Bad Boy

Don't listen to all the gear winers out there about the VTEC. Go test ride the '03 and decide for yourself. Not all VTECs are created equal. A few have more of a hit than others. I had 88k miles on my first '02. New it had a very slight hit that could be felt, not a problem at all but smoothed out completely when I did the first valve check and replaced the stuck open thermostat. After that VTEC could only be heard and not felt. The stuck thermostat did make the hit too noticeable before I fixed that. I now am on my second '02 and at 15k miles it is as smooth as could be through VTEC transition. Both bike completely stock. I would test ride until you find a deal on one that works well and leave it stock.

First verify the battery is good, charge it up and have it load tested at dealer. Replace if fails. With a good charged battery test the stator per the Honda shop manual. Replace if fails. If stator connector is fried replace with Stator Hardwire Kit from Wiremybike.com http://www.wiremybike.com/vfr-specific-parts-2000-2001-vfr-parts-stator-hardwire-kit-p-693.html Check the 30 amp fuse holder near the battery, replace if heat damaged with automotive type holder. If after checking and/or replacing these parts the voltage is not correct then check and repair all wiring between stator and battery. If wiring is OK then replace the rectifier. Stators typically last 50k miles

Baby the Duc, wash and polish thoroughly. Then go out and buy a VFR and abuse it to your hearts content.

I have been on those roads, great place to ride, too many curves and too little traffic, what a problem I would be interested when I heal up. Three deer attached, knocked me off the back of my DRZ400 at 60 mph. After 2 months I am still not riding. Watch out for Bambi I should be back at it next year.

Heli bars seem to be a common option. A few have lowered the pegs. Another option would be to raise the seat height with a custom seat or seat pad like Air Hawk. Any of these will work. A common problem for those not used to this style of bike is to support your upper body with your arms locked at the elbows. Arms should be relaxed, bent at elbows. If hands go numb or soar wrists or shoulders it could be your riding position needs to be changed rather than the bike. Yeah VTEC baby

My modification is that I am selling the '02 w/ 87k miles and buying a low mileage 3rd or 4th gen

If the purpose of the R/R is to convert excess electricity to heat and heat destroys the R/R, why not separate the vulnerable components from the heat by having a remote electric radiator separate from the R/R electrical components?

Excessive heat - which is caused by excessive current - which is (as I understand) often caused by a short circuit in the rectifier/regulator. My non-professional opinion.... The R/R is the "weak link" as it has the most parts that CAN fail. Stators by themselves rarely fail because they are just a bit of metal with wire wrapped around it. The R/R on the other hand is full of bits and pieces that all need to work correctly. Besides the Diode Bridge, there are 18 other electrical components in the schematic I posted. Most likely to fail is the Diode Bridge (no charging) or the SCR (Shorts to ground, creating tons of heat). If the Stator is melting, which would be an incredible amount of heat, or just getting hot enough that the wire covering melts....covering is rated to ~133 C, or 271 F, it would most likely be because the R/R is not shorting the power to ground correctly. Thanks for this informative thread. I am with you, I want to understand this so I can prevent stator #4 failure when I am several days away from home. I think this is understandable so far. I understand electrical theory enough to be dangerous but not enough to solve this. Here are questions. As the stator operates, what happens to the stator when the power demand or resistance of the R/R is excessively high or low? Would either condition heat the stator? At a given rpm does the stator put out a constant wattage or is it dependent on the R/R resistance. I would guess the R/R resistance or draw from the stator should be fairly constant and what power is not used by the bike is wasted in heating the R/R. As the bike draws more current there would be less heat at the R/R and when the bike draws more current (amps) than available the system voltage would drop.

1200 RPM - 28 Volts 2000 RPM - 38 Volts 3000 RPM - 56 Volts 4000 RPM - 78 Volts 5000 RPM - 96 Volts 6000 RPM - 117 Volts 7000 RPM - 138 Volts 8000 RPM - 156 Volts 9000 RPM - 173 Volts 10000 RPM - 192 Volts It is dumping about 175-180 volts that are extra and grounding them @ 10k, there is your source of heat!! It is the rectifier that is dumping the excess electricity and creating heat. What I want to know is what would cause 3 stators to melt down?

I would like to know what causes the stator to overheat and melt.

The recall monitor wire now connects to the + wires just down stream of the rectifier plug. This is an improvement over the old routing through the ignition and fuse block. I would think it should connect closer to the battery like your fix. 6 months after I had my recall done on my '02 the new recall 30 amp fuse by the battery started to heat up and voltage at the battery dropped from 14v to 13.5v I did the monitor wire fix and replaced the 30 amp fuse holder with an in line ATO fuse holder w/ 12 ga. wire from the auto parts store. Now no heat and the voltage is 14.3v So I would keep the monitor wire fix.

I have the Whistler Cruisader on my 02 VFR for two years. Originally I had it mounted like yours but worried about cutting air flow to the oil cooler. I found a space behind the dash that the unit fit perfectly, remove windshield and dash cover and slip it in aimed forward. I glued a block of Styrofoam under it to hold in place. The unit works fine behind the plastic. I mounted the remote laser detector under the head light. The blue led mounts on top of the dash and works well by its self as it is plainly visible as I ride. The in helmet is a battery eater so I went on line to buy bulk batteries cheap 20 at a time. $1.59 ea. http://www.infinitelights.com/cr2450batteries.html I use it on long multi day rides, batteries last about 3-4 8 hr. days. It is great to have a concealed unit that I do not have to worry about theft and have to remove it every time I leave the bike. Compared to my Escort on my other bike the sensitivity is good, I get a few more false alerts. The quality of the components are disappointing. I had to work the plugs to get good contacts and sprayed TV tuner cleaner on the helmet alert switch to get that to work. Bend the battery holder tab to make better contact with the batteries. The control screen fogs up and turns dark in hot sun. My temp gage is not accurate but the volt meter was very handy when my stator went out. Once it is set up and working it works well, conceals nicely, in helmet is great, price is cheap, just wish they would have spent a few $ on better components.