Well it's nice to know that someone has the "exact same" problem as me lol. Ya i'm ordering it from my dealer for $86 shipped, but I'm getting it diagnosed first...I'm sure it's the speed sensor, but I'm gonna have it inspected anyway cuz they may find that it might just be a short in the wire or something stupid like that lol. It is such a pain to take out the speed sensor that I'm just gonna fork up the cash to have them install it.

 

well I hate to do this to you, but can u let me know what they say @ stealership? I'll be taking my sensor out later today to check it out and clean. Will let u know my outcome too lol

 

Sure, unfortunately tho they can't get me in until friday lol and they are the only honda dealer in town lol. But if you don't fix it by then I will come on and let you know, my guess it it is the speed sensor. If it is I will order it on friday after they inspect it and then have em fix it the week after. I just don't want to pay $86 for the sensor and then find out that it is something else that is wrong and not the sensor, then I'd basically be throwing away $86 dollars lol...so I'll just end waiting a bit longer since they can't get to it till friday...and the sensor takes 4-5 days to ship so I'd have to get it fixed the next week.

 

I have the SAME problem with my 2001 f4i. The speedo, odometer, and trip do not function. Every once in a while they will all come on for about a minute or two then stop working again, but that is rare. I'm going to take the bike appart this weekend and test the VSS and see whats up. This sounds like a common problem on the F4i's. Good luck to everyone AND if I learn anything new, I'll post it up!

 

Welcome to the club guys!

I have exactly the same problem as the OP on my UK F1 (F4i), speedo comes on after 10-15 mins: faster if I ride hard or have ridden it recently and it hasnt cooled down yet, hence I figured it was heat dependent.


I tried stripping the bike down to check the wiring recently, but I couldnt get close enough to the VSS to check it (VERY TIGHT and hidden at the back of the crankcase!); I will be very interested in knowing what works for you all though, so please post up if/when you get it sorted

Good luck!

 

Found another thing that may be causing our problems and would explain the heat dependent thing. The Voltage Regulator/Rectifier is located in the rear tail piece. If it malfunctions it can overload the speedometer/odometer with excess voltage and cause it to stop working. Now, the Voltage Regulator (being in the tail) is located in an area that tends to gather heat (according to what I have found on other forums because it is just above and behind the engine), so this may explain the heat dependency thing in causing the speedo to work after heating up. I believe the Voltage Regulator is located on the left (shifter) side of the rear tail it is a small black box about the size of a wallet.

The only other thing I can figure is this: I believe the Speed Sensor is magnetic, which would cause it to pick up any metal filings in the crankcase which would render it useless and block it from picking up an electrical charge. An excessive amount of heat could counter this and boost the charge - also explaining the heat dependency thing.

Also you can test your Regulator/Rectifier by removing the seat and placing a meter on the battery. Start the engine and rev it (let it warm up first obviously and you shouldn't have to rev it a lot, just very slightly in order to strain the battery which normally the regulator/rectifier is suppose to keep the voltage constant or nearly constant). If the meter jumps and reads an excessive increase in volts, the number told to me was 18 volts, if it reads 18 volts or above then the regulator is not working correctly. I have not tested this yet, so I have no idea if this is it or not.

 

planning on pulling the sensor cable a bit later and testing the pulse on a meter. That's one way for sure to see if Im getting any juice.

 

Let me know when you do and if you're getting anything from the sensor, please

 

Okay here's the update:

Put the voltmeter on the vss lines, and NO PULSE. Looks like it's time for my new VSS to be ordered.

I checked the pink and green wires running directly from the VSS sitting in front of the rear shock. Pretty confident that this is 100% my problem now. If not, I'll sell anyone my old VSS lol -_-

 

How did you check the VSS then, unplug and use the voltmeter or run it in parralel?

If in parralel, how did you get a connection?