I love this charger!

Anyway if a battery is not fully charged you should have a higher V reading, but if the battery is unable to charge right, it's like a sponge in the system and really drags the V down.

Try this test: with bike off, turn it on but don't start it, leave the headlights on for about 30 seconds. That will suck some power out of the battery and when it starts it should go to full charge mode. Start it and observe the Voltage. Hold the revs up around 3-4 grand and you should see the Voltage rise to the maximum for your system. This should be I believe over 15V. However it should soon drop back down to 14.1, 14.4V. This is indicating your battery charged back up, your charging system is working well.

Try the test and let me know your results. They can be interpreted and tell you many things.

I would be very worried if I only saw just over 12V at idle. That would indicate a very real problem. Battery Voltage at rest with bike off should be 12.5 at least for a good battery.

Another test you can do of a battery is keep the Voltmeter on while cranking. Voltage will drop but should hold close to 11-12V. If it drops more then your battery may be getting old.

There's no reason to try and run a battery until it dies, no prize for longest running battery. However, batteries are often replaced unecessarily, especially at a shop... which brings me back to the Optimate 4 charger - costs about 75 bucks but you might save that amount, because you can tell when your battery needs replacing or not. New batteries are getting expensive these days.

You might check the R/R connector as I mentioned. Cleaning up some corrosion there might boost your Voltage back up to normal.

I'm talking about the battery first because a bad battery can not only drag everything else back down but can kill your R/R or alternator, don't take that chance.

One more thing, the connections on your battery are mission critical. Make sure they are perfect!

Alternators and R/R units rarely give a problem, it's the connections and/or the battery that toasts them.

Check this out: