Have I got myself a lemon???

Last week i swapped my faithful r1100r for an 01 plate 5th gen vfr800.

After commuting on it for 5 days ive noticed a few things that are bothering me.

1, the clutch grinds when slipping it to pull off quickly, the bloke says he never pulled off quickly so wasnt aware of any issue. Have spoken to a few other people, they say it could be warped clutch plates, no biggy, just cost.

2, I have a dull low pitched whirring noise from the engine with the clutch out in neutral, much like i get on my ancient land rover. Can only assume its transmission related.

3, similar dull grinding sensation when riding, gets worse when turning, suspect wheel bearings?

4, lastly, and my most recent, main concern. I was messing with the display, and set it to engine temp. When i got to work this afternoon, as i was parking it the temperature spiked at 130C. On the way home from work it never dropped below 100, and went up to 110 several times. This is no load cruising at 30mph, at night, in 14c ambient. Surely that isnt normal???

Thanks for your feedback, hopefully looking for some reassurance, especially on them temperatures!

 

Ya you got a lemon, BB was riding it and beat the shit out of it, but it can be fixed with a lot of dough, get a news chain, clutch and wheel bearings front and rear add some tires, change coolant and oil, filter, add some dough for new rings-full motor over ect, one cct too

 

Chain and sprockets are new more or less, clutch is a given at this point, same as oil and filters. Bearings shouldn't be too hard.

What's cct? And why new rings?

Bb???

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we shall see, pics of bike?

 

LOL that Son of a B is pulling your leg, all though like you have mentioned, it just might be the clutch that's making most of the noise maybe? I'd start there and see what comes of that part, fairly easy enough, most do the fix with the bike on it's side stand that way you don't need to drain the oil at this time, just be very careful not to drop one of the clutch pieces. As far as the temps, whats 130c I use F so 210-212 depending on out side temp is, in slow stop and go one can see that 210 mark, I see most of the time it hovers 175-180 F.. so you might have something going on with the Tstat. From that these bikes are pretty solid, less the dreaded RR charging issues. Not knowing your 1100r, I can't tell you how you did. but I think you'll be ok.

 

Bike between 230f and 265f, ambient of 60f.

RR seems solid, first thing I checked.

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I'd say that needs to be looked into sooner than later. http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/26297-5th-Gen-Overheating-Thermoswitch-Replacement

 

Sounds like you have some maintenance ahead, I would start by checking that the radiator is full (when cold). If you have plenty of juice, then the high temperature might be due to a faulty radiator cap which won't hold the required pressure so you get localised boiling. If the fluid looks a bit dodgy then a flush and refill might be in order (and there's a drain bung under the front head that you should open, in addition to pulling a lower hose off.

The things that control the coolant temperature are the thermostat, the radiator cap, the fan and fan switch, and the airspeed through the radiator.

The bike should sit very steadily at around 78 -82C when you are moving no matter how hard you cane it, even in air in the high 20's. It will go to 100C or a little higher in stop-start traffic and the fan should come on at 100 and stop it going much higher. 120 is the upper limit and Honda says park it at that point.The bike should sit very steadily at around 78 -82C when you are moving no matter how hard you cane it, even in air in the high 20's. It will go to 100C or a little higher in stop-start traffic and the fan should come on at 100 and stop it going much higher. 120 is the upper limit and Honda says park it at that point.

It's not inconceivable to have a dodgy temperature sending unit, and if you had access to an IR thermometer you could check to see what the radiator surface is getting to.

I have had a stuck thermostat, it stuck open so the bike was slow to heat up and ran colder than it should (around 76-80). These are a beast to replace as you need to pull the airbox and throttle bodies out to get in there, which is time consuming and a bit daunting as there are lots of connectors and vacuum pipes to disconnect. You could even have a stuck closed thermostat, and that would give the symptoms you describe, and would be a bad thing indeed.

 

By the way Dude (or should that be His Royal Dudeness...), ever village has its idiot, sunofwolf is ours. He's mostly harmless.

 

Firstly, don't listen to that Harley loving transvestite. He always wears his chaps the wrong way in hopes of attracting one of those Hardley Dudes.

1. Out of curiousity, how does the clutch feel and is the liquid in the reservoir looking like used cooking oil or super light yellow pee? (yes, I just used those as colour references)

2. Can you pin point where it's coming from? Can you post an audio / video clip to Youtube?

3. This is possible - or your chain may need replacement possible.

4. This is a big concern. While these bikes run hot, my bike has never exceeded 116*C in 34*C+ weather. Is the fan kicking in? I think mine kicks in around 100-104*C ... that's stopped in traffic.

 

Welcome, lot of good information/experiences here from a variety owners. Pay no attention to the village idiot, I am sure he was just trying to be funny. It is a tradition here to post pictures of your new steed. At 15 years old, I am sure it is not a lemon, that usually applies to new machines that are expected to be perfect. VFR's run hot, but you need to follow the suggestions. #2 is normal, even my new 14 does it, just the gears spinning and not engaged.

 

On another part to the whine you hear, you do know 5th gens have gear driven cams right? there is a lot of cool sounds coming from within. But since yours does this when clutch operation I'm thinking that's not it, but did want you to know just in case

 

Thanks for all the info guys. I've been on an awful shift at work so not much chance to look at her. I have noticed that if I take the revs above the 5k mark then the temperature stays pretty much under control. It might be that the water pump spinning quicker is getting coolant pumped round better, so maybe a low coolant situation. The thermostat seems to be in good order, I let the bike get upto temperature on my drive, as it hit around 80c the connecting pipe between the two rads warmed up, so the stat is opening at the right temperature. The fan switch is definitely borked, I let it get to 110c (fan should come on at 102 or 103) no fan. So that will need doing before the weather warms up too much. I've also succumbed to the idea that it needs a new clutch unfortunately. The fluid by the way is a lovely shade of cooking oil by the way.

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Replacing the clutch plates (and springs) is a piece of cake. All you need is a socket set and maybe a few other basic tools. The kits are pretty cheap, too.
Oh, and the stiffer springs from nearly any aftermarket kit (I went with Barnett springs) may take care of problem #1. In stock form, the VFR has large friction plates and weak clutch springs, so it doesn't like being launched above 4k RPMs. It basically bucks the clutch.

 

The fan switch may not work if the coolant level is low. The switch is at the top of the left rad, if not submerged it cannot sense the temp.

 

Fan switch tested, definitely borked. And definitely a lemon, but not an incurable lemon.

Weekend without use and it won't start. Battery is borked too.

Battery, clutch plates and springs, clutch cover gasket, fan switch, oil and filter ordered. Should sort most of the niggles I'm seeing. What happened to honesty among bikers eh. What an arse hole

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and you saw this bike in person and still bought it from a BB troll:twitch:

 

Not to defend an unscrupulous seller, but some of those things (battery, oil and filter) are consumables that always need replacing, and things like the clutch can wear gradually so the previous owner may not have been aware of an issue.

On the bright side, you are getting to know your new ride and forming a more intimate bond...

 

Intimate is right. £200 could have bought me alot more intimacy though! Pmsl. New clutch, battery and fan switch so far.

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Good news people's!

Measured resistance from my earth plug, good resistance to ground and to battery, not so much once I started the bike and started turning things on. Traced the ground back to the main frame earth, slightly corroded due to dissimilar metals. Sanded both surfaces down and stuck it back together. Temperature barely moved from 75c until I stopped in traffic where is rose to 80. Clocks never reset when I started it, and accurate fuel level information! So I'm a happy chappy. Also the new clutch and springs are working beautifully!

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