ZCD76

I have a digital meter/display that indicates voltage. When running the meter indicates a maximum of 14.5 volts. I am not suggesting the LED bulbs rectified the problem. And they aren't cheap units, either...well, depending on one's version of cheap. I have ridden at night with them installed and they are a vast improvement over the halogen bulbs that were in it. They are JDMAstar H4 (low beams) and H7 (high beams). The low beams being shrouded or shielded so they don't throw light everywhere and blind oncoming traffic. Regardless... I believe my grounding/wild tach needle problem was the poor/loose connection on the headlight. I never had a problem (albeit in my limited time on it last fall when I got it) with the tach and the only thing that changed (since then) was I installed a vfrness and had removed the front fairing to respray part of it (and the right side fairing) due to the bike having fallen over on its right side before I bought it. Apparently I did not get the right side low beam connector installed securely. ??? I took the blue plug and all the harness disconnects apart on the right side (near the rectifier), cleaned them, and applied/utilized noalox when connecting everything back together. That made no difference in the tach...it would still swing wildly once it got up to ~7k rpm. I had bluegauges.com check the cluster and they found nothing abnormal in it and sent me a video of the them checking the tach. When pulling the front fairing off I realized that right low beam connection wasn't exactly secure. Perhaps I am wrong but by deduction, the only thing I can think of is either that poor connection (at the right low beam pigtail/harness) is where the voltage/grounding problem occurred or the harness into the gauge cluster could have been a poor connection. ???

Sorry for the delay (if anyone was "watching" this thread). I believe it turned out to be a loose connection on the right side (if you're sitting on the bike) low beam headlight. I mean the plug, itself, did not seem especially secure on the bulb. I took everything (all of the harness disconnects) apart, cleaned them, and applied noalox to all of them. Didn't seem to make a difference. Again, I had previously installed the vfrness when I noticed this issue. I took the front fairing off to install LED headlights and send the gauge cluster to bluegauges.com and realized the clip/connector was not particularly tight on the bulb. Gauge cluster was checked, the color of the LCD displays and tach were changed, and I put it back together with LED headlight bulbs installed and it operates as it should.

2003 bike with 2,900 miles. Yes 2,900 miles. When I purchased it last fall w/approximately 1,800 miles on it, I don't recall any tach issues. However, the bike did not run so well. Had the injectors cleaned and flowed, new spark plugs (brisk silver plugs), changed the oil, and have run some fuel system cleaner through a few tanks. Beyond that, I have a sebspeed windowed the clutch cover and installed a VFRNess. The issue is the bike runs fine (to the best of my estimation) and the dash works as it should but as soon as the tach gets to 7k/VTEC kicks in, the tach will suddenly swing past 13k and bounce around from ~10k to well past 13k and the fuel injection light will illuminate - sometimes dimly and briefly and sometimes it will fully light and stay lit until I let off the throttle. The bike seems to run fine. I have a digital voltage display and I never see more than 14.3-14.5 volts while the bike is running. I have read about the grounding issues and attempted to chase down everything. It does have a vfrness installed and all of the connectors have been taken apart, cleaned, and reconnected using dielectric grease. Anybody have any ideas?

2003 bike with 2,900 miles. Yes 2,900 miles. When I purchased it last fall w/approximately 1,800 miles on it, I don't recall any tach issues. However, the bike did not run so well. Had the injectors cleaned and flowed, new spark plugs (brisk silver plugs), changed the oil, and have run some fuel system cleaner through a few tanks. Beyond that, I have a sebspeed windowed the clutch cover and installed a VFRNess. The issue is the bike runs fine (to the best of my estimation) and the dash works as it should but as soon as the tach gets to 7k/VTEC kicks in, the tach will suddenly swing past 13k and bounce around from ~10k to well past 13k and the fuel injection light will illuminate - sometimes dimly and briefly and sometimes it will fully light and stay lit until I let off the throttle. The bike seems to run fine. I have a digital voltage display and I never see more than 14.3-14.5 volts while the bike is running. I have read about the grounding issues and attempted to chase down everything. It does have a vfrness installed and all of the connectors have been taken apart, cleaned, and reconnected using dielectric grease. Anybody have any ideas?

Dutch - funny you mention that. The oil definitely has a milky appearance until it gets up to full temp. I didn't know if I had a great deal of moisture in the engine (it has been stored in a climate controlled building all winter so lots of moisture in the crankcase made zero sense) or whether the milkiness was symptomatic of Lucas 10w40 semi-synthetic. After the bike got some appreciable temperature in it...which took quite a while at idle in a large building...the milkiness subsided. Not without me being a bit panicked, though. atx - I cannot answer that. The first SebSpeed windowed clutch cover I saw, on here, the owner painted/powder coated the pressure plate in red and I thought it looked sharp and thought it would work well with my silver '03. I considered gold, as well, but had the powder coater apply a metallic red.

Back together. Many thanks to Sebastian (SebSpeed) for his excellent service, speed of service, and product.

Just want to update all that may read this thread - the extra cover I referenced earlier has been purchased. I do not have an extra for sale any longer.

It is. It's where I bought it from. The owner of AF1 and my brother (who owns a Triumph Tiger 800 and a few other vintage Hondas) know each other and he told my brother he had this VFR for sale...anyhow, yeah, I bought it from AF1. Technically I am the third owner as whoever owned it originally traded it in on something at AF1 so AF1 was the second owner of it. Whatever...

Hi ZCD76, Thank you for your donation of 25.00 USD. We look forward to improving the forums with your donation. Thanks VFRDiscussion

You're certainly welcome. When I was younger, I had several Fox-bodied (1979-1993 range) Mustangs as well as other vehicles that I put headers on. I never had it (in college or thereabouts) in my budget to be able to splurge for ceramic coated options and never really figured ceramic coating would make that much of a difference. Until, probably, 16 years ago when I put a set of ceramic coated Hedman headers (bought directly from Jet Hot - they used to sell, direct to the consumer, name brand headers that they coated) on a Dodge truck I owned. I was amazed at the difference in heat reduction under the hood going from stock cast iron exhaust manifolds to ceramic coated shorty headers. Granted, in a 6,000 lb truck the butt dyno didn't tell me the combo was making any more power (if it made another 10 lb/ft of torque that's, realistically, all the more it may have made) but to pop the hood when it was at full temperature was a night & day difference. With the stock manifolds, as soon as you popped the hood it was like opening the door to an oven - with the ceramic coated headers, the amount of heat was greatly, greatly reduced and you could put your hand within a few inches of the headers (with the engine at full temperature and running) before you'd feel heat. I realize this isn't scientific nor necessarily what you're going for...I'm just relaying my own experience with ceramic coating. The bigger issue with your idea is, as I referenced above, I think the powder might get cooked in that application. I think most powder coatings will only withstand temperatures in the 300* +/- range. Are the mufflers that hot? While cruising, probably not, but I don't know. As I type this, I'm wondering what the surfaces of some of the colored mufflers/cans, such as those offered by GPR, Max Torque Cans, and others use for a media - powder coating or a ceramic? I guess I could inquire. I know some of the GPR white cans specify that the white is a ceramic coating...the black versions I don't know about though. To the best of my knowledge, ceramic coating (the media/material itself) is but a powder coating media that's been fortified with ceramic components. That's, at best, a rough description of what ceramic coating "material" is. The ceramic components plus (I'm sure) some different chemical components/chemistry allow that material to withstand the heat environments it's marketed for (headers, exhausts, iron manifolds, turbocharger turbine housings, etc.). If I'm not mistaken, I think most ceramic coaters' "base" coatings (i.e. the polished aluminum looking ceramic coating, cast iron gray and some of the colors each offers) are referenced as withstanding temperatures in the 1000*-1200*F range. I know Jet Hot and my local guy offer some higher temp ceramic coatings (for turbocharger turbines and applications such as that) that supposedly will withstand up to the 1500*F range - and I think all I've ever seen those listed in are offerings such as matte black, cast iron gray-type finish, and a very thick white textured finish that Swaintech offers. Again, I don't know that the cans/mufflers on a motorcycle (or one of our street ridden VFRs, that is) would reach the 300*F+ range that would create trouble for a powder coat finish, but if it were me I'd err on the side of safety and spend the extra bit of money for a ceramic coating on the heat shields you're referencing. Not only will you get the finish I think you're looking for, but the ceramic coating will act as an insulator of sorts to keep the mufflers from radiating heat. On a completely unrelated note, I've considered taking the factory headers/collector off my 2003 VFR (that has 2,200 miles on it) and having them ceramic coated (well, everything but the internals of the catalytic converter, perhaps obviously). I wasn't sure if coating the exterior of the catalytic converter was even feasible given the temperatures a converter can reach. I was considering this for two reasons: 1) to reduce the amount of heat radiated from under the bike/the exhaust, and 2) to prevent the pipes/assembly from rusting/deteriorating with use. (this bike - if not obvious given the mileage - has lived 95% of its life in somebody's garage prior to my becoming the owner in Oct. 2017 when it had 1,800 miles on it). Anyhow, both Jet Hot and my local (Trail Performance Coatings in Papillion, Nebraska) powder & ceramic coater assured me they could ceramic coat the entire unit (obviously not the internals of the cat converter) without problem. Jet Hot quoted me a price that was over 2x what my local coater indicated he could do it for. If I decide to do it, it'll be with the local guy. Again, I have nothing against Jet Hot (I've patronized them several times over the years and have always been happy with their service/products) but I have a relationship with my local guy, he does top-notch work, and given the price difference...JH basically priced themself out of the consideration. I reference the latter simply to illustrate there's bound to be local (or more local to you, that is) coaters that are reputable and can offer competitive prices. I think a lot of guys hear "ceramic coating" and think it's something only the big-named, highly exposed companies can do. Yes, it's more expensive than powder coating (because the material, itself, is quite a bit more expensive than the plastic powder used in powder coating) but for your two heat shields - I cannot imagine it would be much more than $50-75, if that much.

I haven't done such but powder coating probably is not going to put up with the heat that is radiated off the muffler if the bike is at idle while not moving or moving very slowly for extended lengths of time. I would sooner have the shields ceramic coated. Not all ceramic coating has the polished aluminum-looking finish most people associated with ceramic coating. It can be done in a matte black finish, matte gray, matte blue, matte white, bronze, etc., etc. I have a set of headers on my car that were ceramic coated matte black because I wanted the benefits of ceramic coating (thermal benefits and longevity benefits - no rusting headers, etc) but didn't want a polished header in the car as I didn't think it would, aesthetically, fit everything else under the hood. You probably have a local outfit that can ceramic coat parts - you don't need to send the parts off to a big-name outfit like Jet Hot (unless that outfit is close to you). To be clear, I have nothing against Jet Hot (I've bought coated headers from them in the past). I'm just letting you know there are most likely local vendors/services that can do what you need. Powder coating is tough but it has its limits. I would talk with a local coater (who does powder and/or ceramic) and talk with them about this. I think they'd recommend ceramic, as well.

I would first try a known good battery and see what happens. In all due respect, I have as much faith in the intelligence and know-how of folks working at chain parts stores like Autozone as I do in the current President of the United States. My apologies to Autozone employees. I would have the battery load tested by somebody who knows what he or she is doing. Go to a local automotive starter, alternator, and battery shop to have your battery tested, for example. Heck, most NAPAs I have been in have employees with far better mechanical aptitude than do Autozones, Western Autos, Advance Autos, etc. The battery I just replaced in my car (rated at 850 cold cranking amps) would NOT start my car when it got below freezing. It tested at 13.1 volts sitting there but load tested at 485 cranking amps.

It depends on how weak the battery is. It's gotta have enough amperage to run the computer, the fuel pump, etc. Can you bump/push start an efi'ed vehicle with a weak battery? Yes, but it all depends on how much amperage and/or voltage that weak battery has. If it doesn't have the necessary power to run the electronics AND fuel pump, no.

Is that because of the ethanol or merely the expansion of gasoline products under high heat/direct sunlight? I am curious. I don't claim to know it all. Having more experience in the automobile world, the biggest foul I was aware of when it comes to ethanol-blended fuels is that the alcohol/ethanol attracts moisture so in vehicles that don't get driven often and that have metal fuel tanks, the owner should avoid putting ethanol-blended gasoline in them. Even here in the States, I have seen cars that were parked in non-climate controlled garages purportedly for ~6 months in high humidity locales (peninsular Florida) that the interior of the gas tank(s) had a substantial amount of rust in it. Ethanol having a deleterious effect on a plastic fuel tank is something I have not heard of...it has always been steel/metal tanks I have heard/Understood to be adversely impacted by prolonged exposure to ethanol-blended gasolines.

Have you tried cycling the ignition switch (or the key) on and off a few times before cold starting it in these instances? If not, try that - flip the ignition switch to the "run" position until the pump quits priming - then switch it to the "kill" position and back to the "run" position for the pump to prime again. Do this 2-3 times then try to start the bike. Report back results.