Fritzer

With the charging system on my 5th gen having a sketchy reputation I felt it was wise to install a voltmeter to keep an eye on the power situation while riding. It gives you a heads up before the engine starves for power and dies. I purchased a datel voltmeter but it was kind of expensive. You can get perfectly functional round voltmeter on amazon cheap. When I installed mine, I wanted to be able to check voltage without using the key. The solution was to use a four pin micro toggle switch that toggled between a switched and unswitched power circuit. I got the sources for power in the front cowling area with some 20 or 24 wire. I works great, comes on when you turn on the key but if you just want to check the voltage without the key, just flip the toggle. When I installed the meter back in 2018 I came across a posting thread that was members showing their installation method. It was helpful in coming up with some ideas on how to mount the meter. If you look around in the archives you might find that thread. Good luck with your installation effort

I also applied a little silicone grease to the male connector pins before I hooked the ECU back up. Good luck

When I purchased my gen 5 back in 2015 with 38K miles on it, the FI light would light up in a random, unpredictable way. When the light would come on, I noticed a minor blurp but other than that it ran good. The previous owner took it to a couple of dealers before we closed the deal but no solutions came of it. It was in great condition and the price was right so I went ahead and purchased the bike. After a couple of weeks I finally came across the culprit, a faulty connector connection at the ECU in the tail section. I pulled the connector from the ECU, cleaned the connectors with electronic spray cleaner/soft brush then reinstalled. No more FI problem in 10 years/30K miles. You might want to give this a try.

I had to replace the stator in my 5 gen bike a couple of years ago. In my search for advice, Cogswell came forward with a great aid to the remove/replace procedure. Get a set of stator mounting bolts (a little longer might be better), Cut the heads off and thread them in to replace the mounting bolts. Now you can slide the stator on and off without being pulled into the rotor. It is nice having the slide bolts on while removing, but is excellent when reinstalling. Thanks for that advice Cogswell!

To the already submitted recommended items, I would also add Check front and rear rotors for potential replacement if out of spec Remove rear axle bearing set for inspection, I submitted a procedure for this titled " 5th Gen rear axle & swingarm bearing inspection at 60,000 miles" . It might help. Check front wheel bearings for smooth operation. If they are still good, remove dust cover and add a little grease, then put dust cover back on. Synchronize throttle bodies with manometer or vacuum gauges If you do all that has been mentioned, you should be good for another 100K.

It is great to see people stepping up and refilling the operational coffers of VFRD. I guess everyone just needs to be reminded every once in a while.

Hi Fritzer, Thank you for your donation of 50.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation. Thanks VFRDiscussion

I just received my ST2 brake module that I will install in the next week or so. I saw this product mentioned in the forum a couple weeks ago and it looks a great idea. I got to thinking that a headlight modulator would be good but would like to have it as a push button to activate with a time out +-5 second. Possibly a regular modulator that could be turned on and off at the handlebars switch. Is there any modulators out there like that?

Really sorry to hear about your loss. It would really cause me grief if it happened to me. Are you going to search for a replacement?

Capt 80 is right on about opening up the tape wrapped charging circuit to see what is going on in there. The charging circuit is not protected very well from dirty road wash being introduced into the charging circuit connectors eventually causing a bad connections. Bad connections cause stator burnout and melted connector blocks. I had this same issue 4 years ago and decided to make solid connections to battery and ground. After competing the following alterations, I have not had any problems since. Maybe this will work for you.

Hi Fritzer, Thank you for your donation of 50.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation. Thanks VFRDiscussion

Thanks for all the input. When I purchased my machine in 2015, the seller gave me all the service records he had. They showed that he had the clutch replaced at 34K miles just before putting it up for sale, hence my concerns for long trip. I do not excessively use my clutch so with all your feedback I feel good not worrying about it. Thanks again.

When they start leaking?

Wow!! 55,000 miles has to be a worldwide vfr clutch record. There has to be a technique for that.

Just curious what kind of clutch friction plate life people are getting on their 5th gen VFRs. Clutch on my machine was replaced 30,000 ago. I am getting ready for a 3,500 mile trip this summer from Oregon thru N Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington. Should I replace my clutch before I leave?