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Safety Recall


Guest ROUSE

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I took my 05 in last Saturday, and I was surprised when the service advisor told me that the bike had to be inspected per the recall instructions. When it was finished I was told they didn't find any wiring problems at all...I had already done the "blue connector/green wire mod", plus the "monitor wire re-route to + battery terminal" and "30-amp fuse fix"...and in that instance the recall instructions said to only replace the front cowl sub harness. Has anyone else run into the dealer inspecting and then only replacing the front headlight harness? I was really hoping I would get the revised 30-amp fuse harness, but I supposed I can buy my own if my repair job fails (doubt it...).

I was under the impression that both the front and rear sub harness's were to be replaced under the Recall and that the main harness would also be replaced if any damage was found. :beer:

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  • Member Contributer

Well, maybe I am confused then. I called the dealer and spoke to another service advisor who claimed he was very familiar with the recall. He said that at a minimum the front and rear sub harnesses are replaced under the recall. Only the left main harness (and any other affected parts) are replaced if additional damage is found. So, once mine is done I will check the battery harness to see if it was replaced.

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  • Member Contributer
Well, maybe I am confused then. I called the dealer and spoke to another service advisor who claimed he was very familiar with the recall. He said that at a minimum the front and rear sub harnesses are replaced under the recall. Only the left main harness (and any other affected parts) are replaced if additional damage is found. So, once mine is done I will check the battery harness to see if it was replaced.

Yes, both harness' are part of the recall so should both be replaced.

Mine's been there over two weeks now and has had the main harness replaced as well due to the burned connector (Jeremy said it's a ground block)I posted a pic of back a bit. So, yeah.......if anyone uses their bike as a daily commuter, you may want to make sure the dealer has or atleast can get the main harness very quickly in case a problem arises as it did with mine.

In my case, interesting that all was good with my VFR up til I took it in for the recall.........coincidence or ? :beer: <_<

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Mine went in on Wed morning and was done Wed afternoon, as predicted. The 05' uses a different harness than the earlier Vtec's so I had to wait until my type came in.

I left detailed notes taped to the tank regarding my three after market electrical accessories and the tech appreciated that and all went back together well.

A reassuring note; All American Honda of Santa Cruz put one one of their top techs on it, not a n00b. :thumbsup:

I rode it home; nothing different, just like normal

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Member Contributer

well, let me just add in my story:

bought the bike used right about the time that Honda was sending out the letters letting people know the new harnesses were finally ready. according to the paperwork i got from the guy i bought the bike from, he had already had this issue 'fixed' to the tune of $300 at another dealership last year. not sure what they did, though. probably just gave him another harness and called it a day.

so i call my local dealership (Alba Action in Poway, CA) and they tell me the bike has to go in for inspection first. i doubted this as the letter i had seen made it sound as though the harness replacement was automatic; no inspection involved. they then said they would have to order the harness in on a case-by-case basis since Honda wasn't just automatically shipping everyone some harnesses. i asked them to order it in prior to my bike being inspected, but didn't get the warm fuzzies they were actually doing something about it.

i called the next dealership down the street (FBC in Kearny Mesa, CA). they said the harness replacement was automatic and that they had one in stock. so i rush them down the bike only to have it wait over a week before anyone touched it. they get the plastics off the bike and call me to tell me they need to order the harness. WTF???? i asked for clarification, and this is what i was told:

READ HERE!!!!

apparently, there are two harness we're talking about on this recall. the first harness is the front sub-harness, which runs your gauges, headlights, etc. the replacement of THAT harness is automatic, no questions asked. BUT, if the connection where this harness meets the main harness is fried, you need a new main harness, too. THAT'S where the inspection comes into play. apparently, mine WAS melted, which meant BOTH harnesses needed replaced.

now, as pissed as i was, this at least made sense with what Alba had tried to tell me all along. FBC told me that they wouldn't even be able to contact Honda to ORDER the harness until a week later (this was over the holiday shutdown), so i took the bike back from them since it's now my commuter (another long story).

two days after i pick up the bike from FBC, Alba calls me back and says they have the harness i asked for. i was completely dumbfounded that they had actually done what i had asked, so i had to triple-check with them that they indeed had BOTH harnesses for me. yep, they did. dropped the bike off on a Thursday night and picked it up one week later. but when i went to pick it up, one of the headlights was out. they told me the bulb was burnt out when they got it, which of course was BS. still, it was late and dark and i just wanted the bike back, so i took it home. once i got it under the light, though, i realized what they had done. they had removed the RH (from the rider's perspective) bulb and NOT even put it back in!!! i called them up, and of course they were 5 minutes from closing and wanted nothing to do with me. so i called them back the next day and told them they were full of shit for trying to pin the headlight thing on me since i knew for damn sure the bulb was at least there when i dropped it off. it took a lot of back and forth, but we eventually realized that what had happened.

when i brought the bike in, apparently the harness had fused itself to the headlight bulb. i don't know if corrosion had rusted the leads or if the plastic had melted and fused to the harness, but they basically had to cut it out of the bike. either the tech forgot or the service rep never informed me (little of both, i guess), and the ended up just giving it back as is. in the end, i just picked up a new 9003 from Wally World and slapped it in myself. other than that fiasco, the bike seems to be just fine. in fact, everything on the gauge cluster seems a little brighter, so i guess it helped in the long run.

so, there's my long story. hope it helps someone.

Mike

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Here is the Service Bulletin for the harness recall, in PDF format. This also includes the upgraded wiring diagram. The front harness pays only 1.3 hours of labor... even worse is the entire harness only pays 2.4 hours labor. This hardly makes it worth doing, as your going to loose money on the deal as a tech. I suggest investigating the blue coupler yourself before you bring your bike in. this way you have some ammunition to get the whole thing replaced if it is truly needed.

Service Bulletin

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is how I ended up routing my wires and connectors. I was totally unhappy about the fit from honda so, I had to come up with something that didnt push on the fairing.

I pulled the 10mm bolt for the right side radiator. Removing the one bolt allowed me to slide the two main groups of wires from the ignition switch and right switch gear. I pulled the radiator out and slid the wires behind the mount.

wiringrecall002Small.jpg

wiringrecall001Small.jpg

wiringrecall004Small.jpg

Routing the wires this way cleared up a bunch of room. I routed the rest of the wires they way they would normally go. I played around with it a while and this was the best I could come up with. I used extra tape and plenty of zip ties. The wires no longer touch the fairing.

wiringrecall005Small.jpg

wiringrecall006Small.jpg

OH YEAH, MAKE SURE THERE IS ENOUGH SLACK IN THE WIRES. They go around the forks and need enough slack to be able to turn the bars lock to lock.

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This is how I ended up routing my wires and connectors. I was totally unhappy about the fit from honda so, I had to come up with something that didnt push on the fairing.

I pulled the 10mm bolt for the right side radiator. Removing the one bolt allowed me to slide the two main groups of wires from the ignition switch and right switch gear. I pulled the radiator out and slid the wires behind the mount.

Routing the wires this way cleared up a bunch of room. I routed the rest of the wires they way they would normally go. I played around with it a while and this was the best I could come up with. I used extra tape and plenty of zip ties. The wires no longer touch the fairing.

wiringrecall006Small.jpg

OH YEAH, MAKE SURE THERE IS ENOUGH SLACK IN THE WIRES. They go around the forks and need enough slack to be able to turn the bars lock to lock.

Any worries about engine heat affecting the electronics since you have the wires stuffed down over the engine??

No, not at all. They are not close to the engine at all. It wouldnt hurt them anyway unless they were on the exhaust. They are actually a little more in the air flow now. They may get damp in a monsoon but thats what dilectric grease is for. The routing works well.

It's hard to get a good pic. with the bike together.

It is the shiny plastic between the two hoses on the left.

wiringrecall007Small.jpg

wiringrecall008Small.jpg

wiringrecall010Small.jpg

wiringrecall015Small.jpg

wiringrecall012Small.jpg

Hope this helps. Notice the factory harness sits on the valve covers, for the coils. No worries, from heat. It worked great for me and my fairing fits properly now with now binding or pushing.

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  • 1 month later...
They did only replace the front harness and left the fix on the rear harness that I did to the ground on the blue connector(spliced another ground to the screw on the frame nearby).

This has me confused. Isn't the blue connector bypass on the front harness?

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Guest AZViffer

Well, thanks to VFRD I just found out about this recall. I bought my 2003 VFR800 brand new in 2005. Guess what?.. No recall notice was ever sent to me! Now, with 487 miles on my bike I inspected my harness, and the connectors look a lot like the pics shown here! I don't have a local Honda dealer. I am located in Lake Havasu City, AZ and I believe that the closest dealer is in Las Vegas, NV. Is there a number to call for Honda service that I can find out what to do about getting this thing fixed before it kills me or someone else?

It's nice to have these forums for sharing knowledge. I would have never known about this recall without these forums! A few years ago (before the great forum crash), I did a step-by-step install for the carbon fiber Remus exhaust. I think I still have that data if someone is still interested.

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I bought my 2003 VFR800 brand new in 2005. Guess what?.. No recall notice was ever sent to me! Now, with 487 miles on my bike I inspected my harness, and the connectors look a lot like the pics shown here!

??? is that suppose to be 47k ??? I'm assuming it has to be 47,000 because it takes years for an issue to show usually.

You should find American Honda's number within this (huge0 thread. :rolleyes:

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Guest AZViffer

No, I really mean 487 miles. I already went through one fuel pump and 2 batteries from just sitting. I do have the high intensity bulbs in my high beams, which appears to be one of the reasons for the ground issue.

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Guest RLampke

To all:

It seems as though after reading this thread and others on this topic, that having this recall done is a bit of a nightmare from a service perspective; and with that I'm wondering it's even worth it. I know that this can be a serious issue [hence the recall], but if the dealership damages my VFR or pisses up the work, then what better off am I...?

I only have 6K on my '05 VFRa and I've never experienced any issues in regards to this recall, or have noticed any electrical torching of the harnesses. I am, like others here are very-very sensitive to any damage to my VFR, as my VFR looks like it left the showroom yesterday. So it would be extremely disappointing to get one issue fixed, but then have another issue because of damage or improper servicing.

So, do the benefits out way the risk here? Thoughts...?

Edited by RLampke
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To all:

It seems as though after reading this thread and others on this topic, that having this recall done is a bit of a nightmare from a service perspective; and with that I'm wondering it's even worth it. I know that this can be a serious issue [hence the recall], but if the dealership damages my VFR or pisses up the work, then what better off am I...?

I only have 6K on my '05 VFRa and I've never experienced any issues in regards to this recall, or have noticed any electrical torching of the harnesses. I am, like others here are very-very sensitive to any damage to my VFR, as my VFR looks like it left the showroom yesterday. So it would be extremely disappointing to get one issue fixed, but then have another issue because of damage or improper servicing.

So, do the benefits out way the risk here? Thoughts...?

I would be in no hurry to get it done, but would take the time to investigate Honda Dealers in your area and choose the best regarded one and have the work done sometime this year or next winter. I would Not use a Dealer that tells you the bike has to be in their hands before they order the parts, find one that will order them with just your Vin# and call you when they arrive to schedule a time for you to bring the bike in.

The experience is Totally based on the Dealer, good or bad so look around! :thumbsup:

Several members here in Nashville have had great service at Cool Springs Honda getting this done, they ordered the part and called each member back when it came in to schedule the work. TN VFR Girl just had her's done there Sat., she road there Sat. morning and rode out after lunch! :thumbsup:

I will most likely let them do my bike too, maybe even check the valves! :warranty: :pissed:

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  • Member Contributer

I'll be stripping my plastics and trucking the bike down to the dealer in the next few weeks for this. They called me last Nov. to confirm that they would order the harness upon confirmation of an appoinment time.

I wonder a couple of things:

1/ If they are doing the harness, that it may be good time to update my '04 to clear lenses front and back?

2/ With the discussion of thermostat issues of late, would this be a good time to have them replace it, even though I've had no problems?

3/ How insulted would you be, if I came to your shop with 1 & 2, but said I already have the parts (purchased during winter)?

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I'll be stripping my plastics and trucking the bike down to the dealer in the next few weeks for this. They called me last Nov. to confirm that they would order the harness upon confirmation of an appoinment time.

I wonder a couple of things:

1/ If they are doing the harness, that it may be good time to update my '04 to clear lenses front and back?

This would require the Dealer to install 06-up f&r harnesses in order for the correct bulb sockets/plugs to work and No way you will get them to oder 06 harnesses for your 04 under the Recall IMO.

2/ With the discussion of thermostat issues of late, would this be a good time to have them replace it, even though I've had no problems?

I would Not have it replaced if you don't have any issue, the new one could go bad sooner then your current one so I wouldn't suggest it at all!

3/ How insulted would you be, if I came to your shop with 1 & 2, but said I already have the parts (purchased during winter)?

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2/ With the discussion of thermostat issues of late, would this be a good time to have them replace it, even though I've had no problems?

3/ How insulted would you be, if I came to your shop with 1 & 2, but said I already have the parts (purchased during winter)?

I think number 2 is another example of internet hysteria. A failed thermostat will not hurt your bike or strand you. If it ever fails, replace it then; just like about every other part on a VFR.

Number 3, most factory dealers make more money on parts than labor. If it is an independent shop, it will be less of a problem.

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Im not sure why you wouldnt want to have it done. I wouldnt be scared off by some of the horror threads on the internet; most of the people who've had no issues with their experience (which is the majority) arent gonna post anything in the first place. I think it'd be wiser to get the update done just for peace of mind's sake. I had no idea I had an issue until I lost my lights in the middle of nowhere one night, out of state, and luckily my buddy lived within riding distance away. Then the next day, the bike died out after hitting a bump in Mt St Helens park....again with no one around. Again, i was lucky to have it start again and get me back to portland.

They're offering a fix for a problem that could leave you stranded that looks to be reliable, and free of charge. I understand your concerns with having someone else tinkering with your bike, believe me. If it makes you feel better, do what I did and take the bodywork off yourself so at least theres no chance of there being any cosmetic-related screw ups on their part. besides that, the wiring install itself if pretty straight forward, and with the bodywork off, you'll be able to inspect their installation job as you see fit.

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And as for the bringing in your own parts thing, they probably wont have an issue with it especially if they're Honda parts. But, they reserve the right to not install parts supplied by you. I get the same thing here once and awhile in the automotive business here. Many people deliberately buy the parts at a discount parts place, and ask us to install them, because them buying the parts elsewhere is much less expensive. I can understand their logic, but then I also ask them if they bring their own steaks to the restaurant and ask them to cook them for them.

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Guest AZViffer

Yeah, our local steak house won't let us do that. smile.gif

Does anyone have any recommendations for a Honda service center in the Las Vegas, NV or Phoenix, AZ area that you have personally used? The somewhat local (60 miles away) dealer didn't know what a VFR was! :idea3:

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Guest jayazusa
Yeah, our local steak house won't let us do that. smile.gif

Does anyone have any recommendations for a Honda service center in the Las Vegas, NV or Phoenix, AZ area that you have personally used? The somewhat local (60 miles away) dealer didn't know what a VFR was! :beer:

I had my work performed at Canyon Honda, Scottsdale AZ work was performed quick and the actually had the wiring harness in stock. When I called (Two Seperate Times) I was told they would have to order it, but I went in two seperate weekends and they had the parts when I was in person. So one afternoon I stopped by asked if the parts were in stock ,"Yep" went home got my bike and took it in. Two days later it was done. A word of caution though, they replaces the harness and the red 30amp fuse line but did not rout it correctly. so when I got it home I spent a hour routing my cables the way they should go. The dealer had routed them over the battery and under the strap, not along the bottom of the battery box.

I used them because they are less than two miles from my house and I could walk home after dropping off, and they had the parts in stock.

That is my Story, take it for what it is worth.

Jay

Look thru this Post there is a member Daniel Paul that is in Prescott it sounds like he works at a dealer that has done a couple of the Harnesses.

Edited by jayazusa
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well 2 weeks now and still no wire hareness called the dealler again yesterday and when the service manager called me back i was told that he called honda and the hareness has been shipped but theve not recieved it yet :wacko:

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