VFR800FI

Just bought a T plate VFR800FI. 40 miles from the dealer, speedo & tacho
died. 41 miles from dealer, started misfiring. 41.2 miles from dealer, the
bike died with a flat battery. In the pissing rain. In an area with no
mobile signal.
No complaints with the dealer, he duly collected me and bike and is
repairing under warranty.
I'm guessing that this could be the well publicised regulator/rectifier
problem. So, two questions:
1, Is this mode of failure common on these bikes?
2, Assuming it is RR fault, what can I do to prevent it failing again?

Ta

 

3' axe handle.

 

You've already found the answer to this, yes. Very common on all VFRs, and
CBR6s

Make sure the connections are all good. On a T reg bike you want to be
checking for corrosion around earth straps and inside connector blocks. If
the wiring has got hot near the RR then the insulation might be brittle and
cause crimped connections to become weak (bearing in mind this might not be
the first replcement RR in the life of this bike).

Lozzo remounted his VFR's RR at the front of the bike to aid cooling. You
could fit a PC processor fan and/or heatsink.

Finally, I hope you like the bike when it is fixed. I rode one back in the
90s when they came out. As the owner of a late 750 model I was a tad
disappointed with its replacement.

 

"Next time, I'm coming back with the sharp bit" - that kind of thing?

 

Alan says...

Buy a different bike. VFR800s suck.

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka

 

wessie says...

Incorrect - Lozzo mounted his Suzuki GSX750EFE reg/rec up front on an
extended wiring loom. When Lozzo sold the bike to a mate, he moved it
back and the seat and sidepanel caught fire when said reg/rec failed. My
VFR750FK was possibly the best bike I have ever owned[1], but the
VFR800s are sacks of rotting pig-shite.

[1] Toss up between the VFR and Thunderace

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka

 

Alan used his keyboard to write :

It is a common problem, with various solutions...

They overheat because they are tucked away where there is little
airflow, not much of a metal mass to sink the heat and possibly heat
from the exhaust.

I bolted mine to the frame (the existing mount), but with massive alloy
heatsink machined to fit between frame and R/R. I then provided airflow
by running some thin flexible walled plastic ducting from the heatsink
to the front of the bike.

I also added a combined voltmeter, temperature display just to keep an
eye on the voltage and temperature of the R/R. It runs around 20 to 30
degrees C cooler since installing my mods.

Other possible solutions include...
Extending the wiring to allow the R/R to be mounted in a direct airflow
at the front.

Replacing it with one from a bike which has a much larger heatsink
already fitted.

Mounting the existing one in the airflow under the rear mudguard.

Adding a 12v CPU fan powered from the rear brake light switch. Which is
probably the easiest, though not perhaps the most effective or reliable
solution.

 

That's telling them alright.

 

Any particular reason or just a pathological hatred? Please don't tell me
I've just bought a shed....

 

Yes
HTH

VFR's went out with the 750's

 

Ignoring the fact that the bike is getting on a bit and possibly a bit
fucked anyway.

When new, IMV, the new fangled VFR800i was a backward step. Honda,
losing sales in the sports tourer sector to the new Triumph Sprint, tried
to make the bike appeal to riders of sportier machines. They messed with
the riding position, introduced fuel injection and altered the looks. I
found the riding position uncomfortable and the level of vibration from the
new engine intrusive.

The sum of these innovations was a bike that was inferior to the model
it replaced. Many people here think that the last incarnation of the
VFR750 produced with minor cosmetic changes from 1994-98 was the best ever
VFR.

There have been other changes to the VFR800 since then. I don't think any
of them have made the bike attractive. In typical Honda style they have
thrown in technical innovations that add little to the bike, except make it
more expensive. IMV they are still playing catch up to Triumph in the
sports tourer category.

 

You didn't mention the variable valve timing and the commensurate increase
in service costs. Not sure if the original 800 had it though.

 

It wasn't on the first 800 and I covered VTEC under the technical
innovation/more expense sentence.

 

/me agrees with Lozzo.

And again.

Phil.

 

Hmm... I want to change my VFR at some stage next year (or rather, I
was thinking of maybe getting something that hasn't quite been to the
moon and back), and I was thinking of trying the 800.

Perhaps I'll just look for a low mileage 750... that is, if any are
left at sensible prices by then, as the likes of you appear to be
pushing them up with comments like the above... ffs.

The one 955i Tiger I went on the back of, impressed me with the amount
of grunt it had down low.

The one 955i Daytona I owned briefly was a bit shite if I'm honest and
had me running back to a VFR750, and if that was indicative of what a
Sprint is going to be like to live with (1) then I think I'll stick
with VFRs TYVM.

(1) Troublesome EFi / heavy clutch / long first gear all adding up to
a complete bitch to ride in town etc, to name but one of its finer
attributes, and yes... it had had the ECU remapped by the dealer twice
in an attempt to iron out the dogshit low throttle response.

 

Phil Launchbury says...

Now I am very very scared.

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka

 

Jack Hackett says...

My EFI has been trouble free, there's no problem with the low down
throttle response and I can quite easily ride it smoothly through town
traffic if needed. The clutch isn't any heavier than my old Gixer's, and
the long first gear I find a bonus in town becaue it saves me having to
do loads of gear changes - I just trickle along in 1st and that does me
fine up to 50mph if needed. The advantage of having a long first gear is
the gears are closer spaced from 2nd upwards.

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka

 

Don't worry - I'm sure it won't happen very often.. unless you are
talking about VFRs.

Phil.

 

....lucky you.

Mine went back twice, and still wasn't right, at which point I gave up
on it and went and bought a CBR600 and then got the current VFR.

We used to see plenty of other Daytonas etc. back at the shop with
similar problems when I worked for the then local Triumph dealers,
too.

Maybe mine wasn't a good example of a Daytona.

I certainly wouldn't consider another, anyway, and I'm not keen to
risk a Sprint either given the problems I had with the bike above...
which is a shame, as I'm not that keen on the VFR800 in any
incarnation and I can't expect the current 750 to carry on forever.

 

I was down at Fowlers in Bristol one lunchtime last summer, and came back to
my
bike to find another red VFR parked next to it. Only difference was, this
one was that year's model.

The owner was standing looking at mine, and when I approached, suggested a
straight swap.

"Don't like it, huh?" Then it all came out.

He'd had it four months, from new. In that time, he'd had it back to
Fowlers nine times, trying to sort out a cutting-out problem. What it was
doing was cutting out on the gearchanges, pretty well all the time. One
consequence of this was that, sometimes, the back wheel would lock up, and
some pervulsion of ABS and linked braking would cause him to lose all
braking - presumably until he remembered to use the clutch.

He's also had a replacement rear subframe, because it had cracked along the
welds. The replacement had also cracked. While we were talking, a couple
of big girls from Fowlers office came out and began taking snaps of the
cracking subframe with a big digital SLR, so I don't think he was
bullshitting me.

I wished him well, and purred away smoothly on my lovely old 750...