tiki01 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Hello All, This morning, I was all excited to take the bike for a ride (97 VFR750). It started up fine and all looked good. Rode it to my car in the parking lot so I could add a little air to the tires from the portable air pump. After I filled the tires, I geared up, got on the bike and turned the ignition. I saw lights turn on but within a half second, it turned off. I thought it was strange and turned it off, then back on a few times but nothing. Bike was in neutral, clock was on, didn't see anything out of ordinary but when turning the ignition, no lights or clicks or anything as usual. I checked the kill switch and battery connections seemed tight. Does anyone have suggestions on checking any of the easy silly 'human error' type things it could be? Disappointing considering I finally had a weekend to go on some longer rides but actually I feel really fortunate that this came up while I was home instead of out on the road. If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them before I reach out to the local shop to come get her. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer mk2davis Posted June 22, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2013 Sounds like it could be your main fuse? Or possibly a dead battery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer auggius Posted June 22, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2013 I can commiserate. My first ride of the season lasted 3 km due to a fried r/r. Since you have no lights, check the main fuse. It's in front of the battery box under a rubber cover. If that's okay it's time to break out your multimeter. Check your battery. With no load it should be about 12.8v. Under load while starting even a battery that tests okay before may drop to 8 to 10v. Try jump starting from a car battery while the car is NOT running. If it starts then it's your battery. Depending on its age, it may just be time for a replacement. But if it is less than 3 years this may indicate a problem with your charging system. And welcome to the wonderful world of the VFR charging system! Check the r/r. It's on the right rear frame under the tailsection. Pull the plug and check the connector. It should be clean and free of corrosion. If it is burnt at all it needs replacement. But if it looks good you'll need to run some comtinuity tests on it. And even then it may test out okay cold but fail when hot. Is it the original r/r? If it's a flat box then yes. You should consider replacing it anyway. The upgraded OEM one is finned and there is an aluminum heatsink plate between it and the frame. Check the stator connector behind the right fairing. It has got 3 yellow wires coming out of it. Again you will need to run some continuity checks. There are also some voltage tests to run but obviously you can't do those now. And it too can test okay cold but fail when hot. If the connector(s) are fried I would highly recommend installing a VFRness. You can get this at WireMyBike.com run by Tightwad. I just bought and installed VFRness, r/r, stator. It's easy to install but I had to splice in the starter repair kit (included with the VFRness) because the starter relay connector was partially burnt too. Good idea to get a voltmeter too so that you can monitor your charging system on the go. Do a search in this forum and you'll find the testing procedures with the numbers to expect from your voltage and continuity checks. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer gll429 Posted June 22, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2013 your battery cable s may be loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Check your Run/Off switch on the right handlebar switch pod. These get dirty at the terminals after some years till it get to the point when the connection at the switch contact points become intermittent. You can find out if its the problem by flicking the switch on and off a few times and testing to see if there is any improvement, but it is best to open up the switch pod and thoroughly clean the switch with electrical contact cleaner spray... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted June 23, 2013 Author Share Posted June 23, 2013 Thank you for all the suggestions. I will try to take a closer look this week. The previous owner already installed the VFRness, Rick's R/R and stator, a R/R cooling fan, and a volt meter which always seemed to be in the green 12 - 14v range. Battery was supposedly changed last year. I was thinking with all the upgrades done by the previous owner that if I did experience some electrical issues, I would have some advanced warning. Worse case, the local shop will pick her up late next week and get her back running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmythecop Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 noooo shop. You can fix it. The electrical gurus here will guide you, as they have done for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted June 23, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 23, 2013 I saw Beck's suggestion work exactly as described on a group ride. We all stopped at a turnout for a break. One of the others (on a 4th gen coincidentally) had the same symptoms - bike had been running fine, but was now dead. We all stood around for 20 minutes scratching our heads, checking the battery and cables, etc. until someone pulled out a can of contact cleaner and shot it in to the Run/Off switch and cycled it a few times. The bike came alive and we all rode off. Even it that's not the problem it's good maintenance, especially on a 15 year old bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer auggius Posted June 23, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted June 23, 2013 Kind of sucks to have electrical problems after having all the "right" things done but hopefully it will be a simple fix as Beck suggests. I, for one am going to get a can of contact cleaner and do a preventative clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Just an update on things... It turns out it was a loose connection at the battery. Hehe. Glad it wasn't anything more serious. I was thinking the worse. I appreciate all the comments as well in helping to troubleshoot this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 Hello All, I hadn't taken the bike out in weeks and found it dead again today when attempting to go out for a ride. Like last time, no lights, click or power when I turn the ignition and the clock also does not show. Tonight I started to go through the check and pulled the battery to charge up again. I went through the fuses in the fuse box and the ones I could find in front of the battery area. Just a question about the main fuse...is this it in the picture? I am asking because it had a 30a (spare?) fuse below it on the side but was wondering if the fuse on this picture is correct at 20a or should it have been 30a? Maybe there is a main fuse hidden somewhere else? All the fuses looked fine and don't think this affected anything since I hadn't changed anything since getting the bike, but wanted to ask so I can change it if needed. Sorry for the picture. It was hard to get a good shot in low light and holding the phone camera and rubber cover out of the way. I tried to look up other pictures of this or check the regular and Haynes manual but wasn't sure. Any help is again appreciated. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer zoomzoom Posted August 24, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 24, 2014 Just ran down to the garage and checked my wife's 96 VFR750 and it has a 30A fuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted August 24, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 24, 2014 yeah it need a 30 there but not a 20A saying that, if everything is fine I am not sure a 20 there should be a problem... next to the fuse holder though, i can see some work has been done. The white plug you see in your picture is green originally The female plug that goes in is fully wrapped in your picture; this is not oem. it should be a red plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 Thank you zoomzoom and Dutchy. The confirmations and pictures help. I will look around some more, swap out the fuse and hook up the recharged battery and see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 Just an update...I plugged in the battery, changed the fuse to 30A, cleaned the connectors and prayed it would turn on. LOL and it did! I'm guessing something was loose but I'm just glad she's back. Had to rev it up to celebrate since it had been a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted August 28, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 28, 2014 did you also clean op the bolt and inside of the terminals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer LangoPTC Posted August 28, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 28, 2014 I believe the original 30 amp main fuse gets swapped out with a 20 amp fuse as part of the VFRness install? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 did you also clean op the bolt and inside of the terminals? Yes, thanks for checking. I did have some corrosion on the positive terminal. I believe the original 30 amp main fuse gets swapped out with a 20 amp fuse as part of the VFRness install? I looked it up and think you're right. The previous owner had already installed it. I don't know what happens if I leave the 30A in, but it will be best if I put it back to 20A as I found it. Again, thank you all for your time and input. It has been a great learning experience for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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