Unusual Occurrence - must have upset her....

Hi, My 1987 Pearl White VFR 700 FII has been trouble free since I bought her in April 1987. She didn't even appear to be upset when I sold her in 2001 as I bought her back in 2006 and she continued to be trouble-free..until today. A short history..in June 2009 I dumped her at 15 mph and punctured the oil cooler. I bought a lot of parts off Ebay for her, and I also bought a 1987 Blue VFR 700FII parts bike from a local salvage yard. It is complete, with the exception of missing every single fairing bolt (those are really expensive to buy from Honda so I have yet to buy them). It does not run right now but I believe all it needs is the gas tank sending unit put back in, fresh gas, clean carbs, and a new battery for it to run. I decided once I got her home that she is way too nice to be a parts bike so I never did take parts off her. Anyway, she is parked next my Pearl White VFR in the garage. I have not had time to work on the blue VFR so I decided yesterday to sell it. I mentioned this in front of both bikes this afternoon when talking to a friend and then I proceeded to start my Pearl White VFR. HAH! She must have been upset that I am getting rid of her friend as she started to crank and then there was LOUD "POP" / "CRACK". It is hard to describe the noise but my sheer terror at that sound...not good. The cranking immediately stopped at that noise and she would not crank anymore. She would start to crank but immediately stop. It was like the starter was stuck or something. I was hoping it was not anything serious so I kept my thought son a starter issue. Well, just now I went down to try starting her so I could describe the noise on ths post and she would not turn over. I tried 1, 2, 3, 4 times and the same result: 1 second it sounded like she would turn over but then it would stop immediately! However, on the 5th time she turned over. The 6th time she started right up and ran beautifully. The 7th and 8th time she started right up also. She runs beautiful! So, what the heck happened? Has anyone ever experienced something like this, or know of someone else who has? Thanks for any thoughts on this subject.

 

sounds like you might have dirty contacts battery , starter, and starter button. make sure these are clean.....

Pictures of the ole girl might help brighten her day!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi,

I know the battery contacts are clean as the battery is only about 4 weeks old. But, I need to check the other contacts. Thanks for the idea. It was really scary sounding to hear that loud noise...I actually thought something broke off and jammed up the engine so it could not turn over..it was that fast..like shoving a piece of metal into a fan. I will get some current pics later today.

 

It sounds like your starter clutch may have a problem. They do fail from time to time and it is a very easy repair and easy to check as well.

 

Had to look for a bit to find a picture of a failed starter clutch, they will make a bit of a ruckus when they fail . Here is a pic.