Bike Is Very Slow - 0 Mph @6k Rpm In 6th!

[enzed_viffer]

Strange thing this morning - I accelerate out onto the motorway on the way to work, think, "Hmmm.... I'm going a bit fast...", take a quick peek at the speedo...WTF?!?

The needle's sitting on 0. :biggrin:

Think about it a bit, look at the other instruments - they're all working, including the odometer and tripmeter.

A bit later on, the speedo's reading 65 mph.

Then 0.

Then back to 65, before staying on 0 for the rest of the (15 minute) trip.

Anyone else ever had this happen?

My wife's car (Peugeot 306XT) has had this happen for a couple of years now, and apparently, it's a faulty sender unit.

With the VFR, it could be the electronic speedo corrector I fitted a few years ago (obvious place to start looking), but then why would the odometer/tripmeters still work?

Any ideas?

[FotoMoto]

Most likely, the plastic nut on the sender unit (under the sprocket cover) has stripped (worn out).

[turtlecreek]

i agree with foto....look at pulse sender coupling

[Veefer800Canuck]

Beat me to it.

This is for a VTEC, but it's article #11 in the picture:

http://fiche.ronayers.com/Index.cfm/Module...up/SPEEDOMETER_

I believe it's the same part number for most all Hondas with electronic speedos off the C'shaft sprocket: 44808-MR7-013

[enzed_viffer]

Most likely, the plastic nut on the sender unit (under the sprocket cover) has stripped (worn out).

I already decided to check that out before I read your reply, as it's easier to access than my speedo corrector, which lives under the front fairing - but thanks anyway. It seems fine mechanically, but I'll have to check output.

Beat me to it.

This is for a VTEC, but it's article #11 in the picture:

http://fiche.ronayers.com/Index.cfm/Module...up/SPEEDOMETER_

I believe it's the same part number for most all Hondas with electronic speedos off the C'shaft sprocket: 44808-MR7-013

Thnaks Rob. I'll order one if it's defective, otherwise it's a tedious job checking the solder joints on the board of my speedo corrector.

I also have to find out why my heated grips don't work sometimes - I've got the wiring pulled out to check, but I'm really tempted if I don't find the problem quickly to just rip them off and buy a new set (my grips are too fat and hard), or just junk them.

I hope electrical gremlins don't come in threes...

[enzed_viffer]

D'Oh!

I hate replying to my own posts. :blink:

Awriight.... I checked the speedo sender unit thingie - seems fine, and speedo is currently working (as per check procedure in manual).

Unplugged all the wires on the heated grips, checked with the multimeter and it seems the right grip's heater is the problem. Soooo... it's less than NZ$100 for a whole new setup (that's about US$15.63), and to make sure I didn't try to fix it (I have a habit of that), I cut all the wires. :rolleyes:

The local purveyor of bike bits is open 7 days a week, so I'm off tomorrow to buy some new grips, heated or otherwise.

If the speedo plays up again, I'll check out the speedo corrector.

Oh yeah.... hrrmph....

I had a wee 'oopsie' - nearly set fire to my bike. I was putting the fairing clips back under the front of the bike, and the weather's rather 'inclement' today (whatever that means) and it was rather dim in the garage, even with the door open and the lights on. So I was trying out my brand new 500W halogen worklight to add some illumination. I must've nudged it a bit too close to the front tyre, and when I turned around, it was smoking! The light was about 2" away, but was obviously pumping out some serious heat.

[2003_VTEC_Rider]

Mine did this (6th gen) when the sending unit from the sprocket went bad. I ended up getting a new one, plugged it in, took bike for a ride, problem fixed.

When I pulled off the old unit the problem seemed pretty obvious. The plastic "nut" that fit over the sprocket bolt had come all the way through and was spinning freely on the shaft of the unit.

Thought that I would mention it.

Later,

Jefff

[enzed_viffer]

Mine did this (6th gen) when the sending unit from the sprocket went bad. I ended up getting a new one, plugged it in, took bike for a ride, problem fixed.

When I pulled off the old unit the problem seemed pretty obvious. The plastic "nut" that fit over the sprocket bolt had come all the way through and was spinning freely on the shaft of the unit.

Thanks, Jefff (yeah, you had 3 'f's, LOL).

When I checked it out, it looked fine - no sign of wear at all.

I'm hoping that all the plugging and unplugging and feeedlin about will have made the problem go away (de-crudded the contacts on the plug), but I'm expecting the problem to still be there.

[hondalover]

I think everyone is missing the part where the odometer and tripmeter still works. Both of these work off of the speedo reading, so if the speedo isn't working neither should the odo/tripmeter if the plastic nut was the culprit. I think the only thing it could be would be the gauge cluster itself having a bad internal connection? I hope I'm wrong.

[Ryanme17]

D'Oh!

I hate replying to my own posts. :blush:

Awriight.... I checked the speedo sender unti thingie - seems fine, and speedo is currently working.

Unplugged all the wires on the heated grips, checked with the multimeter and it seems the right grip's heater is the problem. Soooo... it's less than NZ$100 for a whole new setup (that's about US$15.63), and to make sure I didn't try to fix it (I have a habit of that), I cut all the wires. :blink:

The local purveyor of bike bits is open 7 days a week, so I'm off tomorrow to buy some new grips, heated or otherwise.

If the speedo plays up again, I'll check out the speedo corrector.

Oh yeah.... hrrmph....

I had a wee 'oopsie' - nearly set fire to my bike. I was putting the fairing clips back under the front of the bike, and the weather's rather 'inclement' today (whatever that means) and itr was rather dim in the garage, even with the door open and the lights on. So I was trying out my brand new 500W halogen worklight to add some illumination. I must've nudged it a bit too close to the front tyre, and when I turned around, it was smoking! The light was about 2" away, but was obviously pumping out some serious heat.

How is your right handgrip header affecting your speedometer?

[enzed_viffer]

I think everyone is missing the part where the odometer and tripmeter still works. Both of these work off of the speedo reading, so if the speedo isn't working neither should the odo/tripmeter if the plastic nut was the culprit. I think the only thing it could be would be the gauge cluster itself having a bad internal connection? I hope I'm wrong.

Oh sorry - should have updated that; when the speedo needle drops to 0, the odometer and trip meter are still displayed, but aren't incremented (readings are static).

It's almost certainly a bad Intermittent) connection somewhere, and given that it has a speedo corrector box which is connected to the pink wire to the speedo (this is the signal wire from the speedo sender on the countershaft), it's pretty damned likely that's the culprit. The other possibility is it didn't like being used all last week in weather that was freequently wet, and having to stand outside in the rain while I was in my aircondtioned office.

[enzed_viffer]

{he's doing it again!!}

OK - I pulled the plastics off, and fitted my new Oxford heated grips (didn't really need to pull the plastics off, but it made it easier to hide the wires under the front fairing). Checked the speedo out before I went to the bike shop, and it was OK. But (however!) most of the way there and back, it didn't work. :blink:

Fitted the grips OK - the hardest bit was working out where to put the wires so they didn't get eaten by the steering or caught up. Had to cut a piece off the end of the throttle grip so it wouldn't foul the bar end weight, but otherwise it was straight forward. It all works well. The old controller (Daytona, I think), had an off position, then the dial was infinitely variable from there to full heat.

The new one turns on by holding the "+" button down for 2 secs, then a blue LED comes on, and it's on minimal heat (20%). Each press of the "+" cranks up the heat and illuminates a different LED (green, orange, red). Holding the "-" button turns it off. The unit also turns itself off if you use the recommended hook-up direct to the battery, and leave the grips on with the bike turned off. If the voltage is less than 11.5V, the unit's blue LED blinks, and it won't turn on.

I eschewed the "wire directly to the battery" option, and simply hooked it up to the Blue Sea fuse box, using the supplied power cord with ring connection ends. Each grip and the power cord simply plug into the control unit - no soldering or anything else required. The unit also comes with zip ties, a bracket for the controller (to mount it on the clutch bracket mount), extra bolts, washers and spacers for the bracket, or you can use the double-sided adhesive patch and stick it to the triple clamp, tank, your helmet, face, or whatever.

The grips are slightly fatter than the old ones, but not so hard.

Apart from cutting piece from the end of the throttle grip, the fitting was easy. I cut the old grips off with a sharp knife, and used a little of the super glue supplied to glue the throttle grip on - the other one was tight enough.

And it works!

While the plastics were off, I checked the speedo as per the manual, checked the input and output of the speedo corrector, voltage at the instruments, unplugged/plugged the plugs several time, and EVERYTHING IS OK. The speedo works (at least, sitting on the centrestand).

Bet it doesn't work tomorrow. :blush:

Then I'll order another sender, and some more nuts, bolts, body plugs, gremlin spray, go-fast stripes, blinker fluid, hydrocillator bearings, and flux capacitor connectors.

[enzed_viffer]

Sure enough, the speedo's not working this morning (apart from a couple of desultory flicks of the needle up to whatever speed I was doing, then back to sleep...)

Damn.

Contacted the useless Honda dealers here, and sure enough, the part's not in stock: "That'll be indent stock, 3 weeks, ex-Japan, so you'll have to pay up front. $377.62 please."

Holey harking fell!

Even allowing for our crappy currency, that doesn't make sense! Current conversion rate makes this US$210 - nearly THREE TIMES the cost from one of your friendly Honda parts places!

[xenocide]

I hate to throw an entirely different option into the mix but I imagine this symptom could be another symptom of R/R failure. I've had your problem (although very rare and very random) as well as the dreaded "clock resets to 1AM when starting the bike."

Both problems are on this list under Symptoms. I put off replacing mine until just last week it left me stranded. My new R/R is on order now and I expect it to resolve the issues.

[enzed_viffer]

Oh - sorry for not updating this.

No, it's not the R/R (I *know* what that's like - I replaced the R/R on the VFR750 and the VTR1000). It turned out to be the speedo corrector. Nothing obviously wrong with it (no burned components or dry joints) so it's more'n likely an IC that's carked it. It's a little hard to diagnose, although my son has an oscilloscope, so I'll probably opt to just buy the latest version of the kit, and build another one. At only NZ6o shekeldollars, (about US $3.75), it's hardly a big expense.