BlackheathMatt

I wonder if that boat still floats with him on board ?!

Not a dumb question at all. We all struggle with this until someone shows us how to do it. All good advice given so far. To reiterate what's already been said - the most important thing is that you shouldn't aim to be "lifting" the bike, I've hurt myself trying to do that on various bikes before I worked that out - the key is to roll the bike and use its momentum to get it onto the stand whilst anchoring the stand with your foot - it's a bit of a dance but you get the hang of it. I've got better at it, but I still don't enjoy putting the bike on the centre stand. I understand your fear of dropping it. With the sidestand down it's not doing to fall that side - if you do it with a wall on the other side and something to protect the bar end on that side whilst you're practicing, it's not going to fall far that side and damage anything if you do drop it. Lots of how to videos on YouTube of not particularly big or strong people putting bigger bikes that these on centre stands.

I'm not going to rub it in until I've seen my bike run with them installed. They may yet turn out to be made from Chinese chocolate !

It gets even better. Halfords just emailed me a £5 voucher against my next order for setting up my account with them and placing my first order. So they've effectively paid me £1 for taking £50 of spark plugs off their hands. Remarkable. I owe you a beer Skids !

Thanks Skids - I managed to get 4 at Halfords in Bournemouth - that's all they had unfortunately, otherwise I'd have bought all they had and offered them to the forum at the price I paid.

So I'm pretty sure it was changing the LED bulbs back to halogens that caused the change in behaviour. I pulled the headlight fuse and I see 14.4V immediately after startup - settling down to a steady 14.1V after a couple of minutes - which is very similar to what I used to see with the LED bulbs. Putting the fuse back in - I see 14.1V on startup settling down to 13.7. Went for a ride and saw between 13.6 and 14.0., dropping to 13.4 at warmed up idle. Brake light, high beam and cooling fans drop it to about 13v. I think the voltage does fluctuate more than it used to - but never drops to a level that causes concern - suspect something to do with having a higher baseload draw from the more demanding lights. If I hadn't fitted a voltmeter I'd never have known or worried ! Still a bit paranoid and want to have a spare stator on the shelf just in case - so would still be grateful for a recommendation of somewhere to get my old stator rewound in the UK. Or maybe just bite the bullet and may for an OEM stator in the knowledgeable that it will last 30k miles rather than the 3k the previous owner got out of the Chinese unbranded one he replaced the original one with .,... Also would be grateful if anyone has an opinion of whether there's a better choice of R/R than the Rick's one I've got - although it was still cool to the touch after 30 mins of stationary running. Thanks once again for the knowledgeable and friendly advice. Having this community to call upon makes owning the bike all the more enjoyable.

My R/R was from wiremybike and is apparently the one Rick's sell. https://www.wiremybike.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_17&products_id=325 Is this a shunt or series type ?

My new stator was from Rick's - it's now 18months/5000 miles old ..... No reason to point the finger yet at Stator yet - fairings coming off today for this winter's dousing with ACF-50. Will check connections , then 'the drill" if needed. What are your opinions on a new OEM stator Vs a rewind if that's what's needed ? Can anyone recommend somewhere to do a stator rewind in the UK ?

Was thinking just that on the way home. Really don't want to go to the hassle of putting the LED bulbs back in, but pulling the fuse would prove it it was the lights that caused the change.

Hi Grum - thanks for your advice once again. Should have said - I've ruled out the battery. I don't have any electrical power in the garage where I keep my bike, but I have a second battery that I keep inside on a smart charger and swap them over occasionally during the winter months when my bike only gets ridden occasionally. Swapped the battery out for the fully charged (and relatively new) one last weekend and I see the same behaviour with both batteries. Will resolder the suspect joint and check the other connections this weekend. Cheers.

Hi, The R/R output on my 2005 6 Gen which previously never changed from 14.1/14.2 V at any revs above idle - has dropped slightly and now fluctuates from 13.5 V to 14.0 V. Doesn't seem to be dependent on revs, but the voltage rises slightly when I back off the throttle. The battery is obviously still charging at this voltage - but I'm concerned this may be early warning of a developing problem. Some background: I've had the bike for 2 years - when I got it it had a charging problem which I traced back to a burnt stator (output was fine cold, but when warmed up one of the phases dropped to virtually no output). I replaced the stator - and also upgraded the R/R to a MOSFET type and fitted a VFRNESS and a voltmeter in the cockpit to keep an eye on things at the same time. As above, things seemed fine until recently. I soldered the stator to R/R directly rather than use the connectors when I changed the stator and R/R - last time I had the fairings off I noticed that one of my soldered joints was getting hot through the insulation. That's the obvious suspect, I'll take the fairings off and resolder the joints over the weekend and hopefully that will be the end of it. The only other thing I've changed recently was replacing the aftermarket LED bulbs the previous owner had fitted with OEM bulbs (the beam pattern of the LEDs was awful and was upsetting oncoming traffic). Would conventional bulbs rather than lower power LEDs be enough to pull the voltage down. ? I've checked that the displayed output of the voltmeter I installed matches the voltage across the battery terminals measured with a multimeter - and it's the same. Anything else obvious I should check apart from my suspect soldering ?

That's my current thinking too. I'll wait to see and ride the NT1100 (and the about to be launched Triumph Tiger Sport 660 too) before pulling the trigger.

Update to an old thread (and apologies to Grum for not replying to his PM on the subject). Disconnecting the PAIR valve electrical connector definitely made the chirping noise go away. I reconnected the connector I couple of weeks ago out of interest and the noise returned. Bike is also noticeably nicer to ride with it disconnected - less low RPM/light throttle snatchiness. Have disconnected it again and will leave it disconnected. Thanks all.

Not intentionally - but my bike has only done a couple of hundred miles in the last year due to Lockdown (like many of ours' I imagine). Changed oil and filter last week at the 1 year point as usual anyway - oil came out surprisingly dirty, so perhaps a flush with cheap oil every few oil changes is worthwhile.

Interesting read - thanks. Even though I've done countless oil changes in cars and bikes - I always hate watching the oil light stay on for those few seconds that always seems like an age whilst the engine circulates oil and fills the filter - worrying how much wear is occurring. Those few millimetres that you don't get out on a warm/hot oil change aren't in the sump because they're still coating the bearings and moving surfaces for those few seconds of the post oil change startup - that's a good thing surely ? I'll be sticking with warm oil changes.

Thanks both. Didn't occur to me to put a magnet on the outside of the oil filter but that's a really good idea - will do that too. Will put one on the filter on my car too. What glue do you use to attach to filter ? I've got some Gorilla Glue that seems to stick anything to anything and stay stuck when it gets wet - will use that unless you suggest anything better.

Going to change the oil and filter on my bike this weekend. Thinking I might fit a magnetic drain plug when I do it - on the basis that I can't imagine it will do any harm and might do some good. Anyone used one ? Do they catch any debris that the filter wouldn't otherwise trap ?

Do you get a different ECU map with the Akropovik OEM exhaust ? Aware that Triumph does this with their Arrow OEM exhaust option.

Lovely - and you're just down the road from me - will keep a look out for you. Enjoying my 6th Gen enormously - but at some point soonish I'll change it for a clean low mileage 8th Gen and keep it until we're all forced to ride electric bikes. Seems the perfect motorcycle for my wants and needs. What difference does the Akrapovic exhaust make apart from looking good ? Would it upset my neighbours ?

Welcome. I've had my 2005 6th Gen for little over a year now after a 10 year break from riding. Mine looks just like yours and has similar miles. I've thoroughly enjoyed owning and riding it and also the friendly and knowledgeable support from this forum. Check the previous owner's records for any record of a new regulator and/or stator. If you find that the original R/R has been changed for a MOSFET one then that's a good sign. Charging system failures are one of the few weak points of this bike - but sorting them is a well trodden path and not difficult or expensive. I inherited my previous owner's charging problems - sorting it out is a rite of passage for VFR ownership and all the info and support you might need is here. Consider installing a voltmeter for peace of mind. Make sure the chain tension adjuster in the rear hub moves smoothly - they're susceptible to seizing if they haven't been touched for months or years. It's a DIY job to refurb if it has seized, but you're better off knowing now if it has.

Nice one, thanks. Enjoying a New Year's Eve glass of Malbec right now but will check it out tomorrow. I'm enjoying learning about my bike with all of your help as much as I'm enjoying riding it. Happy New Year !

Thanks once again. At the risk of sounding like a total newb - where is the flapper valve solenoid and the connector I need to pull to disable it ?

Here is the connector I disconnected in the first picture, which leads to the solenoid just behind the airbox (with my finger on it in the second picture). I assumed this is the PAIR valve and its solenoid - but perhaps I misunderstood and this is actually the flapper valve mechanism.

Apologies for delayed update - life has been a bit crazy recently and I only just got some bike time this week. Unplugged the power to the pair valve solenoid and went for a longish ride - didn't hear the noise under the circumstances when I normally would - so pretty sure that was it. I think the bike feels smoother and less snatchy on and off the throttle at low rpm - but could be a placebo effect ! Thanks for the help.

Great pictures. Really enjoying my 6th Gen - but when the time comes to replace it with something newer I think an 8th Gen will be the bike that I'll choose to own until we're all forced to ride electric bikes. Particularly like the front end styling - could be mistaken for something Italian, but with Honda quality, reliability and longevity.