93 VFR is completly dead, no lights, no crank, nothing

Hopefully I can get it running soon, thanks everybody for your help so far, I will start by getting a test light and checking to see where I have power but I will definitely get a DMM multimeter tester soon so I can dig deeper.
Danny

 

Well yesterday I install the battery again, but before that I got contact cleaner and cleaned the kill switch & starter switch, I also did the key ignition and the turn signal/horn switch, I did all these around 8pm so it was dark out, then I turn the key and nothing but my oil and side stand lights panel came on but very dim and they lasted for about a minute and then they faded, I let the bike rest for about 5 minutes and turn the key again and the oil light and side stand lights came on again but super dim and then they faded again. I though my battery was fully charged at least that what my tender was telling me, could it be the battery? I just purchase a multimeter and I am going to use it but first I have to educate my self because I dont know how, I have a pretty good idea but still I will watch a video or two on how to and then I will go outside and test the battery and try to find out was it wrong, any suggestions? thanks again

 

OK the videos in this series were produced as a low level advert but the principles are correct and will tell you enough to test your charging circuit with pretty much any multi-meter - so don't assume you must buy the brand advertised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBbgiBU96mM

If the battery volts are low then you are wasting your time until it is either properly charged and holding a decent charge or replaced. A healthy battery will show 12.7 to 13.2 volts DC across the battery terminals at rest (engine off). If it is low remove one terminal and check again, - if its now in the zone then you have some sort of drain/short to sort out on the bike wiring.

If you have tested the battery and it is indeed healthy then you may have some sort of issue in the starting circuit.

Otherwise you are probably the latest in a very long line of forum members with a charging system fault. In which case post #9 in this thread is the key.. http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/39277-How-to-fix-common-regulator-Stator-failures

The most critical bit is to "the Drill" with a healthy fully charged battery - otherwise you can end up with misleading results. Please also note it is vital you do the whole drill checks twice once with the bike cold and again after a 30 minutes ride by which time all the electrical stuff will be hot and any heat related failures will hopefully be evident.

As for results to look for during testing -

With the engine running at idle a healthy stator and RR should see the volts monitored across the battery terminals between 13 - 14 volts+ and between 14 and 15 volts with the revs above 2,000 rpm. It should never exceed 15.5 volts or things like headlight bulbs will blow. (Lights on/lights off should make no more than about 0.5V difference to those numbers.)

As for the stator you need to be getting decent and reasonably similar volts AC across all three pairings of the yellow wires from the stator (checks should be done with the RR disconnected) at tick-over (ideally 20+ volts AC) and 5000 rpm (heading for 50-60 volts AC). If that tests OK then reassemble and repeat the test straight after taking the bike for a half hour ride - by then the windings will be good an hot and any heat related failure of the insulation on the stator windings should be visible. If any pairing is way low or nil then the stator is duff. NB When testing, take great care with the test probes - you do not want to ground any of the yellow wires or indeed allow the probe to accidentally cross connect them or you will be seeing expensive sparks!

If the stator tests out OK, do the checks on the RR diodes as per the drill. If you need to replace the RR these folks sell what you really want (and Honda should have fitted in the first place) http://www.roadstercycle.com/ - Shindengen FH020AA Mosfet Regulator/Rectifier.

Good luck - let us know how you get on.



SkiMad

 

How old is the battery and what type is it? I have seen those gel type batteries tell the charger they are fully charged and also give a good 12= volt reading but there is no guts in them with any load. Get an AGM type battery and stay away from those shit lead acid Chinese ones. The Motorbatt ones seem to be good even though they are also Chinese

 

Good morning, well so I got myself a multimeter and tested the battery off the bike and it read 12.7 and when I turn the key it dropped to 0.6 so I believe that my battery is gone but just to make sure I took my wife's motorcycle battery off, she has a brand new 250 Rebel, and hooked the battery to my bike and now my baby is alive again. I feel so stupid for not realizing that it was just the battery but I was following what my battery tender was saying "fully charged" now I know better. On my way to get a new good battery, thanks to everybody for the help, I was about to pay $185 for the shop to come get it and diagnose the issue and all it took was a few days of aggravation and a multimeter ($17). I will let you know what happen after I install the bike and run it for a few

 

And you still have your $17 multimeter which you wouldn't have if the shop had fixed it and because as long as you own a VFR you are going to need it. Now you have it running get rid of the connector between the stator and R/R before that sticks you up on the side of the road, and it will, but you don't know when