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My 1995 VFR750 won't start!! Help!


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Hello All, I just bought my first motorcycle and I am having an issue. It's a 1995 Honda VFR750F. I have been riding it for about a week no more then 30 minutes at a time around town. I just took it out to some country roads and the highway for little over an hour. I stopped to pick up a pack of smokes before I went home. I got on tried starting it and the lights dimmed and the starter barely turned. So I had to push start it to get it going.

 

What could this possibly be? 

 

Also, the battery is about 1 ½ old. The previous owner bought new and rode the bike once then it sat for a year. So I don't believe it be bad already. Thanks for the help. 

IMG_20170626_133713.jpg

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Sorry to hear of your issues. From what you are saying it appears you have a dead battery. Having a new lead/acid battery sit for over a year doing nothing will more than likely destroy it. When you get your new battery make sure you confirm it is being charged correctly on the bike. If you plan on long periods without use then invest in a good Battery Charger and Maintainer.

Cheers.

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4 minutes ago, Grum said:

Sorry to hear of your issues. From what you are saying it appears you have a dead battery. Having a new a battery sit for over a year doing nothing will Kill it. When you get your new battery make sure you confirm it is being charged correctly on the bike. If you plan on long periods without use then invest in a good Battery Charger and Maintainer.

Cheers.

Thank you very much for your thoughts I will try that and check the charging system. Thanks. 

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Make sure you charge your battery before you check your recharging system. It seems that maybe your stator or RR is shorting out when it gets warm. Simply buying a new battery can mask the initial issue.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

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My 2cents is a dead battery. If you can, have it load tested at a garage.

 

 

Follow and inspect the wiring and connectors:

From the altenator  on the LHS a cable runs through the V to the RHS. There you will see a male/female plug for the 3 yellow wires.

It then runs towards the RHS tail piece (yes you have to remove it in one go as per the workshop manual tgat is in the Downloads section) where it plugs into the voltage regulator (it turns AC into DC). That plug must be fully in, donot ask how I know :-) )

From that same plug,  red and black wire run towards the starter relais which sits between the front of the battery and rear of fuel tank.

It is a red/green plastic thingie.

 

 

Once you have confirmed through load testing or a new battery, wr can test the AC output of the altenator, assuming you have (access to) a multimeter.

 

Red NACA's are the best! :goofy:

 

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Yeah it's probably the battery. Try jump starting it from a car battery (car engine not running) and if it starts it's the battery. If not, then time to do more troubleshooting. 

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17 hours ago, mk2davis said:

Make sure you charge your battery before you check your recharging system. It seems that maybe your stator or RR is shorting out when it gets warm. Simply buying a new battery can mask the initial issue.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for the advice mk2davis. By the way what is RR? I'm a newbie sorry. Don't quite know all the acronyms.

However since it's now my daily rider I had to push start it this morning to get to work. Funny thing happened though after I got off work. I was getting ready to push start it but tried the electric start first and it fired right up. Then when I got home I turned it off and back on again with no problems. WTF! I don't believe it's the stator since it was just replaced by previous owner by a shop with paperwork to prove it. Is it possible they forgot to connect some important wiring?  Either way I will see if it will start tomorrow fingers crossed.  Thanks in advance for your guy's help. 

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3 hours ago, 4thGenVFR750F said:

Thanks for the advice mk2davis. By the way what is RR? I'm a newbie sorry. Don't quite know all the acronyms.

However since it's now my daily rider I had to push start it this morning to get to work. Funny thing happened though after I got off work. I was getting ready to push start it but tried the electric start first and it fired right up. Then when I got home I turned it off and back on again with no problems. WTF! I don't believe it's the stator since it was just replaced by previous owner by a shop with paperwork to prove it. Is it possible they forgot to connect some important wiring?  Either way I will see if it will start tomorrow fingers crossed.  Thanks in advance for your guy's help. 

The RR is the Rectifier Regulator Unit. Converts your 3 phase AC from the alternator to DC and regulates the charge supply to battery and electrical services.

Are your battery connections clean and tight? as well as earth connections?

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If you have a new stator and can test your battery to make sure it's ok or simply replace the battery then you can check to see with a multimeter or a voltmeter how much charge is getting to the battery if the system is only providing 13 volts or less at the battery terminals with the bike idling then either your new stator or your regulator / rectifier is broken. Same thing if the readings at the battery terminals with the bike running at 5000 RPM with the high beams on are seeing more than 15.5 vaults or even more than 15 volts it means your regulator is not regulating and the extra voltage is cooking your battery. If the former case is true and the voltage seen at the battery terminals while the bike is idling is too low for example below 13 volts or even below 14 volts it is possible that the regulator is ok but that your new stator is broken or some connectors or wires have suffered overheating and are creating resistance

 

 

 

 

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A multi meter is your friend in this situation. Like it was mentioned, test the charging system through the battery terminals.  

 

You can first test the battery to ensure you have enough voltage initially.  Should be above 12 volts. The reason your electric start worked that one day after sitting is the battery probably recouped enough juice to fire. 

 

Also, I don't know what your riding history is, but you may look into replacing those tires.  They look to be Shinkos, and altho I'm sure some out there would say they're ok, I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.  Dunlop, Pirelli, or Michellin would be my choice.  Pricey?  Yes, Worth my life?  You better believe it.  I prefer the Dunlop Q3s, but I ride fairly hard and prefer the feel of the Dunlops.  Not hijacking, just saying. 

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3 hours ago, mcrwt644 said:

A multi meter is your friend in this situation. Like it was mentioned, test the charging system through the battery terminals.  

 

You can first test the battery to ensure you have enough voltage initially.  Should be above 12 volts. The reason your electric start worked that one day after sitting is the battery probably recouped enough juice to fire. 

 

Also, I don't know what your riding history is, but you may look into replacing those tires.  They look to be Shinkos, and altho I'm sure some out there would say they're ok, I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.  Dunlop, Pirelli, or Michellin would be my choice.  Pricey?  Yes, Worth my life?  You better believe it.  I prefer the Dunlop Q3s, but I ride fairly hard and prefer the feel of the Dunlops.  Not hijacking, just saying. 

 

Good advice for the charging system.

 

Yup, I say Shinko's are OK. I've used them before. I have Michelin 2CT's on my VFR and Pilot Road 3's on my Trophy. I already have a set of Shinko 009 Ravens like on 4thGenVFR750F's bike waiting for when the Pilots wear out on the Trophy. Yokohama tires were always great tires. That's what Shinkos were - Yokohama. The Koreans can make great tires. They bought out the Yokohama motorcycle tire business lock, stock, barrel, molds and recipes years ago.

 

:beer:

Glenn

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So I have been riding my VFR to work for the past week and the problem seems to have gone. I was thinking that maybe it was because I had been keeping the RPM below 4500. I had only been riding harleys most my life. That's why such a low rpm. Hahaha.  I think I didn't have enough rpm to charge the battery. Does that sound possible? Since Tuesday I have been shifting at about 7000-8000rpm and cruising at about 5500. So I think that was the issue. Any thoughts on that?

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Only needs about 2000 for adequate ac output, you may have other sorta "intermittent" issues. They can be rr &/ or wiring ( often connectors)...

heat is a factor, hence the on again off again charging performance

mount a voltmeter where its easily visible if you want a heads up on the systems ongoing output

if you're curious & patient the electrical section here is almost required & invaluable reading

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16 minutes ago, airwalk said:

Only needs about 2000 for adequate ac output, you may have other sorta "intermittent" issues. They can be rr &/ or wiring ( often connectors)...

heat is a factor, hence the on again off again charging performance

mount a voltmeter where its easily visible if you want a heads up on the systems ongoing output

if you're curious & patient the electrical section here is almost required & invaluable reading

Thanks for your help. I do think it has something to do with heat. It was about 101 degrees in Central California today. We have had about 15 straight days over 100 and we topped out 110. I can't wait until winter! 

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By the way, nice looking 95, what did you have to give for it?

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On 7/23/2017 at 10:22 PM, trjerm said:

By the way, nice looking 95, what did you have to give for it?

I traded a Springfield M1A scout Squad rifle. They run about $1800 new. The bike was laid down on the right side at about 25 mph. So I am think about getting fairing from airtech and getting them painted with factory paint. They run about $160 bucks!! The best part is that the bike only has 20700 miles on it!!!

 

So I tested the stator and it's fine the battery is good. I ran a diode test on the rectifier and for a negative result so I ordered a new one and if my troubleshooting was correct I should be good to go.

 

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