Regulator/Rectifier Problem on 5th Gen? Need input...

I bought by 99 VFR on November 15th...the next morning when I wanted to ride it to work for the first time, went out to start the bike, and rrrr....battery wouldn't crank enough to start the motor. I found this odd given that the seller had ridden from his workplace to my townhouse the night before when we did the sales transaction. I pushed the bike in the garage, and put the battery on the battery tender, and left it until Saturday, It took a charge, and I was able to start the bike Sat. morning, and ride it over to AAA in Berkeley, CA to transfer the title. Then rode over to the Honda dealer and bought a new OEM battery, and installed it. Given that there was a lot of battery salts on the negative terminal, I thought at the time it was a bad battery.

This morning, when I rolled the bike out of the garage, I noticed the clock was not showing the correct time. Hmmmm....bike fired up okay, and I rode it to work. Started it again at lunch, rode it to lunch and back to work, then fired it up after work to ride it home. On my way home, I stopped for fuel, and when I to start the bike after fueling, once again the battery was would not crank over the bike enough to start it.

Called AAA and they came over and gave me a jump, and I was able to ride home. But it on the battery tender, and it charged up in about 90 mins. or so...but I am concerned that the R/R is not charging the battery problem when the bike is running. I had this trouble on my CBR600F2, and a new R/R fixed the problem, after the bad R/R destroyed a new battery to the point where it almost exploded.

Reading some posts here, it appears that VFRs have R/R problems...
What are folks experience, and from what I have described, does this sound like the problem I am having?

 

Sounds like the problems I was having when my RR was going... Worked fine when cold, randomly died/not start when hot.

I strongly encourage you to stick with OEM Honda parts. My RR in my 99 went out late last year, and was the original one. They have seriously beefed up the new RR's (same part # as original).



I called ALL around California and ended up buying mine through Honda of Milpitas (good price and best help on the phone).

 

Reg,
Thanks, I always stick to OEM parts for situations like this.
Part no. I found on Ron Ayers: 31600-MBG-306, this part appears to supercede the original part no.: 31600-MBG-305. Approx. $124 from Ron Ayers.

 

Actually that's how I ended up with the wrong rectifier the first time. Ron Ayers is wrong...

Call your local Honda dealer to verify. The part was superseded by the same part number. 31600-MBG-305

I completely forgot that happened.

 

Will do....thanks!

-Stephen.

 

Welcome to the dreaded R/R club. You might also think about installing the
aftermarket wire harness that has larger wires and better connectors.
Can't remember the company name but someone here probably will.

The R/R problem is the VFR's Achilles heal, otherwise a very sweet ride.

Has anyone added a fan to the new larger OEM R/R? I put one on my original
'98 R/R but it appears that the larger new one may not allow enough room.

 

The updated RR should also come with longer bolts and backing plate.

 

I recommend this guy, he helped me a lot. The website for the wiring is wiremybike.com Joshua there is VERY helpful. He sometime comes onto this site under the name Titewad. He helped me modify my '98 R/R to the next generation OEM one that uses a direct wire to the battery to sense voltage rather than going through the ignition switch. It is also a larger unit with heavier heat sinks, wires etc, but it still fit physically into the same spot. The harness he sent allows me to go back to the original R/R should I ever want to do that. Quality of help was great and the product also was top notch. You might give him a call.

 

I'm going to look at a '99 on Sat. I'd like to check the regulator. Where is the R/R located and how is it accessed?

 

Left butt-cheek.

Just remove the tail section it's on the left side of the subframe. Of course removing the seat alone isn't enough to get to it. seat, 4 bolts and unplug the tail lights.

Check out the picture above, the thin one was stock 99. The beafy one is the current OEM replacement.

There are two big harnesses it plugs in to, check those for serious browning/burning. If the bike is operational, regardless of how the RR looks, I wouldn't call it a deal-breaker. If it's old style, just budget 200 bucks to buy a replacement from Honda at your earliest convenience. It takes longer to get the tail on and off then it does to install a new rectifier set.

I've been on my new OEM RR for over a year now with out a HINT of trouble.

 

that's how you qualify for VFR membership.......you're considered a senior only after you have replaced your SECOND regulator!!

 

I hope I never need a membership, 17,000 miles so far without a hint of trouble, bad thing about those R/R's is they never give you any warning, I just hope it never goes out when I'M in the middle of nowhere like Mt. St. Helen's or Northern California ray:

 

Check the wiring harness that connects to the R/R. Make sure all the terminals look clean, and not brown/fried.

However to really see if its in working order, you need to take a voltmeter with you and test the voltage coming from the R/R. Do you know how to do that?

 

I could almost guarantee that you have a fried R/R which means your battery is not receiving enough charge. If this is correct, a fully charged battery will probably last you 2 hours at most, before it is depleted enough where you wont be able to start the bike.

Invest in a volt meter and test the voltage coming from the R/R. There are tons of threads on this forum, that teaches you how to test and what to look for.