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It's your fuel pump. I've had the same thing. Stranded 4 hrs from home. It'll kill your battery too. Brand new 29$ piece of shit... buy the k&l fuel pump. It's a direct Mitsubishi fuel pump. Worth 170$ !

A possible sign of tight normal valves is a loss of vacuum (assuming no vacuum leaks at the throttle body or hoses). It can be measured through the starter valve sync procedure. I measured an increase in vacuum across all cylinders by doing the starter valve sync before and after the valve clearance adjustment. This does make sense as the reduction in clearance increases the duration of the intake/exhaust opening and thus the overlap. Service manual states that the vacuum should be 150-250 mmhg at the MAP sensor at idle. Assuming you're not at very high altitude, a reading close to 150 mmhg could indicate a loss of vacuum due to tight valve clearance on normal (non-VTEC) valves.

I recently serviced the VTEC valves on my 90000km 2009 800. All were low, some very tight. I have noticed since installing the correct buckets that the VTEC transition is much smoother, there used to be almost a SNAP sound as they kicked in but I don't notice that now. May be all in my mind of course. I certainly feel better knowing that maintenance has been attended to.

If you get the "signs" its already to late. VFR's tend to tighten #3 cylinder first as its the hottest cylinder due to the rear exhaust header routing. Numerous people skip adjustments & many others do them to Hondas 16K mile intervals & both have found some need adjusting. It's not like dropping a heavyweight from a roof, every crankcase & set of machining & initial setup is slightly different, just as some people ride very gently & others cane it at high revs mercilessly. Thus as always YMMV between valve adjustments. Your bike, your coin or time, thus your choice.

Yeah, always tempted by those KTM's! Almost bought the SD GT but ended up with the Multistrada. Eight years later I'm happy I did, but I probably would have been happy with the SD too. Or maybe have lost my license? We were in San Diego Friday and I finally got to see a 2026 Tuono 660 Factory in person. I like it. Also, I have to recommend GPCycles in San Diego, might be the best motorcycle dealership in the state. More to follow...

What are the signs that the bike needs the valves attending to?

Waited 3 months to get this out of stock screen, did a 20 minute ride and it's not going to work for me. This cost about $170 new. $100 shipped within US. Also looking for an OEM screen. Willing to work out some sort of trade for the ZG screen.

That's a very good point — and I completely agree. Running without a thermostat is definitely not a long-term solution, just a way to confirm that the original one was faulty. It’s going to be a nice Autumn project. For now, my only concern is my upcoming trip to the Balkans.... Maybe if Honda hadn’t gone for show-off looks and actually gave us a proper full-size front radiator, we’d be seeing cooler temps like the MT-10 too! Thanks again for the insight!

I think you're looking for the KTM 890-SMT version - too bad they are bankrupt, and the cam issue that has plagued those engines, otherwise that thing is like a box of frogs! I rode the old 990 SMT, what a hoot! Comfy, fun, and fast as F through the twisties. Too bad KTM couldn't pull it off... Oh well, keep looking...

New seat cover! Way more grippy than the OEM. Also bought an OEM windscreen. I'll use the big one it replaced for long trips with lots of freeway miles. I just prefer the look of the original. Also, I just realized there are tiedown loops under the the back seat 🤯

That is good news that you have found the smoking gun Glystras. I would suggest that you refit a new thermostat as one day, even Greece will get cold, and then your bike will become much slower to warm up when you start it, and may never reach "normal" temperature when running on a highway. That may lead to higher fuel consumption as the engine stays in "must warm up" mode longer. Interestingly (?) my modern 2018 Yamaha MT-10SP has a thermostat that opens at 69C so the bike is quite happy to sit at that level on a chilly ride, but the EFI system is expecting that to be "normal".

Terry strikes again! 😎

GREAT UPDATE! 🎉 After following your advice, I removed the thermostat and tested it in boiling water. It only started to open at around 98°C (208°F) — which is too late......... So we decided to run the bike without the thermostat and took it out for a proper highway test ride. The result? ✅ Perfect temperature behavior — even at steady highway speeds, temps stayed rock solid around 91–93°C (196–199°F). ✅ The fan now kicks in only when necessary and shuts off properly after cooling, just like it should. ✅ No more overheating, even in warm weather. So it’s clear: the thermostat was the culprit, likely opening too late or not fully. I honestly wouldn’t have guessed it — I had replaced the thermostat just 1.000 km ago, so I assumed it was fine. Turns out even new parts can fail, or just not perform as expected. Thanks again to everyone for your help — your advice was spot-on!

Glad to hear that normal service has been resumed. Maybe you had some water in the fuel? There is a strainer (like a stainless steel pot scubber) on the fuel pump inlet and also a proper filter on the pressure side. Water can enter these tanks if the filler overflow drain gets clogged and you park outdoors.

The only green 3-pin connector I can find in the wiring diagram. The visible part of the connector in your pic goes up to the bank angle sensor. Are the wires to the other end the crispy looking ones behind it? On my '09 Vtec the connector goes to the left and into the loom. Note that the wire colours differ on either side of the connector. This shows the early and post '05 wiring diagram of the relevant connector. Good luck.

I was hoping someone would have been experiencing something similar. I'm not normally one to just shotgun parts at something. Still haven't gotten in to pull and inspect plugs, but the bike's been behaving itself again lately so I don't know. I'm about ready to save this one as just some varnish flaking off inside the tank or something like that. At least, until it acts up again. I'll report back here if I figure anything more concrete out.

Great photos. Thanks for sharing! 🙂 I've been fortunate to ride amazing roads in that region several times, including during the VFRD spring ride a few times. I was hoping to get there again this summer, but it probably won't happen. Maybe next year!

For cleaning the aluminum parts check into building a vapor blaster-friend has one and parts look brand new or better after cleaning. It's a "sandblaster" that sprays water and glass beads with compressed air.

The FI light will come on if the ECM detects any signals that are outside of the norm. For example if the inlet manifold air pressure (MAP) sensor doesn't see a vacuum when the engine is running, the FI light comes on and the ECM goes to "limp" mode. That specific example can happen if the vacuum hose is not connected to the MAP sensor or if the electrical connector comes loose (or more likely gets forgotten by the mechanic). You'd be best to download the manual, clear any old error codes, then ride the bike until the fault occurs. At that point you can use the fault code to identify where the issue is coming from and (hopefully) rectify that.

Gotta pinch it a bit and get just part of the slot engaged with the bracket hole. Then keep pressure in that direction while you work your way around pushing in/thru a little at a time. Once you get some progress it will better stay at what you've accomplished so far without wanting to back out as easily. I know I pretty much just said the same thing I said earlier, but that's what works for me. And like I hinted at before, those are my least favorite to do, so I feel for ya.

I just recently purchased a 1999 vfr 800 from my boss/friend. Its a beautiful bike. runs great. until it doesnt..lol he said it will stumble and act slugish and fi light will come on. It hasnt done it to me yet but ive barely rode it around my little town until i register it. Im curious if dirty throttle plates will cause this issue. On a car it will. any help would be great. I ride my spyder to work but want to get this one on the rode. thanks

Sometime the small things get the best of us! I dont recall having such a hard time with mine... perhaps I erased it from memory 😬 I'm sure you've tried a lot of ideas... perhaps a bench vice could squash it in for you if you get one edge in juuuuust right...

Got the blunt screwdriver thing out, cussed and fussed another hour on the one grommet... no go. Eff it. In frustration jumped on the Valkyrie for a good thrashing... back later...