First off. Hi and thanks for the help. I just purchased a used 2002 VFR 800. Today I rode it to work (45miles), to lunch and back to work, back home. I got gas and when I tried to start the bike it seemed to lug and hesitate and almost not start like the battery was almost drained. I then went to Walmart to pickup some stuff and when I came back out it would not start. At first it lugged then it even stopped that. The lights dimmed and the dash dimmed and the clock reset to 1:00am. I checked connections to the battery and they seemed fine. A guy came up and was kind enough to help push start the bike and it started without issue and ran just fine. I got home and pulled in the driveway and turned it off (about a 5 miles ride home) and tried to start it again and no dice. Lugged. I put the battery on a trickle charger as I was planning to do some cleaning and adjust the chain. After about an hour I tried the bike again and it started strong. So with that long story. Could this be the RR or does it sound like a dieing battery. I don't have a volt meter handy but I can pick one up tomorrow. I just wanted to see if you guys had a quick suggestion other than slap on a volt meter. It's my understanding that when the RR goes the bike dies dead. Seeing as it ran fine with a push I'm kinda leaning towards a battery dieing. I hate my first post being a problem post
Hello and welcome to the nuthouse :loco:. Where are you located? First and foremost, do you know if the wiring harness recall was performed on this bike? 2002 to 2005 were affected, as I recall. If I am not mistaken, they should put a punch in the VIN sticker after the recall work was performed. If you are still not sure, call up Honda, give them your VIN and they should be able to tell you. If you have not, go to a dealer ASAP and have it done. I would test your voltage at idle (should be ~12.7+ volts) and at 5k (should be ~14+ volts). R/R failure is a lot less common to happen on the 6th gen that has had the recall work done. If this is the original battery, and it does not seem to be holding/accepting a good charge, then replacement would be in the works. Regardless of what it is, I would inspect all of your wiring and connections from the stator to the R/R, and the R/R to the battery and ground. Many times those connections can get brittle from years of excessive heat, and then development resistance, then melt or damage the connectors. Not to mention that Honda used an inadequate gauge wiring from the stator, and to the stock R/R. The R/R can slowly die, and stop sending adequate juice to the battery, so it can happen as it has to you. This is not to say it is your problem, only once the R/R starts to go, things can start to act weird, or just slowly stop working. This is coming from a man who has seen it first hand.
Derstuka is heading you in the right direction. It is disappointing to see that the melting R/R connector of the first gen are still there a quarter century later. If you find out this is not the charging system, you may check if your problem is linked to heat rather than millage. How long did you stay to WalMart? Enough to cool it off a just bit? It seems that after work and lunch it was fine? I had the same symptom on a 1st gen and it cost me a new battery to find out the starter cable was guilty. The cable was loose in the connector at the starter. Expansion from engine heat weakened the contact, increased resistance, heating even more, lowering voltage at the starter, reducing power to turn a hot engine. Problem fix itself if I don't drain the battery and let the bike cool down. The real fix: a propane torch to solder the connector to the cable (this is something like a gauge 3 wire). I now have 4 batteries for my three bikes to charge every winter month This is just to share my experience and knowing if heat is involved, may help you explore other possibilities.
Ok tested the system. With the bike off the volts were 12.98 then 12.97 96 95 94 93 92. This was with the ignition off and nothing but the stock system connected to the battery. At idle the bike was at like 12.8 ish but went up to like 13.2 and at 5k was like 13.9 ish. Because I could sit there and watch the battery tick down all on it's own I presume the battery is not holding a charge. I checked the battery while off about an hour or so later and the batter had ticked down to 12.54 and still dropping. Oh and located in Fremont, CA (Bay Area). Purchased the bike with 28k on it for 3k. 2002 Red in excellent condition. The only issue is I don't think the original owner washed it in the entire 5 years he owned it. Soooo much road grime I have used an entire bottle of Simple Green on the wheel and they are still not all the way clean
