Bubba5000

Seeing as the OEM Honda air filter is about $45+shipping, I went bargain hunting and found a Chinese one for $15+shipping on EBay. It took about two weeks to get here. It’s a great fit and matched up perfectly with the OEM one. No difference at all that I could identify. So, today was the day I finished up all remaining remedial maintenance on my craigslist 5th gen. I previously did charging system, drive chain, oil&filter, bled front brakes, and the clutch, inspected the hoses and cooling system in general, and the last things to do, today, was to bleed my rear brakes and install my new $15 Chinese air filter. So, I get the air cleaner open, and it’s PACKED with a giant MOUSE NEST!. I was appalled, as I have been riding this thing around for a month, and it seemed to run pretty good. Luckily, none of the mouse poop, pee, or bedding got underneath the filter or into my throttle bodies. Anyhow, put it back together and it runs super great!👍Photos below...

So, after going through learning the hard way that the 5th gen bulbs are not standard H4s, and deciding I’d Rather not snip the tabs, I ordered a pair from EBay seller “sledpartsguy”. He listed them by the exact Honda parts number referenced in the factory OEM parts catalog. Cost about $4 each. So, today they show up in the mail, and as I’m sure you may have already guessed, they are simply Chinese H4 bulbs with standard H4 tabs that I had to snip before they would fit. Sure, they were even cheaper than Sylvania basic ones at O’Reilley’s, but wow. Just wow. So, I guess I’m just gonna snip from now on. No way am I gonna pay $25 a bulb for Genuine Honda, but it sucks getting blatantly lied to. Freakin’ EBay.

I’ll post about how the chain works out. I’m also taking a flyer on a $15 Chinese air filter, and a pack of 3 oil filters for under $20, because broke.

Amazon won’t even let me look at that page unless I change my country to Canada, LOL.

Hmm. I guess this is a thing. Another person mentioned this to me also just now. I assume you have done this and the bulbs don’t wiggle or vibrate at all?

Yep. Pretty cheap, but I’m Shoe-stringing it big time, and have already spent about $250 on parts, mostly for just routine Maintenance stuff that I need to do out of a lack of documented service history and a suspicious look of overall mechanical neglect once I open up any system I have examined so far on this thing, even though the cosmetics are really good. I enjoy the wrenching part, and wouldn’t care if I was as flush as I have been for most of my life, but things are a bit tight and stuff adds up. Also, if I took the dive on these things, then I’d be tempted to buy me a cheap Chinese Ebay LED H4 kit. One thing leads to another, y’know?

Wondering if anybody has tried these things. Seems like it might be nice to be able to use silver stars or the other higher end, brighter halogens, or even just to be able to buy inexpensive replacements at the local O’Reilley’s or whatever, even though you can get the 34901-MD2-672 bulbs for $6 + shipping on EBay. Seems cool, but I’m suspicious of stuff like this. https://www.amazon.com/Bulb-Adapter-Rings-Honda-Motorcycles/dp/B07M5HYSMQ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=h4+adapter+rings&qid=1564267566&s=automotive&sr=1-3

Finally got a chain that was acceptable and replaced it. I went for a VOLAR brand chain. Has several good reviews from riders who tried it out, and it’s inexpensive. My sprockets both looked really good, so I stayed with them, and will change them over next time. Funny part is, I went out for a road test, felt really great, then, getting off the highway exit to go home, one of my headlight bulbs Burned out on the high beam side, so I got to discover the fun facts of H4 vs 34901-MS2-672. No biggie. I’m sort of working my way down a checklist of things to service, seeing as it was a fairly neglected bike that needs all the routine stuff done. I’m waiting on new brake master cylinder diaphragms, oil filters, air filter, and of course, the new bulbs. Once I have the bodywork off to do the oil change, I’ll do a comprehensive inspection of the cooling system hoses and anything else I can think of, so, plenty of wrenching fun left to have over the next couple of weeks. Hoping to get everything done by the end of August. In the meantime, though, she runs great and is lots of fun.

Thanks for the info, folks. My sprockets still look really good, even the front one. All the surfaces have great definition. The tech who failed me for the chain at inspection said the sprockets looked good, too, so I’m just going with the new chain for now. I had a problem with the stuff I ordered, and had to send it back, so I’m still waiting for my parts. 😞 It’s killing me. I hate online shopping, but it’s the only way for me to go, as my local places are useless.

Doing necessary maintenance on my craigslist VFR, noticed I need a new chain. At 25k miles, what’s my outlook as far as maybe needing new sprockets? I don’t feel the need to change the gearing, Just want to keep it stock. Tried searching the forums, but must be doing something wrong. I did a chain in an old KAW I used to have, but will need resources on the fine details of doing one on this particular bike, as well as any other links to previous threads on this or hints anybody might be kind enough to render. I will also search YouTube. thanks!

I just watched a video about that, comparing OEM to the mosfet and showing the installation “super kit” or whatever they call it. It’s pretty impressive, particularly the wiring upgrade. The voltmeter I know I can do easily. After seeing what’s involved in the hardwire of the mosfet, I’m pretty confident I can do that also. There is always a bit of reticence on my part to do a fix that I’m unfamiliar with. I sort of need to marinate on it and do research to work up my nerve. I have ZERO training and only the smallest amount of experience. Always willing to learn, though.

I think I read a post somewhere about a guy who has over 100k on his VFR, was aware of the issue, had popped two r/r during the bike’s life so far, And had taken up the habit of just carrying a spare around. Of course, seems to me you’d have to make sure you carry the stock tool kit, too, and supplement it with whatever additional bits you need. I did read some posts about using a Yamaha regulator and hardwiring it in. I also read posts about how the redesigned ones, like I got, were way better than the original ones. I’ll confess that previously, I had never wrenched on anything built after 1981, and am a tiny bit nervous about doing any kind of non-conventional mods, even though I have had great luck so far with everything I have tried. I did a partial rebuild on a bank of 3 Yamaha carbs successfully on my first try with my ‘81 XS series triple. Still stunned it worked out. Went on to ride the thing for another 4 years.

Now, all I have to do is the oil, brake fluid, check/replace the hoses, and the clutch fluid. Easy. 🙄

Nice. They make one with USB ports too. That looks pretty cool. Sure, that way, I’ll know right away when the R/R fails again. Great idea.

Thanks for the advice. Can’t wait around for different parts, though, and already ordered the OEM R/R. I’m getting old and summer is passing me by. Want to have my ride for the 4th, y’know? Anyway, Got it today,(it’s the reworked 2.0 version that you need longer bolts to attach, and comes with an additional ground plate) checked the diodes with a multimeter straight out of the box before install, made sure to do the stator ground and continuity test, examined all the connectors for burnt ends, etc, all was well, installed, did the full check, and she’s good to go. I’ll keep The mosfet system in mind for when the thing blows up again down the line. For now, though, I’m riding again, and that’s a damn good thing. Really appreciate the input, guys! Until next clusterfork!

Battery is essentially new, charged to full easily, and tests as good. Tested the bike’s voltage output at idle, then higher RPM, the leads going into the regulator connector plug, and the regulator itself. On the leads, the power wires had power, the control wire had battery power when the key was on, etc. The regulator definitely tested bad, though, so it is absolutely a problem. Thinking (hoping?) it’s the only issue. I didn’t test the stator because I’m Getting plenty of voltage (around 14)at idle, and it only starts to jump around wildly when revved past 3-4K, which is indicative of a bad regulator, and the regulator in fact tested bad, so that should be fairly conclusive, right?

Voltage is swinging around at RPM above Idle. Harness leads test good all around. Regulator tests bad. ‘Out of range” impedance all 12 ways. Ordered new regulator. That should do it, right? 👌🤞👀🤓