5th Gen...Clock and Trip Odo keep resetting...

No rhyme or reason it would seem but my clock and trip will reset about once a week. When it does reset it does so after the bike has been started and running for a couple minutes. My first 98 that I owned for 5 years never did this except dead battery/battery pull etc. This one, as stated, about weekly. Any idea what I can check?

thanks in advance...

 

Is it reset during start up or is it reset while riding?
If it is reset during start up check your battery.

Read this, hope this help

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/44533-Clock-reset-Electrical-issue?highlight=Clock+reset

 

I bought my Y2K VFR used and so didn't know how old the battery was. I wanted a new one so I pulled the old one and took it to the dealer. My clock and trip didn't reset but my clock was losing time. The dealer put the meter on the battery and under a load test it failed. Bear in mind that the battery was still starting the bike just fine. With the new battery installed my clock started to keep perfect time. The moral of this story is a bad battery can act like a good battery and a bad battery can cause strange things to happen.

 

You need to run "The Drill" right now.

 

Mine kept doing the same thing and it was the earth block, over a year ago and still have the same battery.
Either problem can have the same affect.

 

This is generally the first indication of electrical issue that are coming your way soon. As TNrabbit states "run the drill" because something in your charging system isn't working properly. I had teh same issue on one of my 5th gen machines but it would start fine and rode fine. What I didn't realize at the time was that the issue was intermittent and generally didn't occur till the RR unit was hot (15 to 20 minutes into a ride). So I would be riding along fat dumb and happy and the charging system was failing. One day I rode down to Toronto from Collingwood and she just quit in the middle of an intersection. It seems that the system stopped charging at some point and yet it kept running off the battery for a while. When I pulled in the clutch, the revs dropped and bam, I was dead in the water and it wouldn't even crank over that batter was so dead.

That's my little story. I hope it helps.

Oh, and it turned out to be the RR unit was failing when it got hot sometimes. I replaced it and installed a voltage monitor to alert me in advance next time.

 

Thanks fellas....I will start with these suggestions and also try to document what is going on at the time when it occurs. The battery is new but I suspect now that the guy who sold it to me in June never properly bench charged it.

 

+1 on doing the drill, that was one of the first things I did when I bought my '01 last year. Definitely check the wiring and connectors for possible over heating. e.g. Melted connectors or wire sheathing

Also if you don't have the Honda service manual, I know there's a link on the forum that has a download for it, if not PM me and I can send you a link to it. Also check this link out for what the forementioned looks like. http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/39277-How-to-fix-common-regulator-Stator-failures

This link is actually in one of the post in scuba longs link but figured post it here as a short cut.

Good luck with resolving your problem.

 

Performed "The Drill" ...I had been away on holidays and the weather hadn't been cooperating (no garage)...anyway...all systems checked out. I purchased the machine with a new battery and likely never was properly conditioned or whatever the term is. Since the battery has been put back in the bike after spending some time on my workbench under charge, I haven't seen the issue. I think I will go ahead and get a new R/R and upgrade the wiring for piece of mind. I purchased a VFRness for my first 98 VFR800...bike had 80K on it at time of sale. I may have dodged a bullet with that bike. Failure rates of the original R/R dictate that this bike is a time bomb! haha.....thanks again for all your good advice, fellas!!!

edit: I too have ordered a digital voltmeter for my cockpit.

 

Yep, had this happen to me. Ignored it and it progressed to the bike cutting off. It would restart...weird....checked it out, replaced the battery and all has been good.