Just wanted to take a moment to share my experience today. I ordered a R/R from RMStator on ebay. I received it quickly. Put it on today, drove away happy as a clam, and walked my bike home after she quit on me in my neighborhood. Battery was DEAD.
I'm going to contact the company, and I'll keep everyone informed of what happens. I consider myself lucky being so close to home when disaster struck. I do have a voltage meter on the way so this wont happen again. A very wise man once advised me to only buy Honda for my Honda. Should've listened.
Everybody who has these bikes seems to have these sorts of issues at some point. The best advice I've gotten to date is to troubleshoot using the following http://www.electrosp...ing-diagram.pdf
Do the test on a cold and hot engine.
Your stator could kill you R/R and the other way around. Replacing one component can mask the problem for awhile, but it will come back and possibly after killing another component. I'm biting the bullet and replacing both, but not necessary if the troubleshooting doesn't suggest it. Your R/R could be fine and your stator not sending enough juice or it could have killed your new R/R or the new R/R could be junk. Do the troubleshooting.
A very wise man once advised me to only buy Honda for my Honda. Should've listened.
They're all made by Shindengen, even the Honda ones. The Shindengen FH012AA (MOSFET) is commonly considered the best upgrade. Here's a kit you can buy:
P.S. Nothing wrong with eBay. It's essentially become a digital storefront rather than an auction house now anyway. Just make sure you check the returns policy and the seller's rating.
^^^ That is a good kit --- ok - I take that back - you need to know what you are buying ebay or not.
(Any more I prefer to buy new stuff direct from a vendor site, and just peruse Ebay to scrap for used parts.)
I should have stated that at this point I have no reason to suspect the original R/R is bad. I was just looking to upgrade and "play it safe". I still have the original one, so that is back on. That kit looks nice. I probably won't do much until my inline voltmeter comes in. Its raining anyways.
It's official. The aftermarket RR was not good. I finally got time to do some testing. With a fully charged battery (12.8v), I got roughly 13.4v at idle and 14.4 at 5k with the stock RR. With the new RR, 12v at both idle and 5k. I don't know why voltage dropped .8v when the bike was running, I'm guessing the voltage regulation was set too low? No matter, its going back..
Wear your electric gloves in cool weather, wired to the battery. When your hands go up and down in temperature, you will know something is off. Then, when your headlight goes bright and dim and your hands get instantly blistered from heat surges, then it is time for a new R/R... and some ointment... and maybe some band aids.
Nothing like communing with your VFR and its ill-fated R/R like this... man and bike experiencing it together.
Can i add as an ex employee of Honda who used to do the checks, the reason you go for Honda is because of the quality control firstly. After every 100 units used by Honda from Shingden, next one gets tested by Honda for operational tolerance levels set to Honda specs.
I suggest the cheapies are not checked every 1000 if at all for anything
I agree, but $266 at my local friendly dealer is a big pill for me to swallow.
I wired in a digital voltmeter in where the clock is on the european vfr's. I looks pretty trick, but sometimes hard to see depending on where that pesky ball of fire is in the sky is.
RM Stator is going to refund me, and I bought a Rick's and received the wrong year (different connectors). I don't want to mod the incorrect RR because I know the right one is available, so now I'm waiting for that company to get back to me.
Can i add as an ex employee of Honda who used to do the checks, the reason you go for Honda is because of the quality control firstly. After every 100 units used by Honda from Shingden, next one gets tested by Honda for operational tolerance levels set to Honda specs.
I suggest the cheapies are not checked every 1000 if at all for anything
Just a comment from an automotive engineering view. -- Generally, quality control definition is that the product meets requirements(reliability) and specs. So who sets the specs? The customer of course, in this case Honda. As a curious engineer foole, I wonder what those are. -- I can relate that much of the time, the customer is looking for minimum requirements and specs, to squek out as low a cost as they can. That's business. Usually the engineer doesnt get to decide much on the specs. So the supplier engineering manager goes to his product engineer(me) and tells him what he has to meet and how much money he is allowed to put into the product. Many times the response from the engineer is "I got to do what?" The requirements and specs are something the engineer doesnt want to sign up for in the first place, and the money allowed to put into the part really isnt adequate to do a good job.
I'm not saying that follows through on the R/Rs here. Maybe it does, maybe it doesnt. In reality there may only be a 5 - 10% fallout, that show up here.But still that is fairly high. Its seems somewhere in the system of product development, something was overlooked, with today's manufacturing world that part failures are measured in parts per million. Otherwise this wouldnt be such a continuing hot topic and Tightwad wouldnt be in business.
As for the "cheapies", I dont think you can throw all of them into the same basket, some are better than others, and there is no way to know who does or doesnt check what.
You test this with engine running yes? (yep, I'm a electrical noob)
no you remove the r/r and sit in front of the TV and do it smile.png (this is the best kind of bike work)
Almost a 1 year revival, but don't laugh at Dutchy for being an elec newb... I'm in the SAME boat today and I feel SO clueless... I think I have a voltmeter at the shop, so I can do some trouble shooting later tonight.
Question though... I put in new battery and rode 10 minutes home from where I was stranded. Should/Can I connect the bike to my car via jumper cables to help recharge the battery?
I experienced a similar problem with my regulator last summer. I check it's output, battery fully charged with a multimeter. My output was 11.4. I purchased a new Electrosport regulator, then I tested my newly installed regulator. I got 14.4 volts, nine months later my new regulator went south, @ 11.6, I return my bad Electrosport regulator, and I got a new one @ no charge. The new unit checked out fine, but shortly afterwards, my battery took a dump, so I bought a new battery. I will be installing a small voltmeter in my charging system. Hopefully in the future I'll get a warnings signal before something fails to the point were I won't become strained. My local independent bike shop warrantied my regulator for a year, so by me purchasing my regulator from my local dealer, and not E-bay proved to be a wise decision! It was good for me, and good to help support my local bike merchant!
Note: Check your regulator with engine running @ idle & operating speed for proper output.
The bottom line is, I had no idea of my bike's past battery or regulator history, since I've only owned my 95 VFR for 1.5 years, so now I have a fresh battery, good regulator, and soon I'll install my voltmeter. It's not installed, because I bought a real neat tiny unit, but somehow I've managed to misplace it before I got it installed.
It's official. The aftermarket RR was not good. I finally got time to do some testing. With a fully charged battery (12.8v), I got roughly 13.4v at idle and 14.4 at 5k with the stock RR. With the new RR, 12v at both idle and 5k. I don't know why voltage dropped .8v when the bike was running, I'm guessing the voltage regulation was set too low? No matter, its going back..
A little disappointed this was going to be my next solution if I had another R\R failure.
It's official. The aftermarket RR was not good. I finally got time to do some testing. With a fully charged battery (12.8v), I got roughly 13.4v at idle and 14.4 at 5k with the stock RR. With the new RR, 12v at both idle and 5k. I don't know why voltage dropped .8v when the bike was running, I'm guessing the voltage regulation was set too low? No matter, its going back..
A little disappointed this was going to be my next solution if I had another R\R failure.
An update, I have had a new Rick's R/R for the last year and a couple of weeks. Wouldn't you know it, I started to see the voltage steadily and slowly drop from what was a steady 13.6 at 5k rpm to 13.2. Out with the Rick's, in the OEM. Voltage did pick up again, but to be on the safe side I have ordered a VFRness and will then get another R/R from somewhere. I'd rather not get a Ricks as I think they should last longer than a year, but Electrosuk (or whatever their name is) just isn't an option. Maybe a second OEM, I'm not sure. I'm keen on switching these about two weeks apart to verify the benefits of each.
Question though... I put in new battery and rode 10 minutes home from where I was stranded. Should/Can I connect the bike to my car via jumper cables to help recharge the battery?
With the car engine running you'll charge the battery with too much current. With the engine not running the car battery's voltage is too low to charge the bike's battery. You'd better get a battery tender (not a simple charger) for your VFR.
Thanks guys. I borrowed a 12v/2amp charger and charged both of my battery last night. I'll be doing the voltage check today on the presumably dead RR
Sent from my handheld-sending-thing...
Yeah, I've always used the 2a setting on my automotive battery charger to charge my bike batteries, never had a problem. It is a smart charger though and shuts off when battery has a full charge.
Someone mentioned to install a Battery Tender. I have three Tenders. I used two on my motorhome, one for the coach batteries, one form the chassis battery, and my third Tender is on my project VFR. My daily bike is getting a voltmeter, however I weekly check my daily ride battery. I check it before it gets cranked, tested @ idle, and again @ 3-5 K. I periodically log in my readings. I feel if at rest the voltage is good, then with my new battery things are holding, and for safety I check @ run condition. I will do this until I install volt meters on both bikes. I hope to get voltmeters installed on both bikes within a month. I've involved with too many projects, otherwise I'd already have meters on my bikes. Once I get my meters installed, I'll post with photos the results.
Earlier I mentioned my thoughts on having a dash mount volt meter. Today my two voltmeters arrived. They only cost $5.00 each! These meters should work very nicely for our applications. Making a nice installation can easily be done. I've attached a photo with a link as to where they can be bought. The link will open up giving detailed specifications.
I bought a rm r/r for my second gen.worked for a week then started cranking 19 dc volts into my electrical system.battery boiled and leaked out
Went to honda and paid big bucks but have never had any problem with oem rr
For those of you who are keeping track at home . . . show of hands? That's nobody. I've been through 2 Rick's RR's, each one lasting about 1 year or 10k miles, give or take. At $120ish a piece, I'm less than excited when the year is up.
In the name of SCIENCE (and not just because I'm cheap), I decided to see what happens when I install a $36 shipped RR from Caltrix. Callix. Celtrix. Something like that. A month in, a rock solid 14.3V. So time will tell.
For those still on the fence with a 3rd, 4th, 5th gen . . . my onboard voltmeter has been money! It has saved me twice. Once on the way to Neptune's Net for lunch. I was fortunate enough to not have to work on my bike in the parting lot. The second time, My RR fried in the Valley heat, and the tenths of volts were slipping away. She still ran fine, but I knew what the issue was before I got stranded. Always a plus!
Thanks for the update. It's a little discouraging since I just installed a VFRness and a Rick's R/R in my 4th gen.
I'd rather not add clutter to the VFR's nice console, but I do have an unused powerlet outlet in the left fairing... maybe I'll jimmy up a meter for it.
The Signal Dynamics LED voltage indicator is extremely nice. I have mine attached electrically to a switched contact on my VFRness accessory fuse block.
Thanks for the tip on the Signal Dynamics. Definitely less cluttered.
I woke up with an interesting idea... could use an analog-to-digital converter with a cheap controller to make a bluetooth/wifi voltmeter. Then I could have my phone display the voltage readout, or have the bike email me when the voltage starts to slip. :)
Over on the Dutch VFR forum there is a member who builds a led type voltmeter that will only light up when the voltage it outside the acceptable range..
Thanks for the tip on the Signal Dynamics. Definitely less cluttered.
I woke up with an interesting idea... could use an analog-to-digital converter with a cheap controller to make a bluetooth/wifi voltmeter. Then I could have my phone display the voltage readout, or have the bike email me when the voltage starts to slip. :)
It's definitely a bit of a DIY project; maybe something to play with once the season ends. Would also need a way to get clean power to it.
Wow, that's an interesting idea. Post up a build thread once you get going.
the Signal Dynamics set-up is by far the best voltage monitor i've seen.
The thing about the Signal Dynamics LED is that the range of green is way too wide - 15.1 - 12.9 volts. So you could be running all day or all vacation in the green and still end up stranded by the side of the road. With a digital, you can watch the trend of the health of the system and get a handle on preempting a problem if something pops up. Low 13s and 12.9 volts consistantly will get you stranded. Any Amber reading other than idle - chances are your hosed.
I woke up with an interesting idea... could use an analog-to-digital converter with a cheap controller to make a bluetooth/wifi voltmeter. Then I could have my phone display the voltage readout, or have the bike email me when the voltage starts to slip. :)
Wow, that's an interesting idea. Post up a build thread once you get going.
I will if I do. I don't know if it would be that interesting from a pictures viewpoint, since most of the work is writing software.
These controllers are great for hobbyist projects... they're like electronic lego blocks. Here's all the physical wiring needed to build a simple programmable voltmeter.
That's about $25 in parts. You wouldn't want to mount it in a bike like that; the mighty V4 rumble would shake it apart. :) So there's a little more work to get it properly soldered and mounted in a case.
The remaining problem is that it can read voltage, but doesn't have a way to tell you what it is (unless you want to mount a laptop on your tank). A simple solution would be to wire in a speaker or a light. On a VFR, you might connect it to something like your fuel light... program it so that the light is off when everything is fine, on when your fuel is low, blinks slowly below 13.5V and blinks fast below 13V.
My thinking was to add a wireless module to it (~$7) so that it could talk to a phone via bluetooth. This lets you do things like displaying graphs and sending emails. But now you have to write a little app for the phone that can talk to it over bluetooth.
How hard this seems will probably depend on your background. I write software for a living, and am a 'can turn a wrench' guy when it comes to electronics. But I sweat over my Clymer manual a long time before bleeding a clutch. :)
I know its a personal preference thing, but I like numbers on my voltmeter. My brother has an SD that he really likes, but I'm not sold on it. The last time my RR was failing, I was watching it go from 13.8 to 13.4V, dropping .1V every 2 minutes or so. Still within "green" range, but obviously not functioning correctly. So in the comfort of my own garage, I swapped it out with a known good, and 14.4 just like she should be.
Long story short, I like knowing I am going to be f'ed, rather than I am f'ed.
I tried to mount my Vmeter as cleanly as possible, but glare can sometimes be an issue. There was a Honda Marine dial gauge that looked uber-slick (white background and all for you 4th geners out there) that I found after I already installed mine.
I mounted a small CPU cooling fan on top of my voltage rectifier. I have no photos, but if anyone is really interested later I will remove the aft fairings for photos. Right now I'm recovering from surgery, so no wrenching.
End of thread · 44 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 3 Feb 2015
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