Battery Won't Charge

This is my first post on this forum and the first Honda bike I've ever owned (been riding Suzuki).

I've got a 1987 VFR700. I was riding over Easter weekend, and I stopped as a gas station. When I went to leave, the bike wouldn't start... the battery barely had enough power to crank it over. It was an old battery, so I through in a new one and spent the next couple days riding happily.

Today, however, it happened again. I'm assuming its an alternator or a regulator at this point, but I do not have a service manual, and am would like to know which one is broken before I take it to a shop and drop big $$.

Does anyone have a link to a service manual I could download? Are there any fuses I could check? Thanks in advance!

Picture of my bike: http://i.imgur.com/4qwDluO.jpg

 

Welcome aboard. Although a shitty way to get started.

Your bike falls into the category of 1st or 2nd Generation VFR. Here's a link that might help for finding the manual.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/31510-1st-2nd-Gen-Service-manual-Download-links

Use the search function in the top right of this site. You can find tons of information.

VFR's are notorious for having failed regulators and stators, but to be honest, I'm not sure if it was the same on bikes of your age. Seems that most people who come on here have a later model. Assuming your year/generation is subject to the same pitfalls as the others, then take a look at this thread as well, especially post #9. NOTE: Your battery needs to be fully charged to do these tests.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/39277-How-to-fix-common-regulator-Stator-failures

My general suggestion would be to start going over all electrical connections that you can. make sure you're firmly connected to your battery terminals. Check/follow your ground. Look at any/all connections, whether they are taped together or the plug in kind. Look for signs of wires melting or turning brown or black. There's plenty of stuff you can (and should) do before taking it to a dealer.

 

Even if these don't fit into the "must fail" catagory why take the chance solder and heatshrink the stator wires, simple job and could save you hundreds of dollars at a later date

 

Thank you for the manual! I got my voltmeter back last night (a friend had borrowed it), and I run some tests tonight.

 

I cleaned disconnected and cleaned the wires running from the stator. For some reason they were covered in oil near the connection. I rode all day yesterday and did not experience any issues. Fingers crossed that it was just a bad connection.

 

There you go, now follow the directions in post #3 and you're GTG.

 

I just left Baltimore Cycle Salvage with a $35 replacement RR.