Battery drainage & access to battery

Dear all

I have a newbish question. I haven't been a vfr owner for long and I am still learning new stuff about the bike. Recently I let the bike sit for little more than two weeks, and when i went to go for a ride, the bike instead decided to flash all the lights and turn on an alarm I didn't know was there. Looking further into the issue, I found a little red light flashing in the back of the tail under the seat and I figure, that the previous owner installed an alarm I didn't know about. So far my theory is the alarm drained the battery and now it won't turn on. It will only sound the alarm. That leads me onto the real reason for this thread. Being the newbie I am, I tried to find information on how to access the battery to try and charge it.

I figure I have to get the seat off, but where exactly does the battery sit and what do I need to remove to access it?

Thank you in advance!

 

Well now, depending on which VFR you have. Have to say though in this day and age of computer information, Google in this case is your friend.

 

I have the VFR800Fi from 2000

 

Got some photos of that device??

Where all do the wires from it lead to??

 

Awe in that case I can speak knowledgeable. Use your key there in what looks to be the helmet lock under the left grab rail, which it is, but it is also the latch for the seat. Turn the key clock wise. there is a little thumb lever behind the key mechanism you pull that back, at the same time grab the back part of the seat and lift up and back. it may be sticky, just wiggle it, it will come off. Now the battery should be there under a plastic cover, it has a couple tabs you turn 180 and it sorta lifts off or fold forward depends on how you feel if it's outa the way enough or not you can give it a bit of a squish here and get out outa the way too. from that you should see the battery.

 

To assist you use this link and then download the owners manual. http://www.hondampe.com.au/repository/owning_a_honda/owners-manuals/road.aspx

Do you have a separate fob with your key?

 

@Jeff_barrett I can try and capture some images of it, but don't have them now.

@RVFR Great, thanks! I'll give that a go!

@fink that is awesome! Been looking for something like that. Thank you!

 

It may not be a dead battery, it may be a kill switch on the alarm preventing start. You should have gotten a keyfob for the alarm from previous owner. If you don't have that or can't get ahold of previous owner you might have to disable/remove alarm.

 

But I've owned the bike since june and had several trips on it. It would be weird for it to start preventing start up all of a sudden.

 

Awe.. but not so really weird when you consider the RR issues with the VFR . Go ahead, look it up, lots of talk about it. example http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/41346-Voltage-Regulator-Repeat-Failure-VFR800-1998

 

God I hope that will not be the issue!

 

I've experienced, that my right indicator has been slow with activating. Especially when it was humid or a bit cold. After the bike got warm, it seemed to become less frequent. Could that be in any way related to the electrical issue I'm having now?

 

Any used bike I get I tear into it and check everything. Could be 1 thing or many that are adding up. Could be just an old battery. I would check all the wiring, brakes, tires bearings and change all the fluids.

 

I doubt this would be related to battery or voltage. The left and right indicators use a common flasher relay, so the only direction-specific electrical component is at or after the switch. I pulled my indicator switch apart a few days ago, as the action was getting stiff. There is a white plastic block that slides side to side that connects the left or right circuit. Most likely for you the block is a bit sticky and frees up with use. First step would be to open up the left switch block and get some contact cleaner in there, followed by dielectric grease.

 

Thanks for your reply.

I tried charging the battery for little over 3,5 hours. When turning the ignition on, the alarm gave two beeps, but I didn't hear the fuel pump turn on, as we normally do. All lights are working on the dash board and the Fi light turns off as well after the normal interval. When I try to start the engine, the engine turns over, but then fails. When I remove from finger from the ignition button the alarm then again gives me 2-3 beeps. When trying more times, the engine turns over for a shorter period of time before failing. Again with beeps to follow. It makes no sense to me. I've taken the following pictures of the alarm, or what I think is an alarm:










free photo upload

From what I can see, there's a switch, but it seems to do nothing. Also a little box, with a single wire coming out of it. I honestly don't know what anything of all that does. All the wires seem to run down to the red cap to the battery. I could really use some advice here for some instant good karma in return

EDIT: One thing, that is improved however, is that it doesn't turn on the entire alarm with lights and everything, when i turn on the ignition. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

 

I would rip the alarm out. They are one of the biggest causes of trouble out after a few years.

 

In your last picture there is a black knob coming up through the frame member, looks like a contact switch to set off the alarm or immobilise the engine if the seat is removed (to stop people from tampering with the alarm). If that is so, the engine may not start with the seat removed.

My guess is the alarm is activating through the engine stop relay, which would prevent the fuel pump running. Based on the extensive use of electrical tape and dodgy wiring, the alarm does not look like the most professional installation. I'm with Fink on this one; remove the alarm.

Do you have a key fob to disable the alarm?