MarkDetroit

TurdFerguson - If you search you'll find a lot of posts on the flapper, snorkel, PAIR mods. I've made these mods on other bikes I've owned with no ill effects. When I did the same for my 2006 VFR it ran rough especially right off idle. After a week I put it back to stock. Smoothed it right out. No more off idle stumbles. I also had the insufficient cold idle speed problem. The PO had just upped the rpm's with the idle knob but that made the idle when warm like 1600 rpm. I set the warm idle back to 1200 and adjusted the wax unit setting. As I recall it only took about one turn of the adjusting knob to give a decent cold idle speed. A lot of folks say you never need to, and should never, adust the wax unit. And that's probably true if it was adjusted right initially... YMMV Good luck

Voltage output at idle is never very impressive. Is this like 1300 RPM? What's it like above idle - like 3000 and above? How many miles on your bike?

You've got a great looking RWB! I don't know how many miles there on it but just one toasty looking fuse holder does not mean you need a new R/R! If it were my decision I'd change out the fuse holder, check and upgrade a few connectors and grounds and add an easy way to check voltage. The original OEM R/R should be good for well more than 35k+ miles with normal bike maintenance & monitoring. Good Luck!

I just checked and I used a 12 awg wire 30A fuse holder when I did mine 5 years ago and it has held up well. A 10 awg will be ok too. You are right - most of the electrical issues were resolved starting with the 2006 models and adding the VFRness is an over-kill, (IMO). Cleaning contacts & improving the grounds made a huge difference for my 2006.

Change it out with a new 30A fuse holder. You won't be successfull if you just try and clean the contacts. I'm surprised it's lasted this long. Likely other grounds and connections need maintenance also.

Bummer to have a bike new to you have such problems. Do you know the maintenance history of your bike? If you are not certain then there will be a bunch of things to check out. You say the bike is running rich - or at least smells that way. That by itself is not normal. Have you looked at the air filter to see if there have been mice building a home in there? This is not uncommon at all. If the bike hasn't been well cared and sat unused for a long period of time then the fuel system should be looked at carefully. Is there any evidence of corrosion in the tank? Do you know what modifications were done by the past owners? I'd check those things over carefully to see if they were done right. Good Luck

Flashing of brake lights is a good thing. Anything to wake up the distracted drivers behind you. A friend of mine died when he stopped for a light and the lady behind him didn't. I've set the backoff module to work with LED's on a license plate frame. I think it's hard not to notice.

Kelowna is beautiful - great area. As mentioned, it's most likely electrical. There are so many things to check and withoiut a good background it coud be a waste of your time. And this is not the time to try and educate yourself in an area you've never needed before. (And you could damage something by mistake.) If it's not just loose battery terminals or a dying battery, if I were you I'd quickly revert to having a dealer take care of it. Dealers around me will come and pick up your bike for a small charge. Or if you have towing coverage on your insurance just call them and have it picked up. (I've never done that but do have friends that have done it.) Don't beat yourself up. And don't waste the riding season.

You should ride both and decide that way. One will feel better. IMO - If they won't let you ride it then don't buy it.

Hey, I thought you already had put in a new switch... In any case it would be good to get all the old pieces back to see how they test out.

Standard 6th gen chain is 110 links (count to make sure that's what you got). And sprockets F/R are 16/43 (OEM front preferred IMO). You may be judging the wear indicator incorrectly... (I really don't use that indicator for rear sprocket position at all - too subjective.) And your measurement of play may be off. (I'd suggest to adjust to the high end). Likely the chain is ok and if there are no tight spots and if it is not over tight - you are good to go.

Phong, Please let us know what you have found. We all need the education! Thanks

This is a challenging problem. It certainly seems as though the fan switch is not the problem. But before I pull the thermostat I would make sure the switch does work by testing it out of the bike (in the kitchen). And then I would take the pump apart to make sure the impeller or drive coupling are not damaged or free spinning. Those are the easy things. Then possibly the problem is the ECT sensor (engine coolant temp sensor) that sends the coolant temp signal to the dash and ECU. Maybe the engine is not getting excessively hot at all but the ECT is sending bogus info... Unfortunately you have to pull the throttle bodies to remove the ECT sensor from the head to test it. So when you do the thermostat, and if it doesn't look or test bad, make sure you check the ECT before putting it all back together.

Hi MarkDetroit, Thank you for your donation of --. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation. Thanks VFRDiscussion

No - you did it right. If the ground lead to the radiator was broken then the fan would not have started... So, I guess I would try and test the switches... At least the old one. It is an option to run a manual switch to the fan to see if the running fan can properly control the operating temps. But then you still will need to figure out why the fan is not starting. I need to think about this a bit more.

When you used the paperclip to check the fan did you touch it to the radiator or some other point on the bike?

It's a good sign that the radiator is hot! That should mean the pump is working and the thermostat is opening. So you have the old switch out of the bike. You can check to see if it is good or not if you are able to check continuity - like with a digital volt meter. Do you have a volt meter? By 216 F there should be continuity. Maybe both switches are bad (LOL - i doubt it - but it's good to check.) And the other thing is that the left radiator has to be grounded to make the switch circuit work. I don't recall if there is a ground wire attached to it or what... Likely someone else on this forum wil know without me going to look on the bike. But you need to make sure it's grounded. (Maybe the issue is that the ground wire or connection is loose or something.)

Well, this is a bummer. If the fan starts when you use a paper clip on the switch lead then it should start when connected to the switch. No reason not to check and clean all connections but that's probably not the problem. I know it's hard to judge but does the left radiator seem to be getting hot as the engine warms up? How hot is the display showing? The radiator cap has to be tight just like in a car. It rotates till it comes to a solid stop.

Salt is a great idea to elevate water temp to approach the switching temp of 216! And a bonus - you can do it while your wife is home - LOL.

Wayne, What you checked with your test today was the fan. And now you know it works. That's great. Possibly the switch is ok, but you don't know that yet. Clean the contacts with sand paper, contact cleaner, or similar. I use Deoxit. Then make sure the cable fitting is tight to the switch fitting. I would then idle the bike to heat it up. Make sure the radiator is topped off and the radiator cap is tight! Check the radiators as the bike is idling to make sure they are warming up. By the time the display temp is up to about 225F, or so, the fan should turn on and the radiators should be hot! If, at that point, everything is hot and the fan has not come on then the switch may be bad. You can remove the switch and test it in a pot of boiling water. The switch should close at between 208 and 216F. You may need to boil antifreeze to get above 216F if the switch doesn't close at 212F (boiling H2O). It is then supposed to open back up at between 199 and 207F. (I got these #'s from the service manual) If the radiators don't get hot when the gauge temp is about 225F then you may have a stuck closed thermostat or bad pump or.... Good Luck

If the engine is getting hot and the radiators themselves are getting hot then coolant is flowing and the fan needs to come on. So you need to solve that problem. If your thermostat fails in a closed condition that will affect coolant flow to the radiators and they wont get very hot before the temp gauge gets to a very high temp. (Luckily thermostats usually will fail in an open condition.) If it seems the radiators are not getting very hot then the other possibility is a bad water pump. In any case it's easy to check the function of the fan with my suggestions above. Hopefully the problem is just a corroded or loose wire or a bad switch. Those are easy fixes. Also make sure you check for radiator fill condition at the radiator cap and not at the overflow tank. And you may already know this but the temp that is shown on the dash gauge is for the coolant in the front cylinder head and is not the temp of the coolant in the radiator. The switch for the fan is in the radiator. You can look in the service manual to see the temp range that the fan switch should activate but that's not what you are reading on the dash gauge.

If the fuse is good then the issue is either with the wiring, the fan switch, or the fan motor. The fan switch is in the left radiator. With the ignition on and a good fuse there should be power to the switch. Make sure the contact with the switch is clean. If you run a jumper from the switch lead to ground the fan should start. If the fan does not start then check voltage. If voltage is good and the fan does not start then the fan may be bad. If the fan starts then the switch may be bad. Whichever component seems to be bad make sure you check it carefully before you order a new part. A corroded electrical connection can make any any component seem faulty. Good Luck