Terry

My experience was on my FSC600 Silverwing scooter with a borked alternator. It would run for about 30 minutes on battery only but an early warning of the battery running low would be a random light show on the dashboard.

Correct, that is the common ground connector. I think your main issue is low battery voltage which triggers weird electrical behaviour and will trigger the FI light. The low battery voltage is due to a charging fault. The attached photo shows the 3P connector for the alternator (yellow wires)

I think you'll find the 20mm Hg reference is a maximum allowable offset from the #4 intake. Page 5-76 says to adjust each starter valve so the intake vacuum matches #4.

The 6th gen VFR (and I think all VFR's after '89) use cartridge-style dampers in the forks, so a "cartridge emulator" (from any manufacturer) is not what you want for your bike. I personally have a had a good run from Gold Valves but other manufacturer's products (e.g. Ktech, Andreani) would be comparable I assume.

Honda disagrees (I don't)...

I much prefer the intake noise of my 2009 VFR with the flapper disabled (simply by removing the vacuum hose from the actuator and plugging the hose). My seat-of-the-pants dyno is insufficiently calibrated to detect any performance change.

SS8 is equivalent to 10W oil and apparently 36 cSt@40C. You can also increase the damping force by increasing the number of shims in the rebound and compression stacks but theres a little surgery needed for that option. To increase bottoming resistance you can also reduce the air gap over the oil (increase the oil height); 10mm at a time will have a notable effect. I would also suggest that getting some weight-specific springs in the forks; paradoxically, stiffer springs will often make the fork feel more supple, and something like 0.95kg/mm would be a good starting point.

I agree that it is important to be comfortable on the bike but I don't think I quite agree with your approach. You seem to be suggesting that lifting your head higher puts your helmet in smoother air, which it probably does. To get there I would have thought your options would be to raise the handlebars and/or return to the lower stock screen (the one you have looks like a Zero Gravity double-bubble or similar). I can also recommend a Laminar Lip or similar to add to the existing screen to reduce the turbulence.

I bought camchain tensioners recently from Webike. Great service, no complaints.

To help with the diagnosis, I would suggest you get the front brakes to bind and then open the bleed valves to see which one releases the binding. The upper bleeds (which are part of the outer piston circuit) are connected to the front master cylinder, the lower bleeds (which are part of the middle piston circuit) connect to the rear master cylinder. The circuit from the rear master to the front callipers includes a delay valve as well.

100% fake. AI always messes up brake callipers, and the lack of footpegs is a clincher.

Yes the -013 parts were what I purchased from Webike. Not sure why you would take a risk on a used tensioner when a new one is US$48! I've got a pair from a 2009 to sell! From what I know the front tensioner is more likely to fail so you could buy just one and see if the rattle is cured.

Before you dive down the starter valve etc rabbit hole, what you just described sounds more like a fuel supply issue. The symptoms sound a bit like a blockage in the air vent pipe into the fuel tank; that can cause a vacuum to form and reduce the ability to pump out fuel, and apparently can even cause the tank to be caved in. If you can repeat your test (running until it stalls out), then crack open the tank and listen for a whoosh if any air is sucked in. You could also test the bike with the cap open and see if the same running issue occurs. A failing fuel pump will also give similar symptoms. I doubt the wax unit plays any part. These misbehave by failing to move with rising coolant temperature which results in the starter valves being held open too much when the engine is warmed up, giving a high idle speed. A likely cause of wax unit faults is blockage in the small water pipes leading to/from the unit, or a seizure in the linkage.

I'm not the electrical expert but have done what you are planning a couple of times. I think you may have +ve and -ve mixed up; negative is earth and +ve is "hot" My setup would use a switching relay to power up the accessories. You need to tap into a switched power source, in the past I have used the taillight or rear brake switch as a source, anything that is live when the ignition is switched on will do. This connects to the switching part of the relay with the other terminal connecting back to ground (e.g. the battery negative). Then you can feed directly from the battery +ve through an inline fuse to the switched part of the relay and on to your accessories from there. Your accessories then need to earth back to the battery negative. Please see my dodgy diagram which proves I am no electrickel expurt. I use a switched and fused relay from a local electronics supplier; you can also buy a matching socket which makes wiring easier. Then solder and heatshrink the joints. The benefit of this approach is your high current devices like heated grips are fed directly from the battery and can't overload the stock wiring, and are protected by an independent fuse.

My 2009 had very rattly tensioners. You can manually disassemble them to inspect the inner parts but I could not see any reason for the failure. You can add a few extra turns to the tensioning spring easily enough but that helped but did not fix the rattle. I just bought new tensioners and they fixed the problem completely and (in my view) were not expensive, Y7410 each which is US$48.

Those wires are related to the blinkers/marker lights. Not sure why you are looking there. That circuit from memory goes battery + to fuses to blinker relay to bar switch and then splits to the blinkers or marker bulbs then back to the common earth to the chassis. Give us more info on your problem. With the key on, do you have power at the dash, do you hear the fuel pump cycle for a few seconds, does the starter spin?

There's no OBD on these bikes. I bought new tensioners from Webike in Japan; best price I could find.

I have Hotgrips on my 5th gen and the throttle is perfect. Check the grip is positioned correctly so it is not contacting the switchblock or the bar end. The throttle tube should be greased against the bar. And check the bar isn't actually bent.

The clutch hub rattles with wear and age; the hub has a sprung damper system and the springs get a bit slack and allow the components to rattle when the clutch lever is released, and the rattle will stop when you pull the lever in. Careful sychronisation of the starter valves will help to smooth the idle and reduce the noise.

The vent is through the small hose plugged in from underneath, not the fuel cap. I would check the hose hasn't been plugged, or kinked, first.

Have you followed the troubleshooting guide on page 19-4 in the service manual? It might help you to pinpoint the fault. The dash display is determined by the circuit resistance through the sensor to ground. To show 92C when the system is cold, you have a lower than expected resistance; maybe there is some chafing of the wire that is grounding out somewhere?

What is this winter nap thing you are talking about? We are just in the midst of a lovely Spring here, and I actually got a bit hot today!

Take a trip to the Honda Collection Hall at Motegi, Japan. Or just visit via Youtube...https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPhcsmW2rf5mJA-uJluPnNtW-EPi6tRc9