Tightwad

Trace: I think you inadvertenly hit on the proper solution right there. Rewire it so the horn blows when it's time to shift. No peripheral vision, no vision required at all - when the horn blares -shift gears. It would be really neat for those of us who have a Stebel. Or rig it to a device that says "Danger Will Robinson, approaching red line". Just a thought. Pete Now this sounds like fun.....maybe "Engaging Warp Drive" for when the Vtec is about to engage, and "If i give her any more she'll blow" for redline. Now I want to build one just for fun....damn you guys

Thanks, I will check them out. About the only thing I have no interest in learning about is Surgery.

I am actually interested in learning how to mold stuff in plastic....whats the best way to learn? I might mention i am also interested in learning to TIG weld, build a helicopter, tile my kitchen and many other things I don't usually get around to actually doing....

Can't be too terribly different on a 6th gen:

no, this thread is 5 years old...image shack or other images often don't last longer than 1 year.

Not to be terribly on topic, but is that just mounting the plate from the bottom two holes, essentially leaving it hanging? I like the idea of lighting up the VFR lasercut, now I have to go play with LEDs and edge lighting to see if I can make plexiglass glow. I hate having to tinker! (of course I don't)

In my case the mirror glass also broke, so I was stuck. Otherwise I would have used this, or a similar, method.

My problem is that I have never been good at accepting "it just does" as a valid answer, but those dang Posi-tracks still have me baffled.

Excessive heat - which is caused by excessive current - which is (as I understand) often caused by a short circuit in the rectifier/regulator. My non-professional opinion.... The R/R is the "weak link" as it has the most parts that CAN fail. Stators by themselves rarely fail because they are just a bit of metal with wire wrapped around it. The R/R on the other hand is full of bits and pieces that all need to work correctly. Besides the Diode Bridge, there are 18 other electrical components in the schematic I posted. Most likely to fail is the Diode Bridge (no charging) or the SCR (Shorts to ground, creating tons of heat). If the Stator is melting, which would be an incredible amount of heat, or just getting hot enough that the wire covering melts....covering is rated to ~133 C, or 271 F, it would most likely be because the R/R is not shorting the power to ground correctly.

Whups, I was trying to help people understand better through my research. The schematic posted (last picture) is the inner workings of your R/R. The Monitor wire may or may not exist...some are internally monitored and some are externally monitored.

OK, it has been bugging me for a long time that the Honda R/R has such hard times on our bikes...so I decided to see how they worked, and see if I could come up with another alternative. I am placing this topic here as it isn't really year specific, but is certainly Electrical...and maybe someone will get something out of it. I am not an Electrical Engineer, nor am I a professional. Any advise dispensed is purely theoretical and practical use, with no guarantees of any sort written or implied. How the charging system works: The Honda VFR (and most modern motorcycles) employs a 3-phase Permanent Magnet alternator. This means there is a magnet attached to the crank shaft, which rotates around the Stator and creates an electro magnetic field....basically the opposite of an electromagnet. The VFR Stator has 18 "stacks" around which magnetic wire is wound in a precise manner. The more windings the more voltage. The bigger the wire, the more amperage you get. The only limits are space, money, and horsepower. See this link for understanding how to rewind a stator....yes you can do it if you want (not sure I would want to), the link is for a 2 phase, but the general principles are the same: http://www.4strokes.com/tech/honda/brpstatr.asp So then what? We now have an AC producing device, which isn't incredibly useful on a vehicle that uses DC power. We also have a device that is wound in such a way as to produce normal voltages of 65 VAC. Change this to DC and you still have 65 Volts (minus one or so for diode loss of course). Well, we need to change that current to DC current first...so we use diodes in a Bridge Rectifier. By using a diode, which only allows voltage to flow one direction, we can turn AC voltage to DC voltage. Now 1 diode will give you just DC voltage, but it would be incredibly voltile...as it would go from 0 volts to max volts and then back to zero. That would be for a single phase....for three phases you would go from zero to max, down a bit then back to max(phase 2), then down a bit and back to max again(phase 3), then to zero while the AC current went the other direction. By using the diode bridge, we turn the negative side into DC voltage also, so we get 6 peaks from one cycle....3 that were positive to begin with, and 3 that were negative buy became positive via the diodes....you get a constant high voltage, with little dips between the peaks. These oscillate so fast you can only seem them using an oscilloscope. This image shows just one phase: Three phase wired together looks like this: So the resulting output is: Congrats...you now have DC voltage! Thats all we need isn't it? Of course not...that would be too easy. How easy? It would be this easy: But the problem is, the voltage is not limited. I measured the output I got: 1200 RPM - 28 Volts 2000 RPM - 38 Volts 3000 RPM - 56 Volts 4000 RPM - 78 Volts 5000 RPM - 96 Volts 6000 RPM - 117 Volts 7000 RPM - 138 Volts 8000 RPM - 156 Volts 9000 RPM - 173 Volts 10000 RPM - 192 Volts My meter only reads to 200, so I stopped here. This means we need an effective way to reduce the output to a usable level....ie 12-15 volts at max. The way it is currently done is by shunting the excessive current to ground. directly from the stator....when output voltage exceeds need, the phase in action goes to ground. This is a similar design to what is used in most Motorcycle Regulator/Rectifiers today: By using an SCR (Silicone Controlled Rectifier) we can control when the grounding happens. SCR's are pretty cool...when set correctly you can trigger them just by touching them....like those touch lamps everyone has played with at some point. Is this the best method? No one seems to have a better one. What is the side effect? The side effect is heat, and lots of it....thus we need a way to bleed off the heat, thus the importance of a good heat sink, including cooling fins and airflow. Stay tuned, as my next step will be to re-create the circuit above and create controlled output!

This is not the recall wiring schematic, as it still has the Monitor wiring going through the Ignition Switch. This is also for the European Bikes, which have a side light? And an Immobilizer? most parts are the same, but certainly NOT the recall wiring harness,

Upload probably has to be approved. I will host it in the meantime if needed, if someone will email it to me. I have a hard copy, but no way to convert it to PDF. Interestingly enough, the 2002 wiring shows 2 wires to the front turn signals, when my current bike has 3....I haven't had the recall done yet, so I wonder if they change the bulb housings?

On the way to work today I started hearing a clicking/tapping sound. I wasn't able to hear where it was coming from, but it was definantly RPM dependant. I assume the CCT is going...just my luck. I like the looks of doing it without removing the TB, I guess I need to hit the search screen for the Red Dog mod, never heard of it. On a side note....why do they start making noise? What is failing in there?

I wear Jeans under my Overpants. I can't see how this is bad, certainly better than wearing just my skivvies under there. I don't have Ricky Racer leather pants, or even Victoria Secrets leather pants....so I wear the textile and double up to hopefully save some skin down the road.

Or you buy the Harness I made that does exactly this, but with 8 gauge Positive wires and no crimping into the existing charge wires.... Nice writeup, although there is a pinned version that is pretty much the same (and where my idea came from, I am not a genius). The key issue to remember is that the connections are only as good as you make them right now....they degrade so if you use tape to cover it will come undone in the heat. If you solder too cold it will look like hell and perform no better. Don't be afraid of electrical, it's just a simple minded puzzle with fun tools.

You should be cruising on the balls of your feet. You should not have your heels on the pegs. There isnt really an adjustment for the brake pedal. You could adjust the master cylinder and brake switch but you would just be compensating for poor foot placement. I have big feet as well. I have small feet (9-9.5). If I ride on the balls of my feet, I can't reach the shifter or the brake. Is that how it is supposed to be?

I appreciate the effort this build took, especially the custom triples....but I hate the bars. Love the rest however, and it is easy to see that a TON of effort went into it all. Enjoy the ride!

If RPM's mean more amp draw, wouldn't the bike be much easier on the batteries if you had say a two speed gear box? The weight wouldn't be much higher, and the extra mechanical link shouldn't account for much lost power....you certainly aren't at maximum effeciency as it is. I think it look great, and the Portland show must have been fun. I keep watching the blog to see what is changing next. Good luck getting it registered etc!

very cool to see it running, how is the braking without(I assume) and load braking from the motor? This is a general EV question I guess.... Why don't they use gear boxes to address the gearing issue? It would seem a better use of power, and would allow all available power to be channelled to turning the wheel. Anyone know the answer?

While this is much too late to help I am sure, Ricks offers an R/R for the 750, and I can sell them for $115.

Any thoughts on painting the foam in your swingarm black, so it doesn't get dirty white looking from Splooge? Looks good to me, I like the white on black as well. Have you considered doing your own powdercoating? Check out thise setup (Mitch Patrie, the Mojo Lever Guy) And for the oven: I love the way the guy thinks....gives me all sorts of ideas guaranteed to make the wife shake her head. http://home.comcast.net/~prestondrake/Stuff_Workshop.htm

Again with a burned out headlight.....

Seat looks like a Corbin Smuggler