My RC24 resurrection

Was hoping to run my bike today, but of course a gremlin has struck. Bike won’t start. The starter relay is switching but nothing going to the starter motor. Any ideas, other than replacing the relay. It was working fine a few months ago.


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You could try to jumper the high current terminals of starter relay manually, to see if it helps.

 

I’ve checked the battery voltage and that’s good, 12.9 volts. Had it on charge all last night and it’s less than 1 year old. Kept indoors over the winter. The starter relay clicks when I activate the start button so I’m assuming that is probably ok. Thinking it might be an issue in the handlebar switch assembly? I took it off when I removed the forks and maybe I’ve damaged it when taking it apart or putting back on, but it is activating the starter relay. Will check the ground for the starter but not sure where that is. Hopefully will sort it tomorrow.


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Does your bike have a Diode in the wire harness? Little black square thing?
I had the same issue you are describing and it was a bad diode


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Yes it does. It’s part of the neutral switch circuit. Will check it tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up.


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Just for giggles, regardless about your report on the battery, jump it from the car battery (not running) and see what it does. Before you start digging into everything.

The handle switch button is obviously working, and so is your relay.

 

Thanks mate. Wise advice. Will do tomorrow. I’ve had a good look at the circuit diagram and if it’s not a battery fault, im thinking it’s the relay. Will check all continuity after I’ve jumped it with the battery.


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Think we’ve got a winner. Tried jumping from my car and still no luck. Checked the clutch diode and it’s faulty. No continuity in either direction.


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I think that the diodes are on the solenoid primary side of the starter relay to dump high voltage induction spikes. Chances are that if the relay "clicks" correctly this (primary) side may be OK. Jumping the high current terminals with a suitable piece of metal (cheap spanner ) should give some response from the starter motor. In that case the internal contact points of the starter relay may require attention. Could also be the anchor of the solenoid that is stuck. A little blow with a plastic headed hammer may loosen it.
Professionals would probably do something different.

 

Beyond pleased!!

I had a fair few tasks still outstanding on the VFR. Yesterday started well, getting the chain on, something I’ve never done before and also I needed to replace a couple of gaskets on the clutch cover. All went well and so I went to fire her up in the afternoon. Nothing. Other than the starter relay clicking, the engine wasn’t cranking at all. I started doing some digging around and a few of the terminal blocks looked corroded, so I got in there with electronic cleaner and started checking the connections. After a few hours I decided to sleep on it and come back to it today. I asked on a couple of VFR forums and got a few pointers, eventually locating a fault in a diode, although, in theory, this should not have made a difference. I was looking through the manual and realised that I had made an error when I put the clutch cover back on. It also doused the starter motor reduction gear and when I had removed the cover a few weeks ago, the gear had just dropped out with its small shaft and washer. Long story short, I assumed I knew how it went back and I got it wrong, so I took the cover off and assembled it correctly and bingo, the VFR fired back into life. #winning.

But, a minute later, it died and couldn’t be coaxed back into life. A lot more head scratching and it just didn’t want to tick over. For one dreadful moment I thought the engine had siezed as it was so abrupt, so I got the spark plugs out and checked pistons were moving and have the plugs a quick clean. As I had the tank off I decided to open up the air box, get the air filter out and squirt some carb cleaner directly into the carbs. I really didn’t want to get them all off and clean them again, as I was pretty certain I’d got them sorted last year. When I did this I noticed some small pieces of foam lying on the air box grill. Cleaned it out and realised it was some foam that lines the inside of the box. Suddenly dawned on me that some of this foam was probably being drawn into the carbs. It was 36 years old and was literally turning to dust. Cleaned it out really thoroughly then buttoned it all back up again. Also realised that I had not put enough fuel in and had not put the petcock on reserve, so it was fuel starved.

Fired her up again and this time she burst into life straight away and ticked over really nicely with a bit of adjustment on the idle screw.

Only one thing left to do!


https://youtube.com/shorts/z9o6dQENq84?feature=share


Got to be honest, at times, I didn’t think I’d get here, but I’ve actually managed to get this bike back up and running after 22 years.

Having a beer to celebrate.
Just want to say thanks to everyone who regularly posts on this thread and who has helped me to get to this point. You’ve all been stars and without your advice and help I would have given up long ago. Not quite finished, but so very, very close.


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Yes!!!!!!
Happy for you Brother!!!!!


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Well deserved, long journey.
Cheers.

 

Congrats on all the hard work paying off. you really stuck with it ! that celebratory beer must have tasted pretty darn good

 

Well guys, the day has come!

Took her to my local garage to see if she would get through the MoT, and she did, with flying colours! Went for a little spin to my Dad’s house, where the VFR had been in his garage for 20 years. Still 3 motorbikes in there, but that’s a story for another day.

I think I still need to look at the fuelling but she’s revving freely and she really pulls! I can’t help just looking at her! I know she’s not in concourse condition, but she well and truly passes the 3 metre test and most importantly, she feels safe and stable.

I’m really looking forward to putting on here some details about some rides on her, over the next few years, but once again, thank you all so much for your advice and encouragement on here. There are plenty of times when I would have given up and just parted her out.
Here’s a few photos. I hope you can see them but if not will stick a few on YouTube at some point.






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That is great news. Congrats and good job!

 

Nice RC24. Enjoyable ride.

Wheezy's photos:

 

Thanks @rc24dk


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Looks good brother!!!


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Congrats on all the hard work! Thanks for sharing the pictures and update--it's looking awesome.

 

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