Terry

Good luck with yor project; looks like you've got most if not all of the body panels so that is a great start. I'm guessing from the registration sticker on the fork that this hasn't been roadworthy for 12 years or so? If so you will be getting very familiar with the carbs, tank and fuel system but there's plenty of experience around here.

That looks perfect to me, according to a fault finding guide I have (from Electrosport) the pin-pin resistance at the stator should be 0.5 to 2 ohms, so all looks fine. The voltage range from idle to 5k is also pretty normal, my 5th gen was always at 14.2V, my ST1100 was always 14.1 and my FSC600 is 14.2V.. Get out and ride.

My FJS600 scooter had a dead stator, and I ran it like that for nearly 1000km while I waited on the slow boat fromm China with my new stator. I was running the bike off a home-charged battery only, and could get about 45 minutes running time.

"Then I did it opposite to manual. It means 3rd cylinder adjusted to 20mm MORE vacuum than 1st, and 4th 10mm more than 1st. And the bike is smooth as butter. Even better than flat, and MUCH smoother than official way."

Batteries can either fade away, or just die suddenly. My understanding is that the inside of the battery has many thin lead plates separated by the glass matt (in an AGM battery) or gel with the electrolyte present. The lead surface develops fatigue from cycling and eventually starts to shed, and the shed particles can form a bridge between the plates and cause the short. This seems to be more common in a hot battery than cold, so the dying battery will seem fine on a cold start but then won't have enough juice to start the hot engine. I can also confirm that crossing the polarity with jump cables is a very bad idea, they melt quite fast...

The battery is the quickest thing to change and would be consistent with what you are seeing. If it develops an internal short, then a jump battery will be struggling against that and the jump wires will get quite hot - been there and done that, on my daughter's car. Try repeating the jump battery exercise but with the original pulled out of the circuit.

Jeepers Bog, we answered that questions days ago. You have a 6th gen VFR, not a 5th gen, so all valves should be adjusted to the same vacuum.

Wait a moment...you've got a 6th gen VFR if it is 2003, so all the starter valves should be set to the same vacuum. The offset vacuum applies to the 5th gen (98-01) only.

Read this: https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/94504-5th-gen-starter-valves-sync-incorrect-for-last-22-years/&tab=comments#comment-1111756

Hot terminals are usually a sign of a bit of corrosion at that spot; the corrosion increases the resistance of the joint and that produces heat. Clean the terminals and add some dielectric grease to prevent ongoing problems.

A weak point on the 5G is the stator connector to the RR, a 3 pin plug left side behind the sidecover below the seat. It gets wet and can corrode, the corrosion causes higher resistance leading to heat leading to the plug melting and possibly the 3 phases shorting. Personally I think that has probably contributed to RR or stator failures on many bies. Keep that connector clean plus add dielectric grease, or if it already looks bad (blackened or crispy) cut the connector out and solder the wires permanently plus heat shrink to finish.

You can measure the AC volts and the stator resistance at the 3-pin plug, 3 yellow wires, between the stator and RR, located on the left side, below the seat behind the side cover. AC volts should be up to 50V (when running) across any pair of connectors. Likewise resistance (not running) beyween any pair should be between 0.5 and 2 ohms.

MBG is the model code for the 5th gen VFR 98-01. MCW is the code for the 6th gen 2002-2012.

I think it is quite permissable to hijack your own thread! Back when I was a lad, we were limited to 250cc until you had 2 years' experience or passed a training course, then the sky was the limit. Crazy two strokes were widely available, things like RD250LCs and on up to the serious weapons like RGVs, TZRs, NSRs and KR1s. Nowadays we have LAMS, learner approved motorcycle scheme, which limits power/weight, but still allows any 250cc bike (but not the ones listed above!). You can ride up to a 660cc bike if the power is limited, think Street Triples, MT07 etc. There is a three tiered system, Learners, restricted and then full; you have to hold learners for 6months before you can sit the restrcited, and hold restricted for 18 months before you can sit the full licence. You can shortcut those by taking approved training courses. Learners in addition face curfew times and can't take a passenger. I followed a pretty tidy cc progression, CB125T, CB250RS, CB400N, CBX400F, VF500F, CBX750F...then oscillated, VF400F, VF750F, VF400F, VFR700F, VFR700F, VFR400F, VFR750F, RF900R, VFR800Fi, VTR1000F, ST1100, ST1300. Guess I have a been a pretty good customer for Mr Honda!