Member Contributer ki-speed Posted June 5, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 5, 2012 Facts: 1. 2003 VFR bought new (has 60,000 miles). 2. It has had the harness recall and I added tightwads harness. 3. It has the orig. stator. 4. The battery 3 yrs. old. In preperation for this August's Summer Summit (which I hope to make) I thought I'd check my electrical connections prior to the long trip. Pulled the fairings. I unplugged the connector between the stator and the reg/rect. On the female (stator) side the middle wire looked bad (burnt), also the middle female connect looked burnt. On the male (reg/rect) side the middle wire also looked burnt. So I did the AC voltage checks on the stator (with it unplugged) and found low voltages 2.6 vac at idle and 6 vac at 5000 rpm on one of the three legs. Cleaned the plug up and put it back together to check DC voltage while running. Approx. 12.8 regardless of RPM. Both of these readings tell me to replace the stator. And since I really don't want to play chase the ghost I'm leaning towards also replacing the reg/rect and battery (seems like I only get approx 3 years out of my VFR batteries and I keep them on a battery maintainer). I may even soldier the wires between the stator and reg/rect to eliminate the poor connector. Questions: A. Where should I buy a new stator from? B. Do I have to replace the flywheel? C. Where should I buy a new reg /rect from. I don't mind paying more for better quality. Any other suggestions appreciated. Thanks, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Jmmymc750 Posted June 5, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 5, 2012 Mark, you can buy all you need from member Tightwad at wiremybike.com . He may not have the stator in stock, though. No need for the flywheel replacement. Stator/Reg-rec combo will be about 300 bucks. You can get Tightwad's VFRness wiring harness upgrade for about 50 I think. It adds beefier wiring, an extra fused link in the path to the + leg of the system and an extra ground wire, which I recently put directly on my battery's (-) terminal (in electrical schematics the symbol for ground and battery are very similar). This took voltage from squidgy13.5+ at idle and 13.xx -14 at 5k rpm to 13.6 idle, and linear(ish) rise to 14 from idle to 5k rpm. I like it. You will hear terms like MOSFET (code red), and other jargon aimed at...wait, sorry that's from "a few good men" in the courtroom scene opening act. Anyway, that's about what you will need. Solder is always a good idea (make sure the solder infiltrates the wiring connection). If you have some silver paste to help spread the heat at your mounting location, that may help - even the MOSFET R/R runs hot. Just not as hot... Wiremybike will answer many questions, and I believe Tightwad is an electrical (wizard) engineer. I cannot claim as much. But I did stay at a motel 6 last night. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer RollinAgain Posted June 5, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 5, 2012 Yamaha R1 regulator is much better quality but it isn't a direct swap and may also need to be re-located due to it's size. Have you done any tests on the stator to determine if it's bad?? Rollin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer 2thdr Posted June 6, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 6, 2012 I did that swap about 15k miles ago (stator, R/R, battery) and used all OEM parts. Still running like a champ at 45k miles and no hint of burning/melting at the connector. I also took care to coat the connectors in Oxygard. FYI when you replace the stator, be sure to tie a "fish wire to the stator wires (after you cut the connector off) so you can pull the new stator connector and wires thru the tight ass space you have to feed the wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 I notice not many people are offering good or bad opinions about Compufire regulators. curious J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mello dude Posted June 6, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 6, 2012 I notice not many people are offering good or bad opinions about Compufire regulators. curious J I did the CF conversion and have no complaints. It runs 13.8 - 14.0 volts idle and a steady 14.3 at any higher rpm, and runs mbe a whole 120 degrees on the bike. -- It did take some extra work to put it together, and I always over do it, but IMHO, its a slam dunk perma fix. --- The bike seems to run cooler too. http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/69571-compufire-rr-install-wrap-up-on-a-5th-gen-finally/page__fromsearch__1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kaldek Posted June 6, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 6, 2012 A. Where should I buy a new stator from? For reliability, can't go past the OEM stator but there are alternatives such as those from Wire My Bike. B. Do I have to replace the flywheel? Depends what your engine number is - needs to be 2503808 or later as the part code changed at that point. Prior to that you might have the smaller flywheel/stator combo and need a new flywheel as well. You can measure the outer diameter of your existing stator to confirm. Old (small/underpowered) stator is 107mm outer diameter, new (improved) stator is 114mm outer diameter. If you need to pull the flywheel, use this tool from Motion Pro. It's about ten bucks. If you DO need the flywheel and stator, Honda sells the combined kit for $290. It's part number 31100-MCW-325. FYI, if you do have the smaller flywheel and put the bigger stator in there without replacing the flywheel, you will smash stuff to pieces and possibly even bend your crankshaft. C. Where should I buy a new reg /rect from. Anywhere you like, but the MOSFET units are an improvement. Buy the FH012 model and order the connector set from Eastern Beaver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud786 Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 An 03 model should have the lastest flywheel, to my knowledge the stator flywheel upgrade was only for 02 models. You RR is probably fine, unless you have burnt wiring or something, and fried it. But until you have a good stator, you really wont know whether the RR is Okay for sure. Its really rare for a 6th gen RR to fail, 5th gen quite the opposite. Personally I dont have time for aftermarket Boon doggles, buy OEM and the Chit works the first time . As far as heat, I see no heat issue with stock RR, mines alittle warm, but i can hold my nakid hand for any length anytime, so its not hot. I seem to recall it might have ran warmer before I started running an RD as standard, maybe that aides with the RR not shunting as much current, so it runs cooler, dont know. My stock RR has 100,000 miles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kaldek Posted June 6, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted June 6, 2012 An 03 model should have the lastest flywheel, to my knowledge the stator flywheel upgrade was only for 02 models. You're probably right. I wonder why the part code for the '03 changed mid-way through the year though. Odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1TallTXn Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Gloomming onto an existing thread as opposed to starting a new one... 2002 VFR800 in need of a stator. Engine number predates the number listed earlier as the changeover point. However, current stator measures 114mm across, so it seems Honda upgraded this one after sale. Service Honda wants $182.34 for 31120-MCW-D03which appears to be the only stator Honda lists as current equipment. Tucker Rocky offers Electrosport and Ricks Motorsport Electrics as aftermarket stators for the VFR. Electrosport runs $140 from Tucker Rocky ($160 if you order direct) and Ricks is $150. Does anyone have any experience with either brand? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer kaldek Posted September 12, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2012 I believe Tightwad sells the Ricks brand. Personally at that price I would buy the OEM and couple it with an aftermarket MOSFET based R/R or the CompuFire switching regulator. This way you are highly unlikely to ever burn out the stator again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer huntinggunns Posted September 12, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2012 Ki, You could always get the stator re-wound by Custom Rewind, way cheaper than the OE or aftermarket stators. Had mine done there about 10k miles ago along with a R/R and VFRness from tightwad and soldering the connectors and she is still charging at 14.9 volts non stop at anything over idle. No heat problems or anything. Just my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1TallTXn Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Ki, You could always get the stator re-wound by Custom Rewind, way cheaper than the OE or aftermarket stators. Had mine done there about 10k miles ago along with a R/R and VFRness from tightwad and soldering the connectors and she is still charging at 14.9 volts non stop at anything over idle. No heat problems or anything. Just my thoughts. That sounds like a plan I'd like. For anyone else looking, their website is CustomRewind.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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