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Try volts @ terminals with another meter while existing meter is showing low, maybe you’re being fed false data for some reason, glitchy wiring to meter, meter itself, etc.

I'll probably just go back to stock halogen bulbs for now. Thanks for all the responses.

Oh my actual GOD, I swear I am throwing petrol on to this bike and setting fire to it unless I come up with a proper fix for NON charging. OK, lets start, previous post with bad earth, blue and yellow plugs all fixed and soldered. Shindengen MOD straight to the battery with fuse. (FH020 tested on my other bike worked perfect) NEW battery, NEW stator (tests all checked out ok) Heavier yellow cables to R/R, all the right stuff used. The other day I was out and the charging stopped again after 90 miles. was @ 14.2V running. volt meter dropped to 12.1 and dropping as I went. Rechecked everything and cant for the life of me see why this bike charging system is so much trouble. 30 amp fuse holder replaced also at the battery. Now this afternoon I disconnect the pos.and neg. wires from the R/R to the battery but leave the main battery terminals on. start the bike and check the voltage coming from R/R, 14.9 volts even at idle. (meter could be out slightly?) touch the wires back onto the battery and NO charge. I have undone all the loom where I soldered all the earths from the front end and all OK. What can be pulling the charge away from the battery?? I have in my lifetime, diagnosed and repaired V12 Jaguar and range rover vehicles, rebuilt countless automatic gearboxes. modified loads of cars and bikes. This has got me absolutely stumped. so far I have unplugged the headlamps in an attempt to find a discharge when the bike is running. The bike starts and runs a treat other than the charging issue. I even swopped batteries from a known good bike.

If you go back to halogen bulbs all-around you don't need any flasher relay other than what the bike came with. I don't know where that is located on a 6th gen, but according to the Haynes wiring diagram it is a 3-pin flasher relay connected to GND, the turn signal switch and fuse B (10A) in the main fuse box. Ah, actually I do know where it is (thanks to Haynes...) Ciao, JZH

Man, that bracket takes 30 seconds to remove. I can't imagine doing the valve check with it in place.

............................................. Adding Led's only adds to the heat stress the R&R is put under, less voltage consumed = more voltage shunted thru the R&R = more heat stress, that's why it's better for the charging system to always ride with headlights on dipped beam. Be aware most aftermarket Led flashers are nearly invisible in daylight, especially when fitted into a conventional incandescent unit, OEM Led flasher units usually have some kinda magnifying lens for the Led to shine thru.

Awesome. My first street bike was an '84 as well, but the blue version. I still have my second bike, an '86, as well as a VF500F Race Bike. And I have one (or two) more project 500 to build. Have fun and good luck!

Hi Rick. Don't be ripped off with Healtech stuff, they're crazy overpriced & their gear indicators are mostly just repackage cheap chinesium units, Aliexpress gear indicators are about £20ish, never bothered with one on my 5th Gen, but had one on my Fazer 1000 for yrs, works mint, available in different coloured displays, I went with the green opton, they only display gear position while wheels are turning, as it references a signal from ignition pulse & from speedo, so you get no gear indication when bikes static, the destructions are pathetic too, you have to suss it out for yourself mostly, display's too bright for my liking, ok in daytime, come dusk it's annoying to be fair, just get a big green glow reflection inside the screen, I've considered sourcing some Led screen polarising film to play with, not got around to it as yet, don't ride at night anyway, just get pelted with mahoosive moths & alien bugs. You can now get a tidy looking bar mounts for the display, they don't usually come with any mount at all, I made my own on the Fazer. Give Aliexpress a look, also quite a bit cheaper than ebay on titanium stuff, titanium brake banjo bolts, hex head bolts, allen head bolts, stepped fairing bolts etc, I replaced all the visible external bolts on my 5th Gen with Titanium, dropped a few pounds off the bike too, got some more on order to replace the lower suspension linkage assembly. Have fun matey 👍

Congrats on your VF500! I wish you the best in fixing it up! 🙂

I never felt like I needed a gear indicator on my 6th gen. Using my speed, rpms, and just the general sound of the engine, I could usually tell what gear I was in, especially at highway speeds. But when I bought my current BMW, which did not include a tachometer, I had a very difficult time telling what gear I was in. It didn't help that 6th gear is kind of short, so once I was on the interstate I kept trying to upshift to a non-existent 7th gear. Later on, I added the OEM tachometer, which includes a gear indicator on its small LCD screen. I like having it, but I wouldn't say it's a must-have.

This is what I did... I bought a couple of flasher relays that plug right into the stock plug but no luck in getting them to work.

Hello thank you for answering my post! I hope you are able to give me the rest of measurements. As the ones that you gave me are very valuable! Kind regards

How to calculate gear inches? 1. Follow the instructions to calculate the gear ratio. 2. Measure in millimeters the thickness of your rear tire across its tread when inflated, Mehrwertsteuer Rechner and select this figure in the selector labeled tire thickness. 3. Then do the same with the diameter of your rim up to its bead for the picker labeled rim diameter. If you're measuring in inches, please refer to our page detailing how to convert tire sizes to the international standard (ISO 5775). How to calculate development meters? 1. Follow the same approach as for calculating gear inches with tire and rim diameters measured in millimeters. Sometimes, a marking can also be discovered printed on the sidewall of the tire.

A bicycle gearing calculator helps calculate the relationship between the chainring and the rear cog, impacting how effortlessly you can pedal and how far your bike travels with each rotation. Key calculations involve gear ratio, gear inches, and gain ratio, all of which help riders adjust their bike's performance for diverse terrains and riding styles.

As Terry said, there are special flasher units for LED bulbs but you need the bulbs front and rear for them to flash at the correct rate. If keeping normal "as they came" 25W? bulbs then the normal flasher unit should be flashing at the correct rate. The correct bulbs from the factory should not overload the electrical system. B.T.W. have you ever tried to touch a flasher or Brake light bulb after it has been on for 30 seconds? burnt finger comes to mind. They will produce more heat than a resistor.

Awesome! Hee, hee

ah, i see. apologies for my hasty conclusion.

I used silicone grease on the insulator boots on mine after I did the thermostat, and they dropped into place with just "firm downwards pressure" i.e. me leaning on them. Maybe some heat from a hair dryer to soften yours up a bit more? I did a Dumb Thing ( my specialty) and managed to trap a hose in the front right throttle mechanism so they couldn't freely close, so I had to pop them off again to sort that, and then I had some weird idle/vacuum issues for a bit, difficult to synchronise and the idle rose, so I don't think I initally had a great boot seal but a decent ride fixed that (no tools required aside from me). Those blue vacuum hoses have got to be worth another 5 bhp, easy.

went to clean and paint the exhaust and was met with an unfortunate surprise. in the interest of keeping things low-buck...butchery ensued. looks good from my house! in all seriousness, i plan to get the stainless delkevic headers when budget allows. but today is not that day.

The PCV cap thing is just temporary to keep junk out while I work on the bike. I have rubbed oil on the insulators... mine are being stubborn... As mentioned RF is fully down, I did feel it "pop" into place... 3 more to go..

make sure the couplers are fully seated on the engine. when i was putting the throttles back on mine i had to make sure they were all 100% down--i did what you did and used a block and a mallet--but after that the throttles pretty much popped into place. silicone spray would also help. also i see your PCV valve is capped. unlike PAIR, that actually serves a pretty important purpose by keeping crankcase pressure down. i'd hook it back up or at least stick a cone filter over it.

Back at this stuff, been waiting on some backorder parts, (still)... but anyhoo... (Jeez this job is getting long in the tooth..) Powder coated wheels and calipers..... Wasnt going to do it, but the while I'm at it syndrome is strong in this one.. (I blame Ughandi.. j/k) Working on pistons... long ago, I stumbled into discovering Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish works great on cleaning up pistons... Jumping around a bit... Throttle bodys with the 3.5mm silicone vac hoses... .. Tried the 8mm but decided to skip, the tight bends just werent gonna work. Ok on this one, need your tips, suggestions, I am struggling to get the TBs to fully seat down. Front right is fully down, front left is about 75%, rears are about 50%. Been using a wood block on top of the TBs and a larger rubber mallet to try to set things home... Stubborn bastards... waht do you suggest? Huge thanks in advance... The journey continues..

I've seen them on track bikes for years, but I usually just look down at the MPH/RPM...when they're aligned during normal riding, it is 4th gear on every bike I've ever owned. Little off, 3rd or 5th, depending on which way. No way to not know you're in 1st, 2nd, or 6th...at least for me.

I bet you feel better for having checked though, right? Just be thankful you don't have a VTEC (ask me how I know...) You can do the front head without moving the radiators or airbox but you do feel like you are doing gynaecology... I paint-marked the gears so I could drop them back into the exact correct position. That darned oil-cooler bracket is a knuckle-skinner. At around 85000km, two front intakes were below the minimum on mine, no idea how long since a previous check.