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2006 Vfr Dash, Brake Lights And Headlights Fuse Keeps Blowing!


Dane4487

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Hello Friends!

This is my first post but I have been reading this forum for years. I'm not sure why it took me so long to join, but I need your help now!

ISSUE: My 10A fuse that houses my "METER,TAIL ILLUM,STOP" keeps blowing while riding. I will lose my dash, headlights and break lights. I can be going smoothly along at 25 mph and it will blow. The local bike shop can't figure out why, but they have replaced my R/R and have verified that my new R/R is working still and my battery is good. I have not been able to put any science to this and have tried reproducing the issue while the bike is running and parked by wiggling wires and bouncing the bike up and down. It seems to only happen when riding.

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FINDINGS: After 2 unsuccessful trips to the local repair shop, I have decided to try my hand at motorcycle electrical troubleshooting. I popped the seat off and started pulling plugs and found that my Starter solenoid connector is melting, just like everyone else with a VFR.

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Next Steps: I plan on getting some cleaning these connections with some electrical spray cleaner and coating them with Ox Gard in the short term. I expect I will also need to replace this red cap and maybe the starter solenoid. Maybe a VFRness??

Questions: Do I need to replace the red plug AND starter solenoid? Will the VFRness prevent this from happening again?

Thanks!

Dane

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I had this issue on my 09 and 01. It turned out the front brake lever assembly was touching the fork tube/clip-on where the brake light switch is and sometimes when pulling the front brake lever, it would short out. Look at this on your bike and see if it looks like yours is doing the same. What made this interesting is that it would not always blow the fuse, it wasn't until I really started looking at the front end as the trouble spot that I got to see and replicate the issue.

The odd and frustrating thing with the 09 is that the lever had been in this position for quite a while and had never blown a fuse. It was only after a really long ride when this started happening and it was only by chance that I was actually able to see the dash go out at the exact moment I pulled the front brake lever. Since I rotated my levers as far forward as they could go, the switch wires were actually touching the top of he fork tube (where the wires are) which was causing it to short out. On the 01, these wires were touching the clip-on. A slight rotation away from the fork tube/clip-on on both bikes solved the issue.

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I JUST bought a 6th gen, and was talking to a buddy of mine last night who had a similar issue of headlight/instrument panel fuse popping with his. For him, his brake switch leads were ground out on his front lever. Might be worth checking out.

I'm sure other more informed individuals will chime in momentarily, but I wouldn't get the new starter solenoid from what I see. I am a huge fan of the VFRness, but I don't think its fair to say that it would prevent this. It does seem like it would make it less likely. Any questions, ask Tightwad. He makes 'em.

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Thanks for the shared experiences guys. It sounds like that's 3 bikes so far that can point to the front break lever. I will try to take it apart and see, but I am a little skeptical. When the bike is running and parked I pull the break levers like crazy trying to get the fuse to blow and nothing happens. When I am riding I keep tapping the breaks and nothing happens. It seems to only pop when I'm riding steady around 4,000ish RPMs.

Nevertheless, I will try pulling the break lever apart and seeing if any wires look rubbed or melty. :unsure:

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I don't want to artificially inflate the numbers, Duc2V4 was the friend I was referring to in my post. Sorry to out you, D.

No worries, I was probably typing at the same time you were! When it comes down to it, it was still 3 bikes.

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Had the same problem with my turn signal fuse. Was the same as the others here. I'd rotated the levers down to ease the wrist angle and it created a short when I signalled. Was annoying because the problem was in the right bar, must have been the hazard switch. You're in the same boat, problem could be on either side.

If it is tied to revs, it may be caused by the amount of vibration at that engine speed moving wires just enough to short on something. That's a lot more work to find.

Good luck!

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Well friends, I took your advice and just rotated my brake lever up a little. For anyone that may need to do this there are two bolts on the front that you can loosen to do this.

post-33963-0-80986600-1441283189.jpg

I'll keep you guys posted if this turns out to be the fix.

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I had this issue on my 09 and 01. It turned out the front brake lever assembly was touching the fork tube/clip-on where the brake light switch is and sometimes when pulling the front brake lever, it would short out. Look at this on your bike and see if it looks like yours is doing the same. What made this interesting is that it would not always blow the fuse, it wasn't until I really started looking at the front end as the trouble spot that I got to see and replicate the issue.

The odd and frustrating thing with the 09 is that the lever had been in this position for quite a while and had never blown a fuse. It was only after a really long ride when this started happening and it was only by chance that I was actually able to see the dash go out at the exact moment I pulled the front brake lever. Since I rotated my levers as far forward as they could go, the switch wires were actually touching the top of he fork tube (where the wires are) which was causing it to short out. On the 01, these wires were touching the clip-on. A slight rotation away from the fork tube/clip-on on both bikes solved the issue.

I had this issue on my 4th gen when I owned it (it probably affected 3rd gen owners too). Later I read a magazine review of the 5th gen where the reviewers complained to the Honda reps about the lack of lever adjustability and blowing fuses when owners went just a bit too far. They went on to say that Honda knew all about it from owner complaints and was going to come up with a fix. I thought "yay! - I'll be able to rotate that lever down to a more comfortable angle". The design remained the same on the 6th gen and AFAIK Honda never did anything to address it. :mad:

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UPDATE: Well guys, after 2 unsuccessful trips to local bike shops, 23 blown fuses and about ~$320 later in parts and labor, I have fixed this problem on my own at home just by rotating my break lever about 15 degrees up for free.99. I have been blown fuse free for 1 week now and most importantly I love my bike again! Thank you to everyone who weighed in with your experiences and advice. VFRDiscussion has made my summer! :biggrin:

-Dane

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