Bike Dead After Flashing Brights?

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by Aced It, Feb 5, 2020.

  1. Aced It

    Aced It New Member

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    This morning on the way into work, I flashed my brights at an oncoming car in a turning lane ready to cross in front of me. As soon as I flipped the switch to high-beam, the bike went completely dead - engine off, no dash lights ... dead. But as I coasted to a safe stop at the side of the road, all electrical power came back on. I put her in neutral, and started right up.

    I rode the rest of the way to work, parked it and tested the high-beam again; killed the bike again, but was able to start up again with no issues. Voltage is reading a steady 13.8V while running and stable throughout the rpm range, from idle to 5000rpm which is typical of my daily ride. With the bike off, it's a steady 12.7V. Battery was replaced a few months ago.

    I could use some ideas. I'm thinking one of two things. One, there's a short in the high-beam line. Two, there's a draw on the stator indicating replacement needed. I don't think it's the R/R only because of the voltage readings, but I've been known to be wrong, LOL!

    Hopefully I'll make it home this evening, but I won't be using the brights.

    Anything?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. KarlR

    KarlR New Member

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    Usually a short would blow a fuse, and that is not happening to you. Could be a bad connection that drops the voltage when you have the extra draw of the brights. If you have a volt meter, connect it to the battery and then turn on the brights and see what happens. No need to run the engine while testing. If the voltage at the battery is good, move on down the line until you get a bad reading.
     
  3. raYzerman

    raYzerman Member

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    What Karl says... I would agree you're getting a voltage drop with the extra draw of the highs. IF it were my bike, I'd check the main chassis grounds, stator and RR connections, battery connections given all I've read about VFR electrical issues.
     
  4. Aced It

    Aced It New Member

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    Thanks for your answers guys. I also posted this on Facebook too and got some good answers, one being to check the ground at the blue connector along with doing "the drill", some of which I've done. Hope to look at it tonight, but might have to park it until the weekend.
     
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  5. Aced It

    Aced It New Member

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    Today I dug into the wiring a bit. Examined the blue and grey plugs at the subharness and all looks good. I seem to recall seeing a receipt in the pile that came with the bike that the harness was in fact changed out. If you can tell from the pics below if it was changed, let me know. Continuing on , I checked into some other wires and plugs including the 3 yellow stator wires/plug and everything was looking good ...... until I came to this (see first two pics below).

    Remember my post last month about a no-start condition? Remember I found the issue of a broken wire at a plug that may have been arcing? Remember I fixed the issue by ditching the plug and installing male/female connectors in place? A look back: https://vfrworld.com/threads/6th-gen-no-start-no-power-only-clock.57776/#post-609592

    Yeah, well we all make mistakes. As I cut one of the solid red wires back some today, and then some more, the copper was black. These are the wires from the keyed ignition. My plan is to replace the wires from the key area back to the harness as close as I can get it and redo the plugs. Now, in that thread link above from last month, I had tested the battery at idle as 14.10 volts. As of earlier this week and my thread here it's been at 13.8, 13.7, according to the installed voltmeter. No fuses are blown nor melted around the 30A.

    This leads me to some questions for those in the know:

    Do you think this is a R/R problem that could be frying those wires? As well, could this have caused the bike to completely die as I stated originally in this thread?

    I am planning on ordering the Shindengen Mosfet FH020AA kit from Jack at roadstercycle.com, actually have been planning for a while now. I'm also looking into getting the VFRness from wiremybike.com as well. The stator wires show absolutely no sign of heating/burning. Not that that's an excuse, but I can only do so much in one time. The R/R appears to be original Honda SH689FA unit and with 70,000 miles it feels like a good bet that it should be changed given the circumstances.

    As always, I look forward to your replies and insights!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]



    And just for the record, here are pics of the pretty much perfect blue and grey plugs:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  6. raYzerman

    raYzerman Member

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    I am no expert, but the red wires melting smells of RR problems to me. I would skip to the end and get the mofset (BTW, you can get used FJR ones on ebay, Yamaha used genuine Shindengen FH020AA's) and the appropriate harness from roadstercycle or Eastern Beaver, or just get the whole kit from roadstercycle. The VFRness is for the old style RR, so skip that.
    BTW, if you haven't, check the orange connector, it is the ground spider... likely OK but apply contact paste and put it back together.

    My ground spider is fine, my RR and stator connectors are fried real bad...... roadstercycle kit in hand ready to go. Got me a spare mofset and connectors to go on the CBF1000... seems Honda has these stator/RR issues not unique to the VFR.
     
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  7. Aced It

    Aced It New Member

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    Thank you raYzerman. I did not know that about the VFRness; must have missed that on their site or elsewhere. After researching EBay, I think I'm just going to get the R/R "kit" from roadstercycle. Less work and new unit. I will test my stator once the bike is running again too for sure.

    Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk
     
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  8. Aced It

    Aced It New Member

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    There's a lot of relief in this pic. [​IMG]

    Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk
     
  9. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Dead short in the switch or wiring path.
     
  10. Aced It

    Aced It New Member

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    Installed my R/R today from Roadster Cycle. I did not get the bracket. Saved some money there. It will bolt in by sliding the unit a bit forward and placing a washer in the back bolt mounted outside the unit. Voltage at the battery at idle is much better and keeps very steady as rpms climb. I removed the plug end from the old harness and installed it back on then taped it off. I also did a static check on the stator and that seems fine with no shorts.[​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]

    Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk
     
  11. comradeQuestion

    comradeQuestion New Member

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    Re-locating the rectifier there seems like a strange decision to me. That area gets quite hot on my 5th gen because its directly above the radiator and attached to the frame which also gets quite hot. Not sure how much airflow it will get either because the inner panels attached to the upper cowl will block that off.
     
  12. Aced It

    Aced It New Member

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    I didn't relocate it. That is the stock location on the 6th gens. There is a plastic heatshield between it and the radiator.

    Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk
     
  13. comradeQuestion

    comradeQuestion New Member

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    Ok, didn't know they moved it on the 6th gen.
     
  14. raYzerman

    raYzerman Member

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    I would think the bigger issue was the old RR style and the old spade connectors that weren't very robust, whereas the mofset runs way cooler.... if there is airflow past the forks, and with your heat deflector, I'm not seeing a big issue. If the original spot for the old RR was OK by Honda, it should be for the mofset.
     
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